Rio Salado, an online community college, and member of the Maricopa County Community College District, in partnership with the Tempe Union High School District and the Glendale Union High School District, is establishing the Science and Math Innovative Learning Environments (SMILE) Program for Encore Careers in Education to support the recruitment, development, and support of professionals holding baccalaureate degrees in mathematics, biology, chemistry, physics or engineering in becoming secondary teachers. Noyce funds are used to provide stipends to forty STEM professionals as they transition into teaching careers in grades 7-12 mathematics and/or science classrooms in high-needs school districts in Arizona. Through the proposed hybrid format of the SMILE program, which incorporates online courses with onsite practicum and student teaching, the number and quality of mathematics and science teachers available to high-needs school districts in Arizona is being increased.
The SMILE program is based on Rio Salado College's Post-Baccalaureate Teacher Preparation Program, a one-year program designed to develop and certify new teachers who have a four-year degree in a non-education field. Online courses incorporate Arizona's teacher certification requirements in curriculum that offers the knowledge and essential skills participants need to become highly effective teachers. Onsite practicum and student teaching experiences provide opportunities to observe master teachers in the classroom and practice teaching in a monitored and mentored environment. This combination of approaches provides STEM professionals flexibility in completing courses and allows the program to recruit SMILE Scholars statewide. Under the SMILE program, courses in methods and curriculum development are enhanced to incorporate mathematics and science content based on state standards. Master Teacher Seminars, designed specifically for the SMILE program, provide insight into methods, content, and resources useful in mathematics and science classrooms. SMILE Scholars receive additional development and support throughout the preparation program and while completing the required teaching commitment. SMILE Scholars are supported through professional development opportunities which integrate teaching materials, online resources, and training programs developed by three local NSF-funded centers that provide resources for STEM education. The program also incorporates post-graduation mentoring to improve the quality and retention of SMILE Scholars in the classroom.
Integrated course enhancements, archived Master Teacher Seminars, and professional development opportunities created through the SMILE program become part of Rio Salado College's teacher preparation program and therefore are useful to future candidates. The SMILE program offers its Scholars opportunities to receive training and experience with online teaching, thus building capacity within the teacher education program and within the workforce to meet the recent call for online high schools in each Arizona school district. In particular, the SMILE program's emphasis on mathematics and science teachers promotes the development of specific content and practicum experiences in this online teaching track to address the challenges of teaching STEM content online.
In addition to recruiting, developing, and supporting forty STEM professionals to become highly qualified mathematics and science teachers, the SMILE Scholars program provides an opportunity to identify factors that affect recruitment of STEM professionals into the teaching profession; identify program activities that are particularly helpful in producing competent, confident teachers; and identify conditions that promote retention of effective mathematics and science teachers in teaching careers. The SMILE dissemination plan specifically targets community colleges and alternative certification programs that have traditionally been underutilized in preparing mathematics and science teachers.
