Recruiting, Preparing, and Retaining STEM Educators to Serve in High-Need Schools in Pennsylvania

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This project aims to serve the national need for highly effective STEM teachers. To do so, it will recruit undergraduate STEM majors to complete STEM degrees and support them in becoming certified as secondary teachers of mathematics or science. These individuals will receive scholarships and other supports designed to enrich their STEM knowledge, as well as their teaching knowledge and skills. To expand their STEM content knowledge, the Noyce Scholars will have the opportunity to participate in collaborative mentor-scholar projects, summer computational workshops, and a chemometrics course ((i.e., statistics and computer applications in analytical chemistry). They will also benefit from faculty mentorships that include opportunities to reflect on their academic and career pursuits. Monthly workshops will include sessions related to interpersonal skill development, such as grit, and cultural and linguistic competence. Such skills are important for effective teaching in high-need school districts. The project expects these undergraduate Noyce Scholars will gain the knowledge, skills, and perspectives needed to support student learners of science and mathematics in Pennsylvania in high-need secondary schools.This project at Scranton University includes partnerships with Mid Valley School District and Luzerne County Community College. There are three specific projects goals. The first is to recruit, prepare, and graduate 21 qualified undergraduate STEM majors to become certified as secondary teachers of science or mathematics. The second goal is to provide professional support for the long-term success of these STEM educators. The final goal is to place and retain a high percentage (90%) of these Scholars in teaching positions in high-need school districts upon graduation as they complete their teaching service requirement of two years of teaching for each one year of scholarship support. Early residency teaching experience will be part of the scholars' coursework when they practice and hone their skills and knowledge alongside an effective teacher-mentor in a high-need classroom. Further, to ensure that the scholars have the necessary support for their Praxis tests, enrichment preparation and support will be provided to the Noyce Scholars through freely available online resources via a learning management software. A robust project assessment process, led by an independent evaluator, is intended to identify aspects of the program that are most effective in STEM teacher recruitment, retention, and preparation. The project intends to use results from this evaluation to improve the teacher education program and will disseminate the results locally and nationally via publications and presentations. This Track 1: Scholarships and Stipends Noyce project is supported through the Robert Noyce Teacher Scholarship Program. 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 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.