Communities of Practice: Teacher Preparation and Beyond

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Stonehill College is providing 36 scholarships to about 18 junior or senior mathematics majors who commit to teaching at high needs school districts (including districts in Avon, Brockton, Holbrook, Randolph and Stoughton, MA). The project addresses the problems of retaining would-be teachers by developing a community of practice model to prepare and sustain teachers as they matriculate through their teacher preparation and beyond. The project provides professional development opportunities including bringing in master teachers for an on-campus Noyce Speaker Series, school-based enrichment programs where the scholars interact with K-12 students to develop deep conceptual understanding of mathematics, paid mathematics internships within local school districts, special interest housing, and semester-long or summer-long undergraduate research with mathematics or education faculty. The project also addresses the challenge of attracting and retaining highly qualified teachers in the difficult-to-recruit field of mathematics to high need schools while making an effort to attract and retain a more diverse teacher population. The recruitment of these scholars involves theme-based events while cultivating current and potential mathematics majors or students with a declared interest in education to consider joining a community of practice facilitated by the program's activities. The program's intentional design of integrating research with educational experiences enables new mathematics teachers to adopt similar models in their own classrooms, infusing education with the excitement of discovery and sparking their students' interest in mathematics.