Integration of Teaching Co-ops in a Master's of Education Program for STEM Teachers

Marquette University, Milwaukee WI

Investigators

Abstract

With funding from the NSF Robert Noyce Teacher Scholarship Program, a team from the Colleges of Arts & Sciences, Education, and Engineering at Marquette University, partnering with Brown Deer School District and West Allis-West Milwaukee School District, as well as with a number of schools, will recruit and prepare science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) majors as post-baccalaureate Noyce Scholars for careers in teaching secondary mathematics or science. The project will build on a prior Noyce project (DUE award 0934442) that was focused on undergraduate Noyce Scholars and that successfully integrated teaching cooperative education experiences (intensive field experiences) with education pedagogy and STEM content knowledge. By the end of the five-year project, 28 Noyce Teachers will have begun their teaching careers in high-need local education agencies in the greater Milwaukee area. This project will develop methods for building a community of graduate students, K-12 school teachers and administrators, and university faculty focused on STEM education across the traditional boundaries of departments, colleges, schools, and school districts. Use of the co-op model will provide the Noyce Scholars with extensive hands-on, career related work experience and the opportunity to develop professionally as well as academically. The goals of the project will include: (1) build on knowledge gained through the prior successful undergraduate Noyce program to develop a STEM teacher preparation providing a graduate level program for individuals with a B.S. in a STEM discipline; (2) provide an exceptional STEM master's level teaching licensure program specifically targeted to address the challenges of high-need schools; and (3) mentor and retain these highly qualified STEM teachers through various networking, support, and professional development activities