Educating STEM Majors to Teach in High-Need Schools

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The University of West Florida, in collaboration with two Florida public community colleges, Pensacola State College and Northwest Florida State College, will address the need to recruit and retain highly qualified STEM teachers for grades 6-12 with a commitment to serve in high-need school districts through funding from Track 1 of the Robert Noyce Teacher Scholarship Program. The project will recruit, train, and retain eighteen STEM majors to serve as grade 6-12 teachers in the disciplines of mathematics, physics, chemistry, biology, and earth environmental science. Additionally, the project will support eighteen eligible dual-enrolled, freshman, and sophomore STEM students in an early teaching experience and a summer community-based service learning internship. Each Noyce scholar will participate in activities to improve their cultural competence with working in high-need schools and to enhance their professional identity.Project goals will include 1) recruiting highly qualified STEM majors into a career in teaching, 2) increasing the number and quality of certified STEM grades 6-12 teachers, and 3) supporting Noyce Scholar graduates during their first few years of teaching. The project team will research the following questions: 1) What factors encourage STEM majors to pursue teaching careers in high-need local educational agencies (LEAs)? 2) What factors contribute to retaining graduated STEM majors as grades 6-12 classroom teachers in high-need LEAs? 3) How does the project's learning community support Scholars' professional teacher development? Each Noyce scholar will work with an average of 150 different students each year for a total of approximately 750 students every five years; therefore, 18 Noyce Scholars will impact an estimated 13,500 students in high-need school districts. Working with the districts, graduates will receive additional support to ensure their success as a novice teacher increasing the likelihood that Noyce scholars will remain in the teaching profession beyond five years, impacting thousands of students in Northwest Florida.