Dorothy Holley ’21PHD, a graduate of the NC State College of Education’s Ph.D. in Learning and Teaching in STEM: Science Education concentration and a science teacher at West Johnston High School, has been named an Albert Einstein Distinguished Educator Fellow.
The fellowship provides K-12 science, technology, engineering and mathematics teachers from across the country with the opportunity to spend 11 months serving in a congressional office or federal agency in Washington D.C., where they will be engaged in the national STEM education arena.
“Being named a fellow is a recognition and opportunity to leverage my career as an educator and educational researcher on the national level,” Holley said.
Holley was one of 16 fellows selected and was the only fellow chosen to represent the state of North Carolina. In her role, she will draw from her experience as an educator to support the congressional office where she is placed, while gaining an increased understanding of the role the federal government plays in the field of education.
“I hope to learn new skills and strategies to bring people together to advance science education in North Carolina,” Holley said. “I want to amplify teacher voices, establish robust support systems, increase teacher retention and ensure access to quality professional development; in other words, I want to develop as an education activist in order to elevate other teachers in my local and national education community.”
Holley said her time in the NC State College of Education prepared her to inform federal STEM education efforts.
“Besides coursework in education policy and the scope of science education, being a graduate student at NC State provided an understanding of the role of research in developing educational best practices, analyzing data of real-time issues that impact classrooms and collaborating to improve student learning,” Holley said.
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