Recruiting, Preparing, and Retaining Culturally Responsive and Equity-minded STEM Teachers for High-Need Schools

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This project will address a critical teacher shortage in Maryland’s urban, low-income, and rural schools. Towards this end the project will recruit and prepare 28 secondary STEM teachers for teacher certification, leading to careers in high-need schools. To help diversify the teacher pool, the project leaders will place particular attention on recruiting and retaining teachers of color and those from other groups who are similarly underrepresented in their participation in the STEM teacher profession. Major project features include: (1) integration of Culturally Responsive Teaching and ambitious math and science teaching into a Master of Arts in Teaching (MAT) curriculum; (2) offering a Culturally Responsive Equitable STEM Teaching (CREST) Seminar; and (3) implementation of a CREST Induction Series. By supporting improvements to the MAT program, offering scholarships and stipends, and implementing robust induction support, this project will enhance STEM teacher preparation at Loyola and increase the number of qualified STEM teachers in Maryland. The Culturally Responsive Equitable STEM Teaching (CREST) project at Loyola University Maryland includes partnerships with the Local Education Agency (LEA), Baltimore County Public Schools. Three key project goals inform the execution of the project. First is to recruit, retain, and graduate 28 highly qualified and diverse secondary STEM teaching candidates over five years. Second is to place 100% of graduates in high-need schools through partnerships with LEAs, and employment and induction support; and retain 85% of CREST graduates in high-need schools for three years by providing new teacher support through a CREST Induction Series. Third, and finally, is to improve the quality of culturally responsive STEM teaching practices of prospective and early career teachers in high-need schools with an enhanced Master of Art in Teaching curricula and an Induction Series. Students participating in this project include Loyola STEM bachelor’s degree graduates and STEM professionals seeking a career change. Using a combination of curricular activities grounded in culturally responsive teaching for prospective teachers and induction support as they enter the profession, this project will improve the quality of culturally responsive STEM education for students in high-need classrooms. The effectiveness of the project elements will be assessed through both formative and summative data. This project will potentially generate new evidence illuminating effective strategies and practices for recruiting, retaining, and graduating underrepresented populations entering STEM teaching careers in high-need schools, and serve as an example for other liberal arts private colleges seeking to develop and expand STEM teacher preparation programs. 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 schools.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.