In this planning project Lesley University is strengthening existing relationships with the Urban Ecology Institute, MassBay Community College, and one or more high-need school districts to develop a Teaching Fellows and Master Teaching Fellows (TF/MTF) program. The planning process is building on Lesley's successful standards-based teacher preparation and professional development programs to achieve the following objectives: 1) solidification of partnership agreements to recruit and train STEM professionals to become highly qualified teachers of science and mathematics; 2) determination of the capacity of the partners to conduct the program effectively, including commitment to cost sharing elements and the recruitment and retention of individuals who would not otherwise pursue careers in teaching for the TF program, including individuals from underrepresented groups; 3) identification of high need school districts interested in participating in a TF/MTF program; 4) estimation and justification of the number and quality of participants to be served by the program; 5) assessment of the needs and quality of pre-service student support and new teacher support infrastructures for TFs; 6) completion of development of a high quality professional development program for MTFs based on Lesley's current professional development for teacher leaders; 7) formulation of an evaluation plan that will measure program effectiveness; and 8) development of a plan for sustainability beyond the period of NSF funding. The planning year is thus expected to result in creation of long-term, sustainable pathways for recruiting and training high quality STEM teachers and teacher leaders, thus helping to alleviate long standing science/mathematics teacher shortages and ultimately resulting in significant improvements in student achievement.
Lesley University – STEM to Stern NSF Program Outcomes Report Over the 2010-11 academic year, the STEM to Stern planning team brought together faculty and key staff from Lesley University (LU) and its Graduate School of Education with representatives from Massachusetts Bay Community College (MBCC) and the Urban Ecology Institute (UEI) to develop a plan for a NSF Noyce Teaching Fellowship/ Master Teacher Fellows Program. The focus of the grant was to partner with an underperforming, urban public school district to develop a residency fellows program. The year one program was facilitated by Principal Investigator Dr. Paul Jablon, who convened a group of LU faculty and staff including representatives from the Provost’s office, PERG, the center for assessment and evaluation, the Director of Mathematics Programs, faculty and staff from the STEM division. This illustrious group met regularly to design the fellowship program but realized that until a district was identified and made a commitment to such a partnership we could not fully develop a workable plan for the fellows and master teachers. We applied for and received a no-cost extension to complete a viable plan. Dr. Jablon took a sabbatical leave during 2011-2012, and Dr. Anne Collins assumed the role of PI. Since her expertise is in mathematics and STEM core disciplines and has developed many partnerships with urban districts, the planning team developed a new graduate program for experienced teachers focused on the Mathematics OF Science, in partnership with the Lawrence Pubic Schools (LPS), the Boston Museum of Science (MOS) and the UEI. The outcome of the STEM to Stern meetings involving these groups included a combination of professional development in mathematics and science content. The LPS district’s realignment of when specific science units would be taught to ensure that the students and their teachers would experience the alignment of the mathematics with the science and vice-versa. This "need to know" approach was developed to help teachers, fellows, master teachers, and students to understand how the synergy between the mathematics and science would be taught and learned. Though a full proposal was outlined for the teaching and learning of the STEM disciplines, the identification of the master teachers and a recruitment plan for teacher fellows was not thoroughly developed. Nor was the proposal submitted for the March 2012 deadline. At the University and district level, it appeared as though the STEM to Stern project was well positioned for success. Lesley’s partnership with LPS received a state Mathematics-Science Partnership grant to implement the Mathematics of Science courses when LPS voluntarily went into receivership under the state of Massachusetts. Key personnel left the district and the appointed receiver declared that he would void this partnership as well as other initiatives underway within the district. The main reason that Lawrence was chosen as a partnering district was the on-going need for qualified teachers. The Cambridge Public Schools were not identified as a partnering district due to the constraints on the work teachers are able to do outside of the academic day without compensation. The hourly rate teachers get would be prohibitive for the STEM to STERN program. Although Lesley has had partnerships with the Somerville Public Schools, the district has a new superintendent who was not receptive to the fellowship model at the time. Lesley has been able to partner with another high-need district, however, the new district is not interested in the fellows/mentor teacher model. Additionally, engaging MBCC in a meaningful way was a challenge. The Dean of MBCC was replaced by a non-STEM major who does not value the partnerships we had developed. Since the development of a Noyce Teaching Fellows program, including recruitment and support for Fellows, monitoring, mentoring and support of Master Teaching Fellows, requires a strong district partnership which has an on-going need for highly qualified teachers in STEM; it is unlikely that a full proposal will be submitted in 2013.
