This scholarship program is bringing together a number of partners to cooperatively recruit, train, employ and induct 40 new math, science and technology teachers for the Chicago Public Schools. Partners include the Department of Chemistry, Biological Sciences, Mathematics, and Physics; The College of Education at ISU, The Center for Mathematics Science and Technology at ISU, the Little Village School Partnership of Chicago, and the City Colleges of Chicago. The project is significantly increasing the number of preK-12 teachers by recruiting and fostering new STEM teacher candidates, and financing their attendance for up to two years in existing high quality NCATE-accredited certification programs for teacher preparation. Sixteen scholarships for undergraduates and 24 stipends for post-baccalaureate students in the areas of math and science are being provided. In addition, the project is making particular efforts to recruit and support under-represented and minority populations from the Chicago Public Schools Little Village Area into the teaching professions. An ongoing research program is being conducted on a factor analysis of the pre-service experiences that lead to particular urban career patterns of retention, quality, and student achievement. This is of particular relevance for this scholarship program, and is providing specific evidence of the types of experiences which can lead to teacher retention, and student success in mathematics and science. Further, when comparisons are made with the greater ISU teacher education candidate population, the research is expected to lead to programmatic changes and insights in urban mathematics and science teacher preparation.
