Building a Dallas-area Mathematics Teacher Pipeline

Southern Methodist University, Dallas TX

Investigators

Abstract

This Noyce Capacity Building project at Southern Methodist University (SMU) focuses on helping to meet the need for secondary mathematics teachers in the Dallas area. This project aims to build capacity for a future Noyce Track 1 Scholarship program at SMU that will recruit and prepare locally-rooted mathematics teachers for placement in high-need schools within the Dallas Independent School District. By collaborating with Dallas County Community College District (DCCCD), this project seeks to create a dual-enrollment recruitment program that prepares student scholars for dual degrees in Mathematics and Educational Studies at SMU. The project includes a collaboration with staff from the Budd Center, a unit of SMU's School of Education focused on bringing together educational non-profits in West Dallas. This collaboration aims to facilitate student immersion in West Dallas throughout the program. The project will also work with representatives from Dallas Independent School District to make successful placements and provide ongoing support of the student scholars. The project will work to create a circular pipeline through which local students attending DCCCD would attend SMU, participate in a community-focused training program, and then return to teach in high-need schools in their home communities. As DCCCD has a highly diverse student body, this project also seeks to enhance the diversity of teachers in the Dallas-area. The project aims to educate and support the student scholars so that they will be well prepared to teach in the area schools and be more likely to stay in those schools. This influx of locally-rooted teachers could fill a need for committed mathematics teachers, especially teachers of color, in Dallas Independent School District. This project aims to develop a pipeline program for developing mathematics teachers that could be implemented in new communities in the Dallas area that have shortages of well-trained mathematics teachers. 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.