The Barnard College Robert Noyce Teacher Education Scholars Program (BNTSP) is a partnership engaging the following New York City high-needs schools: Bronx School of Law and Finance, Central Park East Secondary School, James Baldwin High School, and the Emily Dickinson Elementary School (PS 75). The project recruits, certifies, and mentors 16 high-achieving undergraduate mathematics and science majors to become K-12 teachers. As a college for women, the BNTSP works to increase the number of women who teach and serve as role models and mentors for girls in STEM fields. The BNTSP serves as a model for recruitment, preparation, induction, and retention of high-quality science and mathematics teachers for high-need schools, including the design, implementation, and evaluation of a collaborative, web-based, STEM teacher learning environment, which provides scholars with peer, faculty, and mentor support during student teaching and their first two years of teaching.
Internships, scholarships, and a funded ninth semester option ensure that teacher candidates in mathematics and science can complete requirements for their STEM major and initial New York State certification in elementary or secondary education. BNTSP's STEM Colloquia, which bring STEM experts to the campus for a series of talks or workshops focused on STEM educational issues, are open to the school partners, the university, and the public, ensuring broad participation in the presentation, dissemination, and discussion of K-12 STEM education issues. The associated STEM Discussion course, which enrolls Barnard and Columbia undergraduates, provides students with interest in STEM education a venue to explore those interests in greater depth with other students who share their interests. By hosting BNTSP's STEM Field Explorations, faculty members have the opportunity to share their science and mathematics expertise with teachers from partner schools, members of Barnard's New Teacher Network, and potential Barnard Noyce scholars. STEM Field Explorations contribute to building teachers' expertise by modeling use of the unique resources of New York City to teach science and mathematics.
Scholarly publications emanating from the BNTSP focus on the impact of the project on teacher's self-efficacy in terms of their beliefs about their: a) knowledge of science content; b) knowledge of science teaching methods; c) ability to respond to students' questions; d) ability to impact student learning in science or mathematics; and e) confidence in teaching students from underrepresented groups in high-needs schools. The comprehensive project evaluation plan ensures the development of evidence-based assertions about the impact of program initiatives and innovations on STEM teacher recruitment, development, and retention.
Strategies to ensure broad dissemination of the data and results of this project include the BNTSP website, conference presentations, peer-reviewed publications, and the deposit of project data in the Academic Commons, a digital research repository at Columbia University with global access.
