The Mathematics and Science Teacher Education Residency (MASTER) project - including as core partners Hunter College of the City University of New York, New Visions for Public Schools, the New York City Department of Education, and the New York Hall of Science, with additional support from Internationals Network for Public Schools - is creating an innovative residency and induction program in the service of increased student learning in high-needs New York City schools. Building upon research showing that teacher education is most effective when enacted in concert with highly aligned, practical learning of content in the pedagogical context, the MASTER partners are designing, implementing, refining, and testing a model of secondary science and mathematics candidate recruitment, teacher preparation, induction and professional development. Moreover, the MASTER project is supporting three cohorts of 25 novice teachers and their mentors to serve in New Visions/NYC DOE schools, leading to the establishment of school communities that support collaborative pre-service teacher learning and ongoing teacher development. Upon satisfactory completion of their first residency year, MASTER residents receive their initial New York State certification in Adolescence Education in Mathematics, Biology, Earth Science, or Chemistry; in year two, after successful coursework completion and demonstration of effective instruction, they earn their Hunter College master's degree. The MASTER effort includes multiple approaches designed to develop teachers' pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) in conjunction with training in inquiry-based instructional strategies in an effort to increase the effectiveness of novice science and mathematics teachers and their mentors in delivering high quality instruction to urban secondary students. The project also impacts whole-school reform efforts through ongoing, aligned induction work with in-service teachers, and the production and dissemination of materials aligned to Common Core State Standards for Mathematics and Next Generation Science Standards.
MASTER bridges the divide between traditional, alternative and clinically based programs by creating a clinically-rich, carefully sequenced, formatively assessed model that is constantly being evaluated against concrete outcome measures of student learning. As a comprehensive approach to building pre- and in-service teachers' PCK in order to increase student achievement, MASTER responds to the Math and Science Partnership program's call for innovations in the preparation of K-12 teachers of science, mathematics, engineering, and/or computer science at the pre-service level and support of new teachers during their early years in the profession. To validate outcomes, and produce findings that others may incorporate in their own designs for teacher preparation, MASTER research and evaluation is focused on demonstrating that: - The PCK-focused residency and mentor training curricula created by partners with distinct and deep expertise will increase the likelihood that novice and experienced mathematics and science teachers develop effective and engaging practices. - Participating mentor teachers and their colleagues will develop as peer leaders and will share their learning across departments and schools, creating a shift in school-wide instructional culture. - Students in participating teachers' classrooms will engage in project-based learning with PCK-trained teachers across multiple years, thereby increasing the likelihood that they will deepen their science/mathematics learning and take more science classes as well as higher-level mathematics courses (beyond the New York City requirements for graduation).
