Creating a Grow-Your-Own Program for Recruiting and Supporting Computer Science Teacher Candidates in Rural Georgia

Mercer University, Macon GA

Investigators

Abstract

The project aims to serve the national need of building capacity to prepare high-quality computer science (CS) teachers. Thousands of CS positions remain unfilled, partly due to a shortage of CS teachers to educate students for future CS careers. This project intends to respond to the shortage by creating a pathway for high school students to become CS teachers, with scholarship funds as an incentive. The project team plans to develop a Grow-Your-Own (GYO) model for prospective CS teachers, focused on rural Georgia. The aim of the GYO model will be to recruit interested students from high school who intend to return to their hometown to teach CS. Dual enrollment courses (for high school and college credit), stipends for two-year college courses, and scholarship funds for two years at Mercer will combine to provide a college education for prospective CS teachers. This project at Mercer University includes partnerships with Wiregrass Georgia Technical College and eight rural Georgia high-need school districts (Clinch, Coffee, Dublin, Evans, Jeff Davis, Tattnall, Treutlen, and Wheeler). Project goals include identifying and adding new partners, developing a GYO model incorporating dual enrollment and community college pathways; and creating a recruitment plan. Informal interviews and surveys with district leaders, teachers, and prospective CS teachers will inform the development of a GYO model that meets the needs of the community. Although this specific project seeks to address the shortage of CS teachers in rural Georgia, the project team intends to share effective strategies at state and national conferences to promote transfer of the development process to other settings. An external evaluator and an advisory board will also support the project. This Capacity Building project is supported through the Robert Noyce Teacher Scholarship Program (Noyce). The Noyce program 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.