Science Math Access, Research, and Teaching

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Science Math Access, Research, and Teaching (SMART) is a Track 1 Robert Noyce Teacher Scholarship Program project at California State University Stanislaus. SMART aims to address the severe shortage of STEM teachers in the university's service area. While the region has an overwhelmingly large K-12 minority student population, very few teachers are from underrepresented populations. As such, it is critical to increase the number of teachers who share their students' cultural heritage. The overarching goal of this project is to prepare a diverse group of mathematics and science teachers who can serve as role models and leaders in high-need schools in the region. SMART will establish professional learning communities and provide participants with pedagogical training, mentoring, and ongoing teaching experiences in highly diverse educational settings. The project will engage participants in carefully structured training and field experiences to help them develop subject matter knowledge, understanding of linguistics, language acquisition, academic language acquisition, and subject-specific methods to make content accessible to all students. Other project activities will include monthly cohort meetings, a summer research experience, and tutoring opportunities. In collaboration with school district teacher induction programs, SMART will develop a New Teacher Retention Program. This program will be aimed at providing incoming teachers with guidance and holistic support needed to teach mathematics and science to diverse student populations. Over a five-year period, SMART aims to increase the number of STEM credential candidates at CSU Stanislaus from 119 to 200. Half of these credential candidates will be students of minority backgrounds. SMART will recruit, prepare, and retain 31 Noyce scholars. Noyce scholars will include STEM majors from CSU Stanislaus and UC Merced, transfer students from nearby community colleges, and local career changers interested in entering the teaching profession. An energetic, capable, diverse community of STEM teachers has the potential to lower the educational barriers that minority and English Language Learner students often encounter when completing mathematics and science coursework. A significant percentage of CSU Stanislaus students are not only ethnically and linguistically diverse, but also are the first in their family to attend college. SMART will provide the educational community with a better understanding of the training and support systems needed to recruit and prepare students of minority background for a career as a teacher in a high-need school.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.