STEM Pre-Service Teacher Scholars Program with Special Training to Support English Language Learners

University Of California-Riverside, Riverside CA

Investigators

Abstract

With support from the Robert Noyce Teacher Scholarship Program (Noyce), this Track 1: Scholarships and Stipends project at the University of California, Riverside aims to address the local need for high-quality STEM teachers in high-need school districts. This project plans to recruit, support, and prepare 53 undergraduates to become certified teachers in highly needed STEM areas such as chemistry and physics. These Noyce Scholars will be able to speak both English and Spanish and will be trained in effective teaching practices for English language learners. It will also measure the self-efficacy and motivation of new STEM Teacher Scholars, as well as their teaching quality, placement, and retention in high need school districts/classrooms. This STEM Teacher Scholar recruitment and training project is designed to meet the needs of the local community. Results of the project will inform national models for improving STEM teaching and learning, especially for English language learners, addressing a vital need to serve the growing national population of underserved students. The project is designed to achieve the following goals: recruit, educated, and credential 53 Scholars, including five who have transferred to the University from community colleges; prepare teachers from STEM disciplines for which there is an acute need for teachers; create a pipeline of undergraduate STEM teachers from the University and regional community colleges; and prepare teachers to effectively deliver 21st century STEM instruction in high-need school district classrooms with a large proportion of English Language Learners. This project creates strong collaborations between the University of California, Riverside, and three regional community colleges: Riverside City College, Norco College, and Moreno Valley College, to recruit and train STEM students to become teachers. Recruitment of Scholars will focus on the following STEM majors: life sciences, mathematical sciences, physical sciences, and engineering, with a preference for chemistry and physics majors (content areas of greatest shortage in the region). Undergraduate Scholars will participate in Val Verde Unified School District's English language learners professional development program. The project has the potential to serve as a national model for producing STEM teachers with expertise in STEM subject matter and pedagogy, and who are fully responsive to the needs of students who are English language learners. The Noyce Program supports talented STEM undergraduate majors and professionals to become effective K-12 STEM teachers and experienced, exemplary K-12 STEM teachers to become STEM master teachers in high-need school districts. It also supports research on the persistence, retention, and effectiveness of K-12 STEM teachers in high-need school districts. 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.