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Shakiyya Bland

A Lawrence teacher is set to spend the next school year working with the federal government on education issues related to science, technology, engineering and math.

Shakiyya Bland, a learning coach for the Lawrence school district, was one of 15 teachers throughout the country selected for the federal Albert Einstein Distinguished Educator Fellowship, according to a news release from the U.S. Department of Energy. Through the fellowship, which begins in August, Bland will serve about 11 months in Washington, D.C., with a federal agency or a U.S. congressional office.

Bland said she expected to interview with U.S. senators and representatives in June to learn her assignment for the program. She has served the Lawrence school district for eight years and has requested a leave of absence to participate in the fellowship.

The program aims for the federal agencies and congressional offices and the 15 STEM-experienced educators to learn from one another, according to the news release. The federal side hopes to gain an understanding of the fellows’ real-world experience as educators, while the fellows will be offered a broader perspective on national education issues and an opportunity to learn about the federal government’s role in education and its resources that are available to students and teachers.

In the past, the fellowship has led to the drafting of legislation related to improving K-12 education and the establishment of national and regional programs centered on school reform, among other initiatives, according to the U.S. Department of Energy website.

Bland, who holds a doctorate in educational leadership, said she was a candidate for the program because of her experience serving as a consultant on inquiry-based mathematics, which allowed her to lead professional learning workshops about culturally relevant pedagogy throughout Kansas. Culturally relevant pedagogy is an education philosophy that encourages teachers to relate content to a student’s cultural background.

“I have been blessed to produce culturally responsive teaching and learning strategies to support all educators and scholars as seeing themselves as valuable contributors to mathematics,” Bland said in an email to the Journal-World.

The fellowship will allow her to continue work in that area and may support future research on food sustainability and community-centered mathematics, Bland said.

“I am enthusiastic to continue advocating for inquiry-based and culturally-sustaining mathematics that centers on social justice,” she said.