Results from state testing indicate a critical need for improved learning and teaching in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) for all students, particularly those in underserved populations. With funding from the National Science Foundation's Robert Noyce Teacher Scholarship program, the University of Vermont Robert Noyce Scholarship Program will recruit STEM professionals and prepare them to become secondary STEM teachers. The project will fund 25 scholarships over 5 years. The teacher preparation program will be delivered through a collaboration between highly effective and nationally recognized STEM and education programs at the University of Vermont & State Agricultural College (UVM): the Master of Arts in Teaching (MAT) in Secondary Education Program in the College of Education & Social Services, the College of Arts & Sciences, and the College of Engineering & Mathematical Sciences, in partnership with regional high-need high schools Montpelier High School, Mount Abraham High School, Vergennes High School, and Union-32 High School. The project will capitalize on the UVM MAT cohort model, which includes year-long school-based internships. Noyce Scholars will also participate in monthly seminars and visit community-based centers. Prior Noyce Scholars will present at an orientation to emphasize the importance of research and discovery in mathematics and science and ways to model these practices in their own teaching. UVM Noyce Scholars will also collaborate with engineering students to create service learning projects for high school students.
The project will promote full integration of the Next Generation Science Standards and Common Core State Standards in Mathematics with an emphasis on the application of scientific, mathematical, and engineering thinking and practices. A longitudinal research study will investigate the impact of the program on recipients as teachers and teacher leaders and their retention in the teaching profession, as well as the impact of the project on STEM and education faculty and programs at UVM. To this end, in addition to conducting classroom observations, the project team will collect data using instruments such as the Professional Attitudes and Dispositions Assessment (PADA), the Standards Assessment Inventory (SAI2), the New England Common Assessments (NECAP), and a pre-/post-survey of Opportunity to Learn (OTL) drawn from an existing MSP survey. Through programmatic activities and the research agenda, the project will develop, improve, and maintain a pipeline to recruit and prepare STEM teachers for underserved schools.
