This Track 1, Phase II project involves the Education Studies (EDS) and the Division of Physical Sciences (PS) of the University of California at San Diego (UCSD) in a partnership with three area community colleges; each of whom have articulation agreements with the university to transfer selected education courses so that incoming community college students are not at a disadvantage upon transfer and can enter the Noyce Program at an appropriate level. The partners in this project include: Grossmont, San Diego Mesa and Southwestern community colleges, the San Diego Unified School District, the San Diego Science and Engineering Festival and the following partners from the prior Phase 1 project: Grossmont Union High School District, Sweetwater Union High School District, Gompers Charter School, High Tech High Charter, the Preuss School Charter, and Guajome Park Academy Charter. As in the Phase I project the scholarships are concentrated within the last two years (the senior year and fifth year) of the students' academic work, with additional funds targeted to support internships for juniors. There are 11 internships set aside for community college transfer students and transitional summer fellowships for incoming community college transfer students that include fieldwork in K-12 STEM classrooms with UCSD faculty. The project is designed to produce 50 teachers and support 50 internships over the course of the five years of its existence.
Many of the features this Phase II project introduces are designed to build community and make the transition to in-service teaching as seamless as possible. These include: institution of a Science Ambassador Program for pre-Scholar students which offers internships and opportunities to assist during the annual San Diego Festival of Science and Engineering, to tutor and mentor at other times and to assist with science fair projects; explicit targeting of community college STEM students for transfer to UCSD and applying to the Noyce program; formal inclusion of mentoring of pre-service teachers by Noyce Master Teachers; and involvement of the campus student group, Teachers for Change, which pursues outreach both on- and off-campus.
Intellectual merit: The success of the Phase 1 project (original goals for scholars were met and 94% of the students supported are now teaching), the experience of the team, and the solid planning based on the outcomes from Phase 1 are all part of this project's intellectual merit.
Broader Impact: The strong partnership with area community colleges and a pro-active plan for merging community college students into the program, having them work alongside their counterparts from UCSD during their internship is an indicator of a very proactive outreach for recruiting and retaining these students.
