A Community-Based and Culturally Responsive Approach to STEM Teacher Preparation, Induction and Retention

Miami University, Oxford OH

Investigators

Abstract

This Noyce project at Miami University will advance understanding of the role and promise of a community-based, culturally responsive approach to science and mathematics teachers' pre-service preparation, induction, and retention. The project will build upon Miami University's Urban Teaching Cohort program which employs the community-based and culturally responsive approach to teacher preparation. In this approach, teacher candidates are incrementally and intentionally immersed in community- and school-based experiences as they prepare to teach in partner schools serving high-need communities. Preparing future science and mathematics teachers as agents of social justice is a necessary shift if racially, ethnically, and culturally diverse students from high-need school districts and economically disadvantaged communities are to internalize the knowledge and critical consciousness that will prepare and empower them to seize opportunities for college and career, as well as to advocate for themselves, their families, and communities. Additionally, data collected from this project will measure the effectiveness of this approach on candidates' learning to teach by comparing it with traditional approaches to STEM teacher preparation which lack a multicultural focus. This project is a partnership involving the university's College of Education, Health and Society, College of Arts and Science, and Urban Teaching Cohort program in collaboration with Cincinnati Public School and Middletown City School districts in Ohio. The project will offer two scholarship and stipend pathways and an internship option for 34 talented STEM undergraduates and STEM professionals to pursue secondary science or mathematics teacher certification in grades 7-12. Pathway 1 will prepare undergraduate STEM majors who commit to becoming Noyce scholars through the pursuit of a double major in a STEM content discipline and in integrated mathematics or a science education. Pathway 2 will provide one-year stipends to support outstanding STEM professionals and recent STEM graduates to pursue teacher certification through a master's degree in secondary science or mathematics education. The project will also provide a robust mentoring and professional development project for Noyce scholars that supports their transition into full-time teaching and assists them during the difficult early-induction period, where research cites the highest rate of teacher attrition occurs.