Philadelphia Regional Noyce Partnership Scholarship Program

St Joseph'S University, Philadelphia PA

Investigators

Abstract

The Philadelphia Regional Noyce Scholarship Program is a Noyce Track 1 Scholarships and Stipends project at Saint Joseph's University. The project will address the national need for preparing highly effective secondary mathematics and science teachers for successful teaching careers in high-need urban environments. Six colleges and universities in the Philadelphia region will collaborate to increase: (i) the number of STEM majors that become teachers in high-need schools in the Philadelphia region and who persist as teachers; (ii) Noyce scholars' understanding of Culturally Responsive Teaching practices; and (iii) Noyce scholars' knowledge of Education for Sustainability content and pedagogical practices. The project will produce new STEM teachers drawn from biology, chemistry, mathematics, and physics majors and post-baccalaureates at the partnering institutions. Noyce scholars will participate in three years of learning community work, starting in their final year of pre-service preparation and continuing for their first two years of teaching. Through the scholars' participation in these learning communities, they will learn how to build social networks that will positively support acclimation to the teaching profession. Scholars will use teaching and learning strategies based on education for sustainability core standards. Additionally, twenty-four students from a local community college will take part in a summer internship program with the goal of increasing their interest in pursuing careers in STEM teaching at one of the partnering institutions. The project will award one-year Noyce scholarships to 55 undergraduate STEM majors and STEM post-baccalaureates. The scholarship granting institutions in the partnership are Arcadia University, Bryn Mawr College, La Salle University, Saint Joseph's University, and Temple University. They are joined in the project by two additional partnerships: the Community College of Philadelphia and the School District of Philadelphia. By bringing scholars from multiple institutions together, the project will create a regional community of practice that can engage a critical mass of participants, contribute to the formation of a robust professional social network, and foster culturally relevant and sustainability education practices. The project will investigate the degree to which these supports help retain new STEM teachers in the profession, resulting in addressing the critical need to attract well-prepared STEM teachers to the Philadelphia region. 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.