Recruiting, Preparing and Retaining Excellent STEM Teachers

Hood College, Frederick MD

Investigators

Abstract

Hood Colleges Recruiting, Preparing and Retaining Excellent STEM Teachers: Noyce Teacher Education Partnership (Track 1: Scholarships & Stipends) project will address the national need for STEM teachers who have strong subject-matter backgrounds and quality teacher preparation. This national need is evident in Maryland's critical shortage of STEM teachers, where STEM teachers often must be recruited from other states. Hood College's Noyce Teacher Education Partnership will be conducted as a collaboration between Hood College, Frederick Community College, and Frederick County Public Schools. The project will recruit and provide scholarships, specialized teacher preparation, and mentoring to 22 biology, chemistry, and mathematics students who will become teachers in high-need schools. Major program features will be (1) robust subject-matter preparation; (2) high-quality teacher preparation, including an opportunity to earn computer science endorsement; (3) collaboration between a college, a two-year institution, and a high-need school district; and (4) support mechanisms such as seminars, mentoring, field trips, student research, and summer internships working with at-risk youth in STEM. Benefits will be broad-reaching. Program graduates will be highly-qualified based on their participation in scientific inquiry and STEM problem-solving. The education program will prepare scholars for cultural diversity as they rotate through several school settings. Long-term partnerships between institutions will serve as a model of collaboration. The effectiveness of the program elements will be assessed, particularly for the internships, STEM teacher preparation methods, and summer scientific inquiry opportunities. The Noyce Teacher Education Partnership project will be a model program for recruiting diverse students into STEM teacher education, preparing them to work effectively and to be culturally responsive, and supporting them so they are retained in high-need school placements. The goals will be to recruit, retain, and graduate 22 secondary STEM teaching candidates; to promote their retention through mentoring efforts and financial and professional support; to build their cultural proficiency and professional skills; and to institutionalize program elements based on evaluation findings. Strategies to strengthen the depth and breadth of teacher preparation include the opportunity to complete research in a STEM area and teaching experiences at multiple partnership schools. Supplementary activities include a STEM 101 experience, seminars, workshops, field trips to build cultural competency, summer internships working with at-risk youth, and targeted advising and mentoring. With this strong preparation program, graduates will be poised to model STEM content knowledge excellence and scientific thinking, and inspire their own secondary students to consider STEM careers. The partnership with a community college and local public school system will result in collective institutional know-how for preparing culturally proficient secondary STEM teachers and a sustainable pipeline of future STEM educators. This model could be used to launch similar partnerships by other colleges and universities to develop their own pipeline of culturally responsive STEM teachers.