RISE: Recruitment and Induction of STEM Educators

Piedmont College, Demorest GA

Investigators

Abstract

The project aims to address the national need for developing highly effective secondary STEM educators by increasing capacity for recruiting and training STEM graduates for careers in secondary STEM education. In this initial capacity-building year, a project team including professors of biology and education will work with local high-need school districts and two-year technical colleges to gather data, design a recruiting plan, and investigate the feasibility of incorporating innovations into a project tailored to training STEM graduates as educators. This project, at Piedmont University, includes partnerships with three two-year technical colleges in Georgia (Athens, Lanier, and North Georgia technical colleges) and three high-need school districts (Gainesville City, Gwinnett County, and Stephens County school districts). Piedmont is also developing connections with two alternative high schools (Mountain Education and Foothills Regional High School) to assess the needs of both teachers and students in these districts, and to assist in recruiting prospective students from their respective institutions. The project has the following goals: (1) to develop a plan for internal recruitment of Piedmont STEM majors to Piedmont's Master of Arts in Teaching (MAT) program; (2) to ease the undergraduate-to-graduate pathway for Piedmont STEM majors seeking an MAT in STEM education; (3) to recruit transfer students from local two-year technical colleges to complete undergraduate STEM degrees and the MAT teaching certification program at Piedmont; (4) to develop partnerships between Piedmont faculty and STEM educators at local high-need secondary schools for assessment of student and teacher needs at these schools; and (5) to explore the feasibility of integrating outreach programs into a future project to prepare STEM graduates for STEM teaching careers in high-need secondary schools. A substantive body of literature affirms that, because of their deep understanding of content, STEM graduates can be especially effective secondary STEM educators once they receive rigorous pedagogical training such as that to be developed through this project. Moreover, effective STEM educators achieving competency to support students in diverse school districts has potential to contribute meaningfully to broader diversity in STEM professions. Expanded conversations with high-need schools and plans for a STEM summer camp and science Discovery Center, have potential to broaden interest in STEM in local schools and communities. The evaluation plan will involve surveys, focus groups, and other assessment approaches involving educators, students, and alumni. 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.