Four high-need school districts and seven community colleges are partnering with the University of California, Santa Cruz (UCSC) to recruit and prepare forty two new math and science teachers. This project targets prospective Silicon Valley career-change professionals in addition to traditional community college transfer students and UCSC undergraduates. The Noyce funds are to support intensive K-12 field experiences for ninety students over three years to attract STEM majors and STEM professionals into the Noyce program and into teaching. This includes undergraduate and continuing MA/teaching credential scholarships for 10 community college transfer students in two cohorts, scholarships for an additional thirty two MA/credential students in four cohorts, and early career mentoring and induction for all forty two new teachers.
The project activities take place in a broader framework of support for prospective and early career science and math teachers including: UCSC's undergraduate support program for prospective math and science teachers (and parallel programs at some community colleges), UCSC's MA/Credential program, and a well-developed teacher induction programs in the partner districts.
Substantive evaluation and research address a key issue: the successful development of knowledge about teaching science and math to diverse learners, especially English learners. The results are informing the current practice of UCSC and its partners and contribute to national conversation in this area. UCSC's Noyce Scholarship Program is strengthening outreach to and support of a diverse pool of prospective mathematics and science teachers and is building a closer partnerships between UCSC, seven community colleges, and four high-need school districts. These efforts are enhancing recruitment and retention of new teachers in key areas of district shortages and developing a central piece of research on these issues.
