Recruit and Engage - Mathematics And Science Teachers, while Conducting a Longitudinal Study of Factors Influencing Effectiveness

Newberry College, Newberry SC

Investigators

Abstract

Developing more, highly qualified science and mathematics teachers is a national priority. Through funding from the National Science Foundation's Robert Noyce Teacher Scholarship Program, this Phase II Noyce project will continue much of the work initiated in Newberry College's Phase I Noyce award. This Recruit and Engage--Mathematics AND Science Teachers (RE-MAST) Phase II project will produce nine to sixteen additional STEM teachers over the course of the next five years, add leadership and mentor training for all parties in the project, and also conduct a longitudinal study of factors that contribute to Noyce Scholar recipients' pre- and in-service effectiveness and their persistence and leadership in the teaching profession. In this Phase II project, Newberry College will partner with the Retain and Empower Teachers through Action, Innovation, and Networking (RETAIN) Center of Excellence, a state-supported research hub focused on teacher retention, which is currently housed at Newberry College. The partner school districts of Fairfield, Newberry, Lexington, and Richland Counties in South Carolina will provide diverse settings for Noyce Scholars to explore and experience teaching, while at the same time benefitting from the number of nascent STEM teachers with solid backgrounds in science and/or mathematics, pedagogical skills and dispositions of determination for the potential of each student in their classrooms to learn consequential mathematics and science. Specific activities of the RE-MAST Phase II project include 1) recruiting nine to sixteen additional STEM majors into teaching; 2) delivering educational supports for Noyce Scholars; 3) providing professional development opportunities for Mentors, Noyce Teaching Fellows (former Noyce Scholars), and grant personnel; and 4) pursuing a rigorous research agenda related to teacher retention, or persistence of mathematics and science teachers in the teaching profession. This research study will examine factors at both the program level and the Noyce Scholar level. The project is explicit in its intent to benefit others through the sharing of research derivatives, including protocols, instruments, and professional development materials appropriate for use by practicing school professionals and teacher educators, as well as through scholarly publication of results and findings.