Growing Educators of Mathematics and Science: Cultivating Mathematics and Science Teachers Who Serve in High-need Communities

Old Dominion University Research Foundation, Norfolk VA

Investigators

Abstract

The project aims to serve the national need of preparing high quality STEM teachers to serve in high-need school districts. To meet the needs of such districts, teachers must be prepared in the use of best practices in support of student success in science and mathematics. This includes culturally relevant pedagogy. This project seeks to recruit STEM majors to become teachers in high-need school districts. It intends to provide scholarships to junior and senior level university students pursuing baccalaureate degrees in STEM disciplines, along with teacher certification at the secondary or middle grade level. As part of the project’s recruitment strategy of STEM majors to the teaching profession, this project intends to support student service internship opportunities for freshmen through junior year university students. These service internships are intended to provide university STEM students with opportunities to spend time in high-need school district classrooms. This is to allow the interns to observe high-quality teachers in grades 6-12, to engage with students, and to become aware of productive teaching and learning strategies. The quality grades 6-12 STEM educators resulting from this project are expected to enhance the student learning experiences and success of students in mathematics and science in the Hampton Roads community. This project at Old Dominion University includes partnerships with the Chesapeake Public Schools, Norfolk Public Schools, Suffolk Public Schools, and Virginia Beach City Public Schools, as well as Thomas Nelson Community College (name changing to Virginia Peninsula Community College). The primary goal of the project is to recruit and provide financial support to 27 high-achieving STEM students who complete STEM baccalaureate degrees while also obtaining teaching credentials and solidify agreements to teach in the Hampton Roads districts (divisions). In addition to a solid STEM baccalaureate degree program and certification path, the project intends to use internships, workshops, seminars, and both university faculty and district teacher mentors to grow the understanding of culturally relevant pedagogies among the Noyce Scholars. As project participants, students will be provided opportunities to engage with local schools, build relationships with school partners, learn best-practices for teaching in high-need environments, and return to teach in the surrounding and school partner districts. As project participants transition into project alumni and return to partnership districts to teach, students at partnership schools will have the opportunity to interact with and grow from the project alumni, which will serve as a recruitment opportunity for continual perpetuation of project applicants. This Track 1: Scholarships and Stipends project is supported through the Robert Noyce Teacher Scholarship Project (Noyce). The Noyce project supports talented STEM undergraduate majors and professionals to become effective K-12 STEM teachers and experienced, exemplary K-12 teachers to become STEM master teachers in high-need school districts. It also supports research on the effectiveness and retention 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.