Alabama Mathematics Master Teaching Fellowship: Preparing Leaders for Underserved Schools

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With support from the Robert Noyce Teacher Scholarship Program, this Track 3: Master Teaching Fellowships project aims to serve the national need of improving the development of highly effective mathematics teacher leaders. The project involves a partnership between the University of Alabama-Tuscaloosa, the Tuscaloosa City Schools, the Tuscaloosa County School System, and the Alabama Council of Teachers of Mathematics. The project will provide fellowships to 24 mathematics teachers and support their development into mathematics teacher leader specialists. Through a sequence of professional development and leadership experiences, Fellows will work toward earning National Board Certification to become leaders in their schools and districts, as well as in the state of Alabama. The project aims to contribute to the success of mathematics teachers' professional development in high-need schools within a 50-mile radius of the University. The project will focus on preparing experienced and exemplary teachers to: (1) become instructional experts in their school/district ; (2) provide professional development to other teachers in their school or district; (3) become school or district leaders who, while remaining as classroom teachers, serve as mathematics department chairs, instructional coaches, action-researchers, and/or mentors of early-career teachers; (4) assist in building a high-capacity network for exceptional quality clinical experiences for preservice mathematics teachers; and (5) take on state and national leadership roles in professional meetings and conferences, specifically the Alabama Council of Teachers of Mathematics' annual fall forum. By mentoring inservice and preservice teachers in schools in and around Tuscaloosa, the Master Teaching Fellows supported by this award have the potential to broaden the STEM pipeline by improving the mathematics learning of thousands of students, many of whom are in rural and/or high-need schools. The project research plan will examine the effectiveness of a training model that includes graduate coursework for teachers, professional development for administrators, and collaborations with stakeholders. Results of this research can contribute to understanding how to support leadership, practice, and learning to improve mathematics education and student engagement. The Noyce program supports talented STEM undergraduate majors and professionals to become effective K-12 STEM teachers in high-need school districts and experienced and exemplary K-12 STEM teachers to become STEM master teachers. It also supports research on the persistence, retention, and effectiveness of K-12 teachers in high-need school districts.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.