This project aims to address the national shortage of science and mathematics teachers. Because of the shortage, fewer students receive high quality instruction in STEM. Thus, many students graduate from high school without the skills needed for college and careers in today’s technology-driven world. This project aims to be part of the national solution by addressing the shortage in rural high-need school districts in West Tennessee. The project intends to recruit 25 individuals who hold undergraduate degrees in STEM fields, including STEM professionals. They will receive stipend support to become licensed educators as they complete a one-year master’s degree in education. This year of graduate school, followed by a mentored, one-year practicum while employed in rural high school classrooms, will prepare them as teachers. The need for more STEM teachers results both from too few teachers entering and too many leaving the teaching profession. This project intends to address both issues. Financial support will lower the cost of entry to the teaching profession to address the problem of too few entering teaching. Proper preparation and mentorship are expected to address the problem of too many leaving teaching.
This project at the University of Tennessee at Martin includes partnerships with Gibson County Special School District, Lauderdale County School District, and Obion County School District. The project goals over five years include recruiting 25 individuals with bachelor’s degrees in mathematics, computer science, biology, chemistry, physics, geoscience, or engineering and preparing them to become highly effective teachers. Research shows that compensation and preparation influence the decision to become and to remain a teacher, regardless of content area. Through quantitative measures, interviews, and surveys, the project intends to examine how financial and other factors motivate individuals with STEM degrees to become teachers. The preparation includes Growth Mindset and the Classroom Organization and Management Program in addition to education coursework, early clinical experiences, implicit bias awareness training, and preparation for the edTPA assessment of preservice teachers. The project will examine the effects of graduate education coursework and of mentorship on these individuals’ effectiveness in and persistence in the teaching profession. The project expects to have a broader impact of increasing access to effective STEM education for students in rural high-need schools. External evaluators from RMC Research Corporation will assess achievement of project goals. Project findings will be disseminated through conferences and journals of national educator associations by project investigators. This Track 1: Scholarships and Stipends project is supported through the Robert Noyce Teacher Scholarship Program (Noyce). The Noyce program supports talented STEM undergraduate majors and professionals to become effective K-12 STEM teachers and experienced, exemplary K-12 teachers to become STEM master teachers in high-need school districts. It also supports research on the persistence, retention, and effectiveness of K-12 STEM teachers in high-need school districts.
This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.
