Preparing Tomorrow's Science and Mathematics Teachers: The Community College Response

Phi Theta Kappa Headquarters, Jackson MS

Investigators

Abstract

Phi Theta Kappa, the honor society for two-year colleges, in cooperation with the American Association of Community Colleges (AACC), is conducting a multi-disciplinary, multi-component, nationwide mentoring project to enhance and expand the role of community colleges in providing teacher preparation programs for future K-12 science and mathematics teachers. This project responds to the recommendation areas put forth in the NSF report, "Investing in Tomorrow's Teachers: The Integral Role of Two Year Colleges in the Science and Mathematics Preparation of Prospective Teachers." Project objectives are being accomplished through a set of proven mentoring activities that extend, for replication and/or adaptation, the knowledge, experience and materials achieved by seven community college teacher preparation programs recognized as exemplary by NSF --first to 18 competitively selected community colleges, and then, via extensive dissemination activities, to community, technical, and junior colleges nationwide. Project activities include: national competition to select 18 colleges; two National Teacher Preparation Conferences, at which mentors, and resource persons from their four-year college partners, work with their assigned four-member college teams to develop action plans; mentoring services, including site visits, throughout the project; a periodic networking/collaboration-building newsletter, available electronically and in print; a case study monograph for distribution to presidents, academic deans, education chairs, science or mathematics chairs, and education institutions in the participating colleges regions; and a broad range of other dissemination activities through Phi Theta Kappa and AACC websites, conferences, and publications. The 18 community colleges selected to participate are each working with one assigned community college educator/mentor and one four year college resource person from exemplary teacher preparation programs at El Camino College, CA; William Rainey Harper College, IL; Henry Ford Community College, MI; Tulsa Community College, OK; Community College of Philadelphia, PA; Prince George's Community College, MD; and Green River Community College, WA. Mentors and resource persons represent disciplines of mathematics, biology, physics, chemistry, and education. Taken as a whole, these teacher preparation programs address NSF's teacher preparation recommendation areas: recruitment of prospective teachers; strengthening undergraduate courses and infrastructure; preservice experiences; inservice activities; and liaison between two and four year institutions.