Clemson University Middle Grades Noyce Phase II Proposal

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There is an established need for highly qualified K-12 science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) teachers, especially in high-need schools. It can be particularly challenging to recruit middle grades STEM teachers who have a strong content background in a specific STEM discipline. With funding from the National Science Foundation's Robert Noyce Teacher Scholarship program, the Preparing and Mentoring Middle Grades STEM Educators to Teach in High-Need South Carolina School Districts project is recruiting career changers from STEM fields and preparing them to become middle grades STEM teachers. The project is funding 40 scholarships over 4 years. In this project, Clemson University is collaborating with Greenville County Public Schools. Recipients will be enrolled in a Master of Arts in Teaching (MAT) program that includes initial teacher certification for Middle Grades Education. The Noyce Scholarships will expand opportunities for STEM career changers to complete the MAT program and hence also expand the number of middle grades STEM teachers in the state.The project will investigate the impact of the Noyce Program by analyzing 16 years of data from the Clemson MAT in middle grades program, which has enrolled more than 250 individuals, 86 of whom have been or will be Noyce Scholars. Research questions include: (1) How do teacher efficacy and other personal characteristic affect teacher retention and success among STEM instructors? (2) Do STEM career changers possess different characteristics than STEM majors who come directly out of undergraduate majors? (3) How does the performance of the students of Noyce Scholars and non-Noyce-Scholars compare? (4) How does the performance of the students of STEM majors and non-STEM majors compare? The goal is to identify characteristics of successful STEM teachers and to determine the extent to which a STEM background strengthens the impact of a middle grades teacher.