"Mobilizing STEM Talent for STEM Teaching" addresses the growing national need to recruit, prepare, and provide effective induction support for new STEM middle and high school teachers with degrees in STEM fields and strong content-specific pedagogical preparation. This project is a collaborative effort that will attract, prepare and support a core group of STEM teachers for high-priority schools in the Metro Nashville Public Schools. The project is also intended to develop a tested model and sustainable pipeline for STEM teachers for the foreseeable future. Recruitment of future teachers will occur in two different populations at Vanderbilt University and Fisk University, upper-level undergraduate students majoring in STEM fields and STEM professionals who are completing advanced degrees and working on research or in labs. A total of 25 students will be supported for a two year pre-service program leading to licensure and one year of support during their first year teaching.
Two cohorts of students (one cohort of 13 and one of 12) will receive financial support for the duration of a two-year program of integrated coursework and field experiences resulting in secondary STEM licensure, and a third year of induction support. In Year 1, as students complete their degrees in progress, they will participate in a full-year, practicum partnership with one teacher in a metropolitan Nashville public middle or high school, and in a seminar to develop STEM content knowledge for teaching in urban contexts. In Year 2, students will complete a twelve-month residency pathway to licensure in urban schools and a MEd if they are not already earning an advanced degree in a STEM content area. In this year, candidates will join an instructional team to learn more about effective teaching from faculty members beyond the mentor teacher's classroom. In Year 3, students will transition to full-time teachers and participate in professional learning communities, both online and face-to-face, during their initial induction year. Students will attend urban seminars and in-service teachers will receive weekly instructional coaching to help them tailor their teaching to the needs of urban students. The results of formative and summative assessment will provide information for the STEM teacher preparation community on best practices in training students to be STEM teachers in urban schools. Students' pedagogical knowledge, skills, and attitudes will be measured by pre/post surveys and assessments and classroom data will be collected by observations and interviews.
