This award is funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-5).
Saint Joseph's University (SJU) is increasing the number of highly qualified math and science secondary school teachers who work in high-need school districts. Collaborating with the School District of Philadelphia, the project recruits current and incoming undergraduate students to the SJU five-year BS/MS program in mathematics and science secondary education by providing support in the form of educational outreach opportunities for undergraduates in their first two years and tuition scholarships during their fourth and fifth years. In return for these scholarships, graduates of the program commit to teaching in Philadelphia and other high-need public high schools. Scholarship recipients are mentored in their beginning teaching years through the Urban Teacher Collaborative, which provides monthly workshops for exploring issues specific to teaching math and science in urban high schools. The grant also supports a summer program in mathematics and science education that combines a graduate level class for students in the five-year programs, a math and science educational outreach program targeting junior high and high school students in the area and paid summer internships for freshmen and sophomores at SJU to engage in mathematics and science teaching as a strategy to interest them in teaching as a career. The long term goal of the project is to graduate more secondary teachers with strong backgrounds in mathematics, biology, chemistry and physics who are committed to teaching underserved students in Philadelphia and the surrounding communities. The project provides tuition support to a minimum of 19 Noyce scholars during the project years.
