Supporting Noyce Scholars Through Professional Learning Communities

University Of Colorado At Colorado Springs, Colorado Springs CO

Investigators

Abstract

The University of Colorado at Colorado Springs (UCCS) will implement a Noyce Track 1 Scholarships & Stipends project to address the STEM teacher shortage across Southern Colorado, particularly in middle and high school classrooms serving economically and ethnically diverse student populations. This UCCS Noyce project will be providing financial support to approximately 35 talented and highly qualified undergraduate science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) content majors and post-baccalaureate STEM professionals simultaneously completing the requirements for a secondary education teaching license in mathematics or science through the UCCSTeach program. Upon graduation, Noyce graduates will be committing to teaching in a high-need school district for two years in return for each year of financial support received. Three high-need local education agencies (LEAs) will partner with UCCS to implement this Noyce project. Partnering LEAs include Colorado Springs School District 11, Falcon School District 49, and Harrison School District 2. Experienced in-service mentor teachers from STEM disciplines representing all three partner school districts and UCCS STEM faculty members will be supporting UCCS Noyce scholars throughout the duration of the project. This UCCS Noyce project will help reconcile the STEM teacher shortage in Southern Colorado by recruiting, training, and retaining high quality STEM graduates within high-need school districts. This project will be directly impacting between 10,000-12,000 secondary-level (grades 7-12) students enrolled in STEM courses over a five-year period. This UCCS Noyce project will include three distinct phases, with each phase implemented by UCCS STEM faculty in conjunction with experienced in-service mentor teachers from the partner LEAs. The project phases include: (1) strategic recruitment of a cohort of 7-10 Noyce candidates each year, (2) targeted pre-service STEM teacher training offered through the research-based UCCSTeach program, supplementary field experiences and pre-ternships, augmented by a series of Professional Learning Communities (PLCs) led by in-service mentor teachers from the partner LEAs, and (3) on-going support for in-service Noyce graduates through the creation of a Noyce Support Network. The project will be providing Noyce scholars with ongoing STEM content and teaching professional development opportunities, including both online and face-to-face offerings. This three-phase project will be resulting in the production of knowledgeable, highly-qualified STEM teachers who are well-prepared to effectively address the realities and challenges associated with teaching in high-need classrooms. The project will be systematically measuring the impact of the strategic recruitment efforts, efficacy of the pre-service teacher training (with a particular focus on impact and quality of the PLCs and in-service mentoring offered in phase 2), and outcomes associated with placement and retention of Noyce graduates as they relate to the Noyce Support Network.