This project aims to serve the national need of preparing highly qualified, diverse STEM teachers who are committed to teaching in high-need school districts. In K-12 schools nationwide, the demographics of teachers do not match those of their students. This project aims to address this disparity by recruiting, preparing, and supporting a diverse group of 16 teacher candidates in mathematics, biology, chemistry, earth science and physics to teach in high-need school systems. Undergraduates will be recruited from current STEM majors at Mercy College and will complete a five-year dual degree program in which they will earn a BS in a STEM major and an MS in Adolescent Education. In addition, post-baccalaureate STEM degree-holders will be recruited to pursue an MS in Adolescent Education and teaching certification. Through coursework, field observations, clinical residencies, and vertical professional learning communities, the future teachers will work to be explicitly anti-racist, who can actively break down barriers and address inequities in school communities.
This project at Mercy College (a Hispanic-serving institution) includes partnerships with Urban Institute of Mathematics, Democracy Prep Bronx High School, Yonkers Public Schools, Port Chester-Rye City School District, the City School District of New Rochelle, the Charter School for Educational Excellence, and New Visions Charter High School for Advanced Math and Science, as well as the State University of New York at Purchase and Sarah Lawrence College. It will take a social justice approach to supporting teachers’ agency, self-efficacy, and retention. Project goals include to: 1) recruit a diverse group of 16 prospective mathematics and science teachers from two groups: undergraduate mathematics or science majors who will complete a BS/MS degree program with teacher certification and STEM professionals who will complete a master's degree program with teacher certification; 2) help teachers in high-need districts implement strong, student-centered STEM pedagogy; 3) identify the qualities and competencies that administrators of high-need schools consider to be necessary for new teacher success and persistence in teaching. Project research will explore best practices related to recruiting underrepresented minorities into STEM teaching, improving teacher retention in high-need schools, and understanding administrators’ perspectives on how to best prepare teachers to work in high-need schools. The project will also advance knowledge of how to promote social justice within STEM teacher preparation, along with authentic integration of technology and engineering in science and math classrooms. This Track 1: Scholarships and Stipends project is supported through the Robert Noyce Teacher Scholarship Program (Noyce). The Noyce program supports talented STEM majors and professionals to become effective K-12 STEM teachers and experienced, exemplary K-12 teachers to become STEM master teachers in high-need school districts. It also supports research on the persistence, retention, and effectiveness of K-12 STEM teachers in high-need school districts.
This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.
