Growing Future Science Teachers in Maine: Connections and Engagement

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This Robert Noyce Teacher Scholarship Program Capacity Building project will address a severe shortage of science teachers in Maine. The overarching goal of the project team is to create a plan to enable high-needs schools in the state to "grow their own" science teachers by recruiting and training students from these schools and having them potentially return to that school as teachers. Three project objectives will guide the work of the principal investigators. First, they will develop new ways to increase student awareness of science teaching careers. Second, they will create smoother pathways to enter the science and secondary education programs at Saint Joseph's College (SJC). Third, they will establish connections between SJC and high-needs Local Education Agencies (LEAs) to enable recruitment of potential teachers, placement of apprentice teachers, and support of new teachers in those schools. Innovative features of the project include the piloting of a no-cost, college credit-bearing, online "Introduction to Education" course, a series of career exploration workshops, and a study of the barriers to entering science teaching that community college students face. Taken together these efforts will build SJC's capacity to attract students to their science teacher training programs.The project will develop partnerships between SJC and high-needs LEAs Biddeford, Bonny Eagle, Caribou, Fort Kent, Gray-New Gloucester, Lewiston, Westbrook, and Windham school districts. Southern Maine Community College and Central Maine Community College will serve as community college partners. These partnerships will support the "Grow Your Own" model by facilitating communication among the members so that the model can be continuously improved and so that students can remain engaged throughout their training and first years of teaching. The proposed online course, career exploration workshops, and study of barriers to entering science teaching among community college students will generate new knowledge of interest to the STEM education community about effective practices to increase the number of high school science teachers.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.