Preparing STEM Majors to Become Highly-Qualified Chemistry and Physics High School Teachers

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This project is addressing the acute shortage of highly-qualified and certified high school chemistry and physics teachers in the South Texas region by enabling STEM majors to obtain an interdisciplinary teaching degree; the Bachelor of Science in Interdisciplinary Studies (BSIS) in Physical Sciences (Chemistry and Physics). Twenty talented STEM majors in the last two years of their baccalaureate are being recruited and supported through the Robert Noyce Scholarship Program to obtain BSIS degrees in Physical Sciences with teaching certification. It is envisioned that a rigorous teacher preparation program like the BSIS in Physical Science, with the following support structures: competitive scholarship; mentoring; field experiences; student-centered classroom environment; strong collaboration among College of Education and College of Science faculty and staff; strong support from independent school districts; and a structured induction program, will lead to the production and retention of much needed highly-qualified and certified chemistry and physics teachers who will be teaching in high-need school districts of the South Texas region. The Robert Noyce scholar-graduates are expected to provide the much needed leadership in making STEM education more responsive to the needs, interests, and abilities of high school students, thereby increasing the number of youths who are enabled for success in STEM at the University level and beyond. The BSIS in Physical Sciences is the first university-based program in the Rio Grande Valley designed to produce high school teachers with strong content preparation in Chemistry and Physics and with sufficient pedagogical content knowledge, cognitive, and management skills necessary to be effective and efficient science teachers. The partner school districts that include Valley View Independent School District, Edinburg Consolidated Independent School District, South Texas Independent School District, and the Pharr-San Juan-Alamo Independent School District, are all high-need districts in a predominantly Hispanic region with the majority of their students taking chemistry and physics taught by teachers out of their area of certification.