The partnership between the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC) and the Chicago Public Schools (CPS) has demonstrated an increasing ability to recruit, prepare and retain well qualified, content-rich science and mathematics teachers (career changers and undergraduates) in high-need schools. This Phase II Noyce project continues work begun in the previous Noyce grant with secondary mathematics teacher candidates and expands its potential impact with the addition of an enhanced mentor program for new Noyce recipients. This new mentor program involves previous Noyce awardees and inducts new ones into a Noyce mentoring network. Second, the project extends the Noyce applicant pool by adding three new science certifications and introducing a one-year M.Ed. program option for secondary science, which is available for secondary science teacher candidates in biology, earth and space science, environmental science, chemistry and physics. The project supports the recruitment and retention of career-changers with strong STEM backgrounds and STEM undergraduates who want to teach in high-need areas in CPS. These goals will be attained by awarding stipends based on academic merit, with attention to diversifying the teacher workforce and a commitment to serving high-need schools. Over a three-year period the UIC-CPS Noyce II project is offering 40 recruitment stipends to students in UIC STEM secondary teacher preparation programs who commit to teaching in Chicago Public Schools. New teachers have the opportunity to conduct action research during their induction phase as they work to construct a defensible and inclusive practice.
