Recruiting and Retaining STEM Teachers through Authentic Partnerships between a Four-Year Institution and Community Colleges

Saint Joseph'S College, Standish ME

Investigators

Abstract

This Noyce Track 1 project aims to serve the national need to recruit, prepare, and support high-quality STEM teachers by fostering partnerships between four-year institutions and community colleges. Saint Joseph's College of Maine, a four-year institution, and Southern Maine Community College will use several unique programs and partnerships with rural and urban school districts to increase the diversity of the STEM teaching workforce while attracting and preparing students who would not otherwise have considered teaching. Planned interventions include the Teaching Experience Short Course, Careers in STEM Education panels, new teacher support structures, and professional development opportunities. The institutional partnership will expand to include additional community college partners and serve as a replicable model and resource hub for other institutions to guide navigating challenges and realizing the benefits of community college partnerships. This project at Saint Joseph's College of Maine includes partnerships with Southern Maine Community College and Central Maine Community College, as well as high-need local education agencies Portland, Lewiston, Lake Region, Westbrook, Regional Unit 4, and Regional Unit 6. The project goals are to: (1) increase the number of undergraduates interested in STEM teaching; (2) increase the effectiveness of educators in high-need classrooms through exposure to diverse settings, professional development, and reflective practice; and (3) increase the retention of teachers in high-need school districts through targeted mentoring and professional learning communities. This project seeks to fill a gap in research examining community college student perspectives on teaching to address the shortage of STEM teachers. Examination of perceptions of community college students and teaching will help inform models to guide institutions with similar situations and challenges. Formative and summative evaluation tools have been designed to align directly with the project goals utilizing multiple sources. Results will be shared with regional and national audiences at partner institutions via an annual advisory meeting through our electronic resource hub. 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.