Transforming STEM Professionals into Culturally Responsive STEM Teachers

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This project aims to serve the national need of preparing high quality, effective secondary STEM teachers who will serve in high-need school districts. Across the country, high-need schools struggle to recruit and retain secondary STEM teachers. This challenge often has a negative effect on teaching and learning. The project will work with the teachHOUSTON program at the University of Houston to create a pipeline of secondary STEM teachers trained in high-need STEM fields by recruiting STEM professionals who possess at least a baccalaureate degree in a STEM discipline and desire to become STEM teachers. The accelerated 9-month certification pathway incorporates classroom management, inquiry, and culturally responsive pedagogy, as well as over 500 hours of field-based experiences in high-need school districts. Several entities will contribute as key players in the project's recruitment strategy to previous STEM graduates. Collaborators include the College of Natural Sciences and Mathematics, the College of Technology, the Cullen College of Engineering, and the University of Houston Alumni and Career Services. This project at the University of Houston includes partnerships with seven Houston area independent school districts (Aldine Independent School District-ISD, Alief ISD, Alvin ISD, Cy-Fair ISD, Houston ISD, Pasadena ISD, and Spring Branch ISD). Project goals include: 1) Recruit STEM professionals into teachHOUSTON’s accelerated pathway for teacher certification; 2) Implement a 9-month accelerated teacher certification pathway that is inquiry-based and culturally responsive; 3) Provide $11,000 in support to 58 STEM professionals as they complete teacher certification; 4) Introduce a Classroom Management Course that is inquiry-based and culturally responsive; and 5) Build a STEM Learning Community (SLC) to create a collaborative atmosphere that offers support through an enhanced cohort model for the accelerated pathway for teacher certification. The project will offer an accelerated pathway into teaching for STEM professionals, ranging from recent college graduates to retired STEM industry professionals. The project will support five cohorts of individuals to produce a total of 58 secondary STEM teachers. With over 500 hours of field-based experiences in high-need school districts, upon completion of the certification program, Noyce recipients will serve as teacher leaders in their schools/districts in incorporating pedagogy that is both inquiry-based and culturally responsive along with a classroom management system that aligns with these pedagogical approaches. Furthermore, this proposal will collect data to advance knowledge of recruiting, preparing, and retaining STEM professionals as secondary STEM teachers to teach in high-need school districts. 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 effectiveness and retention 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.