University and Community College Collaboration for Mathematics and Biology Scholar Teacher Education

Northeastern Illinois University, Chicago IL

Investigators

Abstract

With funding from the National Science Foundation's Robert Noyce Teacher Scholarship program, University and Community College Collaboration for Mathematics and Biology Scholar Teacher Education will recruit undergraduate majors in mathematics and biology, and prepare them to teach at the high school level. The project will fund 45 scholarships over 5 years. In this project, Northeastern Illinois University will collaborate with Wilbur Wright and Harry S Truman Colleges and the Chicago Public Schools Offices of Math and Science. Faculty, coursework, and research will be shared across the Noyce learning community created by these four institutions, blending the experiences for the Noyce Scholars into a single, collaborative, multi-institutional program. In addition to building identities as collaborative scientists and educators, Noyce Scholars will benefit from a variety of supplemental activities, such as course-embedded research, guided summer research projects, and experiences with students and teachers in high-need schools. Additional supports for Noyce scholars include informal education programs, mentoring by faculty and master-teachers in biology and math, training for peer leadership in PLTL (Peer Led Team Learning) groups, and content-specific new teacher induction and mentoring after graduation. The program will also sponsor scholars' attendance at professional conferences as well as presentations of their research with peers and faculty partners. Building on these efforts, the project will seek answers to three questions: 1) What is the relationship between Noyce Scholars' experiences in this STEM teacher preparation program, with its emphasis on collaboration, and community building in their school communities via their engagement in collaborative practices? 2) To what extent do pre-service collaboration practices facilitate Scholars' collaboration in other parts of their academic program and later in their teaching careers? 3) Do teacher quality and teacher retention in high-need urban schools improve as a result of such collaborations?