SUNY Buffalo State College, in conjunction with the Buffalo Public and Niagara Falls School Districts and the Erie1, Erie2, Genesee Valley, and Orleans-Niagara Boards of Cooperative Educational Services (BOCES), has established the NSF-Noyce New Math and Science Teacher Partnership of Western New York. The project, which builds on an existing NSF STEM teacher preparation program, is designed to address the shortage of math and physics teachers in New York's high needs schools by increasing the number of preK-12 teachers who are both certified and well-qualified to teach in these fields. Noyce scholarships are being used to recruit and foster the development of new STEM teacher candidates through a variety of paths of entry into teaching. These include traditional baccalaureate degree options and graduate degree programs that facilitate alternative certification for students with STEM degrees as well as cross-certification in physics for current STEM teachers. A specific objective of the project is to recruit and support underrepresented and minority populations into the teaching professions. In return for receiving financial support, participants commit themselves to teach for two years in high needs districts for each year of scholarship support.
