Preparing Mathematics and Science Teachers for Middle School

Drexel University, Philadelphia PA

Investigators

Abstract

This Noyce Track 1 Scholarships and Stipends project seeks to address the national and local shortage of highly qualified middle school mathematics and science teachers. Drexel University intends to recruit twenty-four individuals earning a baccalaureate degree in a STEM discipline and to prepare them to become teachers of mathematics and science in urban high-need school districts. It is expected that these STEM majors will earn a minor in education and will contribute to the teacher workforce in the School District of Philadelphia and Philadelphia charter schools. In addition to recruiting and preparing these Noyce Scholars to be successful in teaching in urban middle schools, the project seeks to retain them in the system for at least five years. Undergraduate coursework will be supplemented with clinical field, tutoring, and pre-residency and residency experiences. The program participants will be immersed in pedagogical experiences and discussions related to their discipline and to teaching in high-need urban schools. These Noyce Scholars will continue to receive mentoring during their first three years of teaching; this mentoring will be provided by the University's newly established Early Career Practitioner Institute. To support the Noyce Scholars and create a professional community of teacher learners, the Scholars will also have an opportunity to participate in summer workshops, work with project staff during periodic site visits, attend professional conferences, and participate in an online social network created in support of this project. In addition, Scholars will receive support and mentoring from university faculty. By creating and sustaining this community of teacher-learners, the project aims to create a cadre of highly qualified middle-grades mathematics and science teachers for high-need urban schools. The project will use recent scientific, mathematical, and educational knowledge to prepare and support the twenty-four pre-service teacher candidates with an emphasis on understanding the culture and life experiences of students in high-need schools. The project intends to promote social justice teaching, which emphasizes connecting science, mathematics, and engineering instruction to students' personal experiences and culture. This connection can leverage the funds of knowledge that each student brings to learning. Inquiry-based instruction supports this approach as it opens communication among students by establishing a learning community of shared knowledge and experience. Seminars related to mindfulness and developing emotional intelligence will augment the Scholars' coursework. The latter will be scaffolded to develop the following behaviors: professionalism, growth mindset, commitment to serving all students well, and cultural competency. Essential skills that will be developed through the coursework include understanding students' cultural communities as a foundation for classroom culture and building strong relationships, taking ownership of student learning and professional growth, setting and maintaining high behavioral expectations, leading rigorous and aligned content instruction, and demonstrating content expertise and pedagogical content knowledge. These essential skills and core competencies will be demonstrated in the context of teaching mathematics and science to middle-grades students in high-need schools. Early experiences consisting of linking content knowledge with appropriate pedagogical and content knowledge with pre-residency and residency experiences are intended to strengthen the Scholars' content and pedagogical knowledge while supporting first steps into the world of teaching. Rubrics to assess the attainment of the core competencies and essential skills will be used to collect data related to the Scholars' proficiency in these aspects. It is anticipated that the documentation of project activities and identification of learnings from project implementation will be disseminated to the education community through conference presentations, a project website, and professional publications. The long-term and far-reaching benefits to society of this project are the potential to document and share sustainable approaches, steeped in the context of social-justice, for recruiting and preparing STEM majors to provide success in learning mathematics and science for all middle-grades students in a high-need school district. 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.