The Recruitment and Preparation of Next Generation STEM Teachers

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With support from the Robert Noyce Teacher Scholarship Program (Noyce), this Track 1: Scholarships and Stipends project at Vanderbilt University aims to serve the national need of recruiting and preparing high-quality STEM teachers for high-need school districts. The "Recruitment and Preparation of Next Generation STEM Teachers" project aims to increase the number of diverse candidates, particularly candidates of color, who seek secondary licensure in science or mathematics. The PIs will work with underrepresented STEM majors, especially focusing on students attending Fisk University, an Historically Black College and University (HBCU) collaborating on this proposal. Among other things, the project will include Fisk significantly in the project management team, add an improved mentor model for the students with earlier and better mentoring, and increase the support for these students during the induction period. The project also plans to expand their recruitment in other organizations which have a high percentage of minority participants. This focus on recruiting candidates of color is important because students of color are less likely to enroll in STEM fields of study and carry on to STEM professions. The broader impacts of this work lie in its reach to secondary students who have a high interest in STEM subjects, undergraduate STEM students, mentor teachers who support Noyce Scholars in the field, and the broader learning communities within and across Vanderbilt University, Fisk University, and Metro Nashville Public Schools.This project aims to attract, prepare and support diverse and talented individuals who have STEM degrees. These post-baccalaureate students will receive financial support for one year as they complete a Master's of Education (M.Ed.) with teacher licensure. The planned one-year practice-based pathway to licensure is intended to significantly reduce the financial burden of a graduate degree in education. This project will simultaneously contribute to the understanding of the hidden obstacles that candidates of color have to overcome to make a commitment to teaching as a profession broadly. The project leaders will partner with HBCUs and other professionals who support teachers of color to pursue licensure. This project will work to minimize the barriers and maximize the supports to make Vanderbilt competitive in recruiting and retaining candidates, particularly candidates of color into STEM teaching. It will provide stipends in the amount of over 50% of tuition. It will also include expanded mentoring support throughout the duration of the program and will provide two years of induction support. The project aims to prepare a minimum of 18 new STEM teachers over three cohorts to complete their teacher licensure program. The majors will be broadly recruited from mathematics and science majors in any STEM field supported for licensure by the State of Tennessee. The Noyce program supports talented STEM undergraduate majors and professionals to become effective K-12 STEM teachers in high-need school districts. It also supports research on the persistence, retention, and effectiveness of K-12 STEM 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.