Creating Community-Based STEM Teacher Pathways

Pacific University, Forest Grove OR

Investigators

Abstract

With support from the Robert Noyce Teacher Scholarship Program (Noyce), this Track 1: Scholarships and Stipends project aims to prepare high-quality STEM teachers for local high-need, rural school districts. This project will develop a supported pathway into long term teaching careers for 60 undergraduate STEM majors or STEM career changers. It will prepare these Noyce Teacher Scholars to be highly-effective teachers who can use culturally responsive teaching methods to support their students' success in STEM. Program participants may major in or have STEM degrees in Physics, Chemistry, Biology, Geology, Mathematics, Engineering, Environmental Science, or Computer Science. An important strength is the project's emphasis on recruiting STEM teachers from Oregon's community colleges and rural communities through both undergraduate and career-change post-baccalaureate pathways. In partnership with Chemeketa Community College, a regional Hispanic Serving Institution, the project will provide financial support to 20 Pacific-Chemeketa Noyce Interns. The internship will include focused mentoring, coursework, and field experiences in STEM teaching, which will involve both Pacific University and Noyce Scholar Alumni. Through its training of STEM teachers for rural areas, this project addresses the national interest of broadening participation and success in STEM careers. The goal of this project is to prepare culturally responsive STEM teachers through a comprehensive approach that includes targeted recruitment of STEM majors and STEM post-baccalaureates. Program participants will engage in over 1200 hours of supervised clinical practice embedded in linguistically- and culturally-diverse high-need school districts and benefit from coursework that incorporates culturally responsive and congruent STEM pedagogy. Noyce Scholars will have first-hand experiences leveraging cultural knowledge to transform STEM education to increase the success of their students. The project's leadership team will use a series of focused case studies to explore the impact of project components on the effectiveness of Noyce Scholar Alumni. Each case study group will consist of 4-6 Noyce Scholar Alumni who will be interviewed and observed in classrooms in the year after program completion. Additional data about the effectiveness of the Noyce Scholar Alumni will be gathered from student learning results and from relevant administrators. Reports resulting from analysis of these case studies will be shared with local partner stakeholders, as well as the broader Noyce and professional STEM education communities. The Noyce program supports talented STEM undergraduate majors and professionals to become effective K-12 STEM teachers in high-need school districts and experienced, exemplary K-112 STEM teachers to become STEM master teachers. 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.