Meredith Kier

Profile

Dr. Meredith Kier is Professor of Science Education and the Robert D. and Patricia Lee Pavey Family Chair in Instructional Technology at William & Mary. She directs the secondary science teacher preparation program and serves as Principal Investigator of the NSF-funded William & Mary Noyce Scholars Program. Her research focuses on school–university partnerships that strengthen STEM teacher recruitment, preparation and retention. Dr. Kier designs and studies collaborative models that connect preservice teachers, in-service educators and community partners through early field experiences, mentoring systems and practice-based learning opportunities. Grounded in equity-oriented approaches, her work examines how partnerships support high-quality STEM teaching and learning in diverse school contexts. More recently, she has led initiatives exploring the responsible integration of generative AI in teacher education and K–12 classrooms, including professional development designed to support teachers’ instructional decision-making and efficiency. Her scholarship has been supported by the National Science Foundation and widely disseminated in research and practitioner outlets.

Education

Ph.D. in Science Education, North Carolina State University, 2013
Master’s Degree in the Art of Teaching, James Madison University, 2007
Bachelor’s Degree in Biology, James Madison University, 2006

Awards and Honors

Gerdelman Family Term Distinguished Associate Professor, 2021

Plumeri Award for Faculty Excellence, William & Mary, 2021

Taylor Reveley, III, Interdisciplinary Faculty Fellow, William & Mary, 2020

Janet B. Straffer Award, William & Mary, 2020

William & Mary Alumni Fellows Award Recipient for Outstanding Teaching at the University, 2019

Selected Publications

(* indicates graduate or undergraduate co-author)

Grillo, M.H*, & Kier, M.W. (2021). Why do they stay? An exploratory analysis of identities and commitment factors associated with teaching retention in high-need school contexts. Teaching and Teacher Education, 105, 103423.

Kier, M. W., & Blanchard, M. R. (2021). Eliciting students’ voices through STEM career explorations. International Journal of Science and Mathematics Education, 19(1), 151-169.

Kier, M.W., Grob, L.A.*, Leffel, K.G.*, Khalil, D., & Carroll, T.* (2021, in press). Culturally relevant partnerships in the engineering design process. NSTA Science Scope.

Grillo, M.H.* & Kier, M.W. (2021, in press). Designing for justice: The rationale for course-decisions to prepare culturally competent STEM teacher advocates for high-need schools. Innovations for Science Education.

Khalil, D., & Kier, M.W. (2020). Equity-centered design thinking in STEM instructional leadership. Journal of Cases in Educational Leadership, 1555458920975452.

Kier, M.W, & Clark, K.B. (2020). The rapid response of William & Mary’s School of Education to support preservice teachers and equitably provide mentoring to elementary learners in a culture of an international pandemic. Journal of Technology and Teacher Education, 28(2), 321-327.

Kier, M.W. & Chen, J. A. (2019). Kindling the fire: Sparking and maintaining pre-service science teachers’ interest to teach in high-needs schools. Science Education, 103, 875–899.

Federally-Funded Grants

Bridging University and School Communities to Recruit, Prepare, and Support Science and Mathematics Teachers in High-Need School Districts (Award # 2342084) [Grant]. National Science Foundation program in Division of Undergraduate Research, $1,199,944.

New possibilities for broadening the impacts of middle school engineering through a partnership between teachers and underrepresented minority engineering college students (Award # 1932739) National Science Foundation program in Early Concept Grant for Exploratory Research, $296,460.

Preparing Equity-Minded Mathematics and Science Teachers to Work with Diverse Communities of Learners (Award #1758419) [Grant]. National Science Foundation program in Division of Undergraduate Research, $1,198,866.

E-Communities: Investigating How a Collaboration between Engineers and Teachers Influences Underserved Youth’s Participation in Engineering Design (Award # 1510347). National Science Foundation program in Innovative Technology Experiences for Students and Teachers, $946,273.

Recruitment, Preparation, and Retention of Mathematics and Science Teachers: Noyce Scholars II Program at the William & Mary (Award # 1339939). National Science Foundation program in Division of Undergraduate Research, $959,823.