This award is funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-5).
This planning grant project at California State University Sacramento is a partnership between two of its colleges, the College of Education and of Natural Sciences and Mathematics, and area school districts (including the Sacramento City Unified district). Additional partnerships with school districts and with a nonprofit organization are being developed as part of the planning activities. The California State University Sacramento campus prepares highly qualified mathematics and science teachers for a primarily urban service region, with a large population of low income, culturally and linguistically diverse students. In conjunction with other math and science-focused programs already in place, the planning grant is laying the groundwork for submission of a full proposal to the Teaching Fellowship/Master Teaching Fellowship track by allowing for completion of NCLB-compliant subject matter programs in the sciences, re-design of a post-baccalaureate credential program, completion of the design of a new Master of Arts degree in Biological Sciences with a concentration for science teachers, and collaboration with public school partners on revision of the 2-year induction program for new teachers to integrate a significantly enhanced disciplinary focus. In all cases, best practices from national literature on recruitment, retention, preparation, mentoring and professional development for mathematics and science teachers are being incorporated into the program design and revision activities. This planning grant project is thus adding to the discipline-based focus of teacher preparation work in two colleges, while strengthening collaborative ties between them and their math/science teacher induction colleagues. By refining the Beginning Teacher Support and Assessment program to overlap with discipline-specific Masters degrees in biology and mathematics (through first steps included in the planning grant), California State University Sacramento is introducing a more rigorous, discipline-based focus in new teacher support programs for mathematics and science teachers.
