NebraskaNOYCE: NSF Mathematics Teaching and Master Teaching Fellows Program

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NebraskaNOYCE is a collaboration involving the University of Nebraska-Lincoln (UNL), Omaha Public Schools, Lincoln Public Schools, Grand Island Public Schools, Nebraska's Educational Service Units Coordinating Council, the University of Nebraska Foundation, and the Nebraska P-16 Initiative seeking to increase the number of high quality mathematics teachers in Nebraska's high need schools. Program objectives are to: 1) create a high quality one year (14-month) program leading to a Master of Arts for Mathematics Teachers (MAMT) degree and certification to teach mathematics; 2) recruit and significantly support 16 STEM professionals who enroll as NSF Teaching Fellows (TFs) in the MAMT degree program and continue to support them with mentoring and salary supplements while they fulfill a four-year teaching commitment to teach in a NebraskaNOYCE partner school district high need school; 3) recruit 24 NSF Master Teaching Fellows (MTFs) who commit to teach for five years in a high need school and support them with professional development, graduate level coursework and salary supplements as they become Master Teachers, able to significantly contribute to mathematics teaching and learning in their school and district; 4) provide mentoring and continuing professional development for TFs and MTFs while they fulfill their teaching requirement, creating a model for how mathematics and education faculty work in partnership with district mathematics leaders in pursuit of the common mission to improve mathematics teaching and learning in high need schools; and 5) bring NebraskaNOYCE to sustainability through the pursuit of university, private, and corporate funds that support mathematics teacher education and the university-local school district partnership. The innovative one-year masters/certification program offers an attractive option for STEM professionals who want to consider becoming a mathematics teacher. The recruitment of 16 Teaching Fellows preparing to teach mathematics, represents a 35% increase in the number of new mathematics teachers produced at UNL. The program places each TF in the classroom of a MTF for field experience. This tightly knit collaboration offers the TFs intensive, sustained field experience in diverse classrooms designed to connect theory and methods to classroom practice under the direct guidance of a MTF. The partner districts serve 31% of Nebraska's public school students, but 43.4% of Nebraska students from families below the poverty line, 78% of the state's African-American students, and 46% of the Hispanic students in the state. The project builds on a robust statewide partnership and two NSF MSPs - the Math in the Middle Institute Partnership (M2) and NebraskaMATH.