Scholarship Support for STEM Teacher Preparation and Induction for Urban High Need Schools

Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond VA

Investigators

Abstract

With funding from the National Science Foundation's Robert Noyce Teacher Scholarship program, the Track 1 VCU NOYCE Phase III project will recruit STEM majors and prepare them to become secondary mathematics and science teachers. The project will fund 25 scholarships/stipends/fellowships, including 12 STEM majors each receiving two years of support and 13 Masters of Teaching students each receiving one year of support, over 5 years. In this project, Virginia Commonwealth University will collaborate with Richmond Metro region school districts to address a longstanding shortage of mathematics and science teachers and their retention. To address this shortage, VCU Noyce Phase III will incorporate two recruitment opportunities including a summer camp internship and a new service learning course designed to provide experiences in classrooms. To support and retain Scholars in the classroom, the program will offer a two year induction program that includes monthly support sessions with a school-based induction mentor. As a Phase III project, the current effort will build on past success and implement new approaches for recruitment and retention. This project aims to advance secondary science and mathematics education by adding knowledge about culturally responsive pedagogy, the impact of internship models, and the use of induction supports for retention. The project will produce a collection of materials that can be used to establish internship programs and to create a process/framework for Induction Mentors. Four areas of research will be addressed to examine the impact of recruitment strategies across Phase I to III: 1) the impact of the pre-service MT program on the cultural competency of the scholars; 2) the adequacy of the induction model across Phase I to III; 3) the effectiveness of social networking strategies; and 4) the sustainability of the program components. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.