This award is funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-5).
Northern Kentucky University (NKU) selects talented undergraduate students interested in mathematics education and prepares them to be fully qualified, well-prepared teachers who will teach secondary mathematics in high-need schools. The University provides them on-going support during their early teaching years. The project is a collaboration among NKU, and three school districts: Covington Independent and Newport Independent Schools in Kentucky and Cincinnati Public Schools in Ohio. The project supports two-year scholarships to a minimum of 28 academically talented students in their junior and senior years.
NKU's program includes the following elements: an aggressive recruiting plan which includes a partnership with Cincinnati State Technical and Community College; opportunities for incoming freshmen and rising sophomores to engage in summer experiences designed to stimulate their interest in becoming secondary mathematics teachers working in high-need schools; two-year scholarships for carefully selected, academically talented students in their junior and senior years; an outstanding teacher preparation program including valuable enhancements that foster a community of learners and expose participants to contemporary literature on, and effective practices in the teaching and learning of secondary mathematics; and mentoring and coaching support for program graduates.
Program graduates have a direct, positive impact on the high school students they teach, and, by serving as role models for other teachers in the high-need schools, the graduates benefit the education of even more students in meaningful ways. The program is generating information about strategies that are effective in recruiting undergraduates, graduating them as teachers committed to working in high need schools and retaining them in the teaching profession. This information can be used nationally to enhance programs for pre-service and in-service teachers.
