This award is funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-5).
Three cohorts totaling eighteen students are completing the required studies to become secondary mathematics and science teachers. The first cohort of four students is receiving scholarships during the second semester of their junior year and full year scholarships during their senior and fifth years of study. The second and third cohorts of six and eight students respectively receive three-year scholarships. A customized scholarship plan is created for each individual depending upon personal circumstances. Up to nine credit hours of graduate work may be completed while an undergraduate and applied toward earning a Masters in the Art of Teaching (MAT) degree.
The Jefferson County Public School System and Teach Kentucky have formed a partnership with the university. Teach Kentucky provides the new teachers with support services that augment the existing university support for novice teachers. In addition to teacher workshops, mentor-new teacher relationships are fostered in a series of weekly luncheons and social events. The school system is an active participant in the recruitment of students into STEM majors. Among the activities are the Minority Teacher Recruitment Project's Future Educators Association clubs serving 300 students in twenty four schools. There are numerous joint ventures between the Jefferson County school system and the university including school personnel serving on the Noyce project committees, the Signature Partnership Initiative to raise reading, math and science skills to grade level in five West Louisville schools, the School of Engineering working with elementary schools providing Engineering is Elementary- a Boston Museum of Science curriculum- after school experience, and the Collaboration in Mathematics and Science between university STEM faculty and in-service high school teachers improving content knowledge of the teachers.
