The Pipeline to Purpose Project

Norfolk State University, Norfolk VA

Investigators

Abstract

This project aims to serve the national need to create an exemplar for STEM teacher recruitment and retention for high need STEM areas and hard-to-staff schools, two of the greatest challenges facing American Education. Selected from urban settings, the intent of this project is to inspire and support high school students and matriculating STEM undergraduate majors to return to their communities as teachers. Urban settings are characterized by poorly equipped school leaders, underachieving students, students from low-income families, high concentrations of unlicensed teachers, and dismal teacher retention rates. A potentially sustainable solution is to create a circuit of prospective teachers who are familiar with these challenges, intrinsically motivated, and "fit" by their conscious decision to teach. When "fit" is the focus of teacher recruitment, teacher shortages are likely to decrease. Additionally, without the support of a STEM teacher workforce, promises for the Nation’s future economic prosperity may be threatened. Therefore, the overarching goal of this project is to use early field experiences, self-assessments, reflection, and high-quality mentoring to shape positive interest in teaching by highlighting personal and social benefits, building confidence, diminishing misconceptions, and providing tutorial and financial support to teacher candidates from admission to early career stages. This project at Norfolk State University includes partnerships with two historically Black high schools within different urban districts. Project goals include a measurable increase in program completers and an executable plan to reduce program barriers. In addition, this project will provide scholarships to enable 15 high-achieving students to complete Bachelor of Science degrees in areas such as math, physics, biology, and chemistry and a state-issued teaching license over 5 years. This graduation rate will help position the University to be one of the top producers of STEM teachers in the Commonwealth of Virginia. Furthermore, the project aims to use qualitative techniques to answer questions such as: What is the efficacy of the integration of AI-enhanced applications for proficiency exam preparation? Overall, the research will extend the literature on teacher-job fit (i.e., the degree to which a teacher possesses job satisfaction, habits of mind, knowledge, and skills needed to persist in the profession). Formative and summative evaluations with feedback loops will be conducted by MN Associates, Inc. and used to make programmatic improvements. Results will be disseminated to participating districts, the Virginia Department of Education, the Council for the Accreditation of Education, and University councils. On a wider scale, conference presentations will be made regionally and/or nationally/internationally (e.g., UTeach Summer Conferences, Noyce Annual Conferences, Regional NSF Meetings, Virginia Association of Science Teachers Conferences, Virginia Council of Teacher Educators Conferences, and the Association of Teacher Educators Conference). This Track 1: Scholarships and Stipends 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.