Investing through Noyce in Vocations to Engage in STEM Teaching: Preparing High Achieving STEM Teachers to Serve High-Need Schools

St Peter'S University, Jersey City NJ

Investigators

Abstract

The Saint Peter's University "Investing through Noyce in Vocations to Engage in STEM Teaching: Preparing High Achieving STEM Teachers to Serve High-Need Schools" project will address two national challenges in STEM education: (i) the shortage of qualified teachers in STEM fields and (ii) the underrepresentation of STEM teachers from minority backgrounds in primary and secondary schools. In collaboration with Hudson County Community College (HCCC), and in partnership with high-need local educational agencies, this Robert Noyce Teacher Scholarship Track I project will prepare a minimum of 25 STEM teachers, recruited from biology, chemistry, mathematics and physics majors. The project's collaborative efforts with HCCC will feature early career exposure and inclusion in pre-service teaching activities for HCCC transfer students. As both Saint Peter's University and Hudson County Community College are Hispanic Serving Institutions, the project will advance knowledge of the conditions necessary to successfully recruit, retain, and prepare undergraduate STEM majors from mostly underrepresented and diverse backgrounds to become effective K-12 STEM teachers in high-need schools, many of which are located in their own neighborhoods with high percentages of minority, immigrant, and low-income K-12 students. Through innovative methods, this project will accomplish three goals that address the national need of highly qualified STEM teachers. First, to increase the effectiveness of attracting high-achieving students to STEM teaching careers, the project will introduce recruitment activities at the earliest phases of undergraduate study, including extensive outreach to prospective transfer students in their initial year at Hudson County Community College. Second, to effectively prepare Noyce scholars to teach in high-need schools, the project will provide a holistic and intensive program of support to teacher candidates. The support program will supplement curricular requirements with intensive mentoring, multiple opportunities for experiential learning, and an emphasis on discernment of teaching as a vocation and the values of service and social justice. Third, to retain STEM teachers in their careers, the project will support new teachers through ongoing mentoring and professional development. The project evaluation will track the impact of program components with respect to student teaching practice, satisfaction, and persistence in the profession. Its central inquiry will concern determining, refining, and sharing the components of a program that will recruit, produce and retain successful STEM teachers reared to work in high-need schools. Comprehensive and careful evaluation of the proposed program will determine factors that best prepare scholars to effectively teach in high-need schools and widely share (through such means as publications, professional meetings, and conference presentations) a model that is easily replicable in other urban settings.