With funding from the National Science Foundation's Robert Noyce Teacher Scholarship Program, this project addresses the Nation's growing need to recruit and prepare secondary STEM teachers. The project will recruit STEM students from Texas Tech University, as well as from three community colleges and will provide them with effective mentoring, in addition to the pedagogical and discipline-based knowledge they need to teach in the Lubbock area school systems. These well-trained teachers will help close the documented achievement gap in these schools. This project is a partnership among Texas Tech University (TTU), the Lubbock Independent School District, South Plains College, Midland College, and Odessa College. As a Phase II Scholarship and Stipend project, it will apply what was learned during the Phase I Noyce project to enhance the recruitment and mentored retention of talented STEM students into high needs secondary schools in west Texas.
The successful Phase I project supported 37 students. This Phase II project will prepare an additional 16 new teachers. The evaluation of the Phase I project provided knowledge that informed the design and development of the current project. Based on what was learned, the project PI team will recruit students from among community college students, as well as TTU students, and will involve current Noyce scholars in those recruiting efforts. In addition, the project will support the pre-service teachers through group mentoring, which they have found to be more effective.
The Phase II project will encourage the scholars to explore self-determination and will provide Autonomy Support Training from in-service teachers during their internships and classroom placements. These activities will result in a more intentional self-selection for the teaching career and a higher probability of staying with the profession. Research on the features of self-determination and autonomy exploration will generate knowledge on the elements of motivation that may be effective in recruitment of pre-service teachers. The project outcomes will be evaluated through surveys, interviews, document analysis of research reports, and questionnaires. The results of the research and evaluation will inform the recruitment and support of pre-service teachers in programs across the country.
