Increasing the Number and Diversity of Highly Effective STEM Teachers in High-need Urban School Districts

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This project aims to serve the national need for highly effective, diverse STEM teachers in high-need urban schools. Over the next decade, teacher preparation efforts will be challenged by school administration turnover, social and policy changes, and demographic shifts. Thus, preparing excellent teachers will become even more important. This project is designed to increase interest in teaching careers among high school students, community college students, undergraduate STEM majors, and STEM career changers. The project features an innovative pipeline development approach that includes recruiting potential teachers from urban high-need high schools and by developing dual enrollment programs that accelerate college degree attainment. By offering early teaching experiences to high school and undergraduate students, the project has the potential to increase student interest in teaching. Since many of these teaching experiences will be conducted as service-learning projects, these efforts will benefit the community as well. The project will leverage STEM teaching methods courses and undergraduate urban education courses to help prospective teachers understand the context of urban education, including challenges and data-driven educational strategies that increase student achievement. This project at Davenport University (DU) includes partnerships with Grand Rapids Community College and four high-need local educational agencies (Detroit Public Schools Community District, Muskegon Heights Public School Academy System, Hope Academy of West Michigan, and Grand Rapids Public Schools). The project aims to strengthen the recruitment pipeline and increase the size and diversity of the pool of eligible STEM candidates in DU’s Urban Education teacher preparation program. The project aims to recruit, provide scholarships or stipends, educate, and graduate 23 prospective STEM teachers. These students will include 15 eligible juniors and seniors pursuing a Bachelor of Science in Computer Science or Biological Laboratory Science and 8 STEM professional career changers. These prospective teachers will be prepared to gain Michigan K-12 teacher licensure with a focus on biology, chemistry, physics, integrated science, and/or mathematics. They will also gain experience in implementing culturally relevant pedagogical models of instruction. Upon certification, the new teachers will receive mentoring, academic resources, and induction support to successfully transition into a teaching career in high-need, urban school districts. The project will collect data and analyze how service-learning experiences, mentoring, coaching, and an enhanced curriculum emphasizing culturally responsive teaching practices prepares prospective STEM teachers to be successful STEM teachers in urban STEM classrooms. This Track 1: Scholarships and Stipends project is supported through the Robert Noyce Teacher Scholarship Program (Noyce). The Noyce program supports talented STEM undergraduate majors and professionals to become effective K-12 STEM teachers and experienced, exemplary K-12 teachers to become STEM master 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.