The PULSE (Promoting Undergraduate Licensure in Science Education) Program recruits undergraduate science majors with academic talent and financial need and prepares them in an exemplary manner to pursue a secondary science teaching career in settings that have the greatest need for excellent teachers: high-needs local school districts. PULSE supports the preparation, licensure, placement, and successful induction of twenty-five secondary science teachers who are committed to serving in high-needs settings. PULSE Noyce Scholars are eligible to receive awards for up to two years in the amount of $12,000/year. Recruitment targets the highest performing STEM students at the University of Colorado at Denver (UCD). Special efforts are made to recruit from underrepresented populations in STEM education, which include Asian, Hispanic, Black, and Native American students, as well as students with disabilities. PULSE is committed to including one individual with disabilities in each cohort of scholars and works with UCD Disability Services and Resources to achieve this end.
The PULSE Program enables students to earn a baccalaureate degree in Biology, Chemistry, Physics or Geography/ Environmental Sciences while simultaneously completing coursework in UCD's science education Individually Structured Major (ISM) or by completing post-baccalaureate licensure. PULSE provides recruitment activities, a formal program of preparation for licensure, field-based experiences in high-needs schools, a variety of formal and informal teaching and career exploration opportunities, STEM or STEM education research experiences, and newly developed internships and coursework to increase both the number of STEM majors who pursue secondary science teaching and the quality of their preparation. To implement the program, UCD partners with Aurora Public Schools (APS). APS serves as the site for many field and other learning experiences provided through PULSE, as well as a site for potential future employment of the Noyce Scholars who become certified science teachers.
The Noyce Scholars are licensed through the Urban Community Teacher Education (UCTE) program, which was redesigned by the UCD School of Education and Human Development to reflect research and best practice in preparing teacher candidates for teaching in urban classrooms. The Noyce Scholars participate in program-specific learning experiences that leverage existing institutional strengths (e.g., science and science education research and urban teacher education) and a strong partnership with APS to provide a multi-faceted and developmental set of experiences that span from freshman year through the Noyce scholars' induction years. The learning experiences of the Noyce Scholars serve as a model for integrating undergraduate science education, science research, preparation to teach in urban settings, and strong induction-years support for teachers. The development, deployment, and evaluation of this model are contributing to the STEM education field's understanding of urban science teacher preparation and support.
The PULSE Noyce Scholarship Program responds in a systematic way to the national challenge of preparing secondary science teachers who are prepared to function effectively in high-needs settings. It combines the ISM with targeted recruiting of students in traditional STEM courses to prepare secondary science educators drawn from groups traditionally underrepresented in K-12 science education. The program's partnership with APS and structured induction support offers a strong model for other teacher preparation programs and for STEM recruitment and retention efforts in high-needs districts.
