This award is funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-5).
William Paterson University's Robert Noyce project is recruiting at least 38 undergraduate science and mathematics majors and 8 professionals into K-12 teaching (specifically grades 5-12). Those who intend to teach elementary or middle school receive a thorough education in a variety of sciences and mathematics. Those who intend to teach high school receive an in-depth education in Biology, Chemistry, Earth Science, or Mathematics. Prior to their first year of teaching, Robert Noyce scholars are being required to attend an August Institute for Novice Teachers. This project is being conducted in collaboration with the Paterson and Passaic Public Schools in northern New Jersey. Students are spending their clinical practicums as well as their student teaching semester in a high-need urban Professional Development school that has a Professor in Residence. Teacher-Mentors and Peer-Mentors are being assigned to Robert Noyce scholars during their junior and senior years, continuing into their first two years of teaching. The project objectives are: increasing the number of science and math teachers who graduate each year; increasing the number of second-career science and math teachers who graduate; placing the student-teachers in high-need schools in Paterson and Passaic; and providing support for them for their first two years of teaching. The 46 teachers, many of whom are from minority groups, impact all of the students they teach in ensuing years, enabling those students to be better prepared for our technological world.
