The national education community is acutely aware of the critical need for science and mathematics teachers, especially in low income, low-performing schools. This Phase II Robert Noyce Teacher Scholarship project at the University of Texas at Arlington (UT Arlington) will lead to an increased number of new, highly skilled science and mathematics teachers who will be prepared to meet their students' educational needs and fill the numerous vacancies urban districts currently endure. UT Arlington, a Hispanic-serving institution, is well positioned to recruit and retain candidates from populations historically underrepresented in science and mathematics.
The project will certify 30 new teachers who are highly qualified to teach in the Dallas, Arlington, and Fort Worth (DFW) Independent School Districts. This collaborative effort among the University of Texas at Arlington (UTA) College of Education and Health Professions, the College of Science, and three surrounding urban school districts will provide a program of campus courses, online mentoring, and classroom teaching experiences to certify 30 new science and mathematics teachers for the three school districts. The program objectives are to: 1) recruit mathematics and science teacher candidates from baccalaureate programs, community colleges, and career changers from local industry, 2) provide a quality two-track teacher certification program for the teacher candidates, and 3) induct, monitor, and mentor the teacher candidates through the program and their early years of teaching. The project will specifically recruit teacher candidates in the secondary school physical sciences and mathematics. Recruitment efforts for Noyce Scholars are enhanced by a comprehensive STEM teacher candidate recruiting program established under the previous Noyce project and the UTeach replication program.
The UTeach Arlington program together with the Noyce Scholarship program has markedly increased candidate recruitment with 60 new science and math teachers completing certification in 2014, which is a significant increase from (on average) 5 math and science candidates certified annually through the teacher preparation program that existed before the previous Noyce project and UTeach implementation. All Noyce scholars will be supported through their teacher preparation program and teacher induction by Mentor Teachers, a Noyce Scholar Leader, the principal investigator team, Content and Pedagogy Mentors and other support personnel. Research and evaluation data on program impacts, outcomes and best practices, along with new curricula developed through the program will continue through long-term longitudinal study of Phase I and Phase II Noyce Scholars to determine retention in teaching and teaching effectiveness with results to be shared with the science and math education communities through scholarly publications and presentations at professional conferences. Project outcomes will be measured by conducting classroom observations using the UTeach Observation Protocol instrument, review of teaching materials, interviews, and analysis of student achievement data.
