The project, Noyce at Montclair: Preparing the Effective Elementary Mathematics Teacher (PE2MT), is a Capacity Building project designed to increase the number of elementary teachers with a strong preparation for teaching mathematics. It draws on shared resources and ongoing collaborations between faculty in the College of Science and Mathematics and the College of Education and Human Services. An enhanced degree program leading to a bachelor of arts in mathematics with a concentration in K-5 teaching is being developed.
Intellectual Merit: The enhancing feature of the degree program is an integration of coursework and the following: (a) academic support for advanced content courses, (b) enriched methods and specialized content courses, (c) early and ongoing field experiences, (d) undergraduate research experience, and (e) in-service induction support. These experiences are designed to support pre-service teachers' steady progression through a set of challenging mathematics courses, to develop their mathematical knowledge for teaching, and to inform their beliefs about mathematics and what it means to know and teach it. Students will be recruited from within the university and also from among students completing associates degrees at local community colleges.
Broad Impact: This project is developing a program that prepares teachers not only to engage students within high-needs classrooms and cultivate their STEM interests, but also for additional department-, school-, and district-based opportunities such as mentoring other teachers, modeling lessons, collaborative planning, conducting professional development, attending and presenting at conferences, and making contributions to the development of curriculum, assessment, or policy. The local infrastructure being developed to support this program will subsequently be in place to support the development of additional STEM elementary degree programs at Montclair and can serve as a model to other colleges and universities. All program and curricular materials developed to support and sustain this program will be made available to interested colleges, universities, school districts, and policymakers.
