Increasing the Representation of African American and Hispanic STEM Teachers in High-Need School Districts Through Community Partnerships

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This project aims to serve the national need for preparing and retaining highly qualified secondary mathematics and science teachers who are prepared to teach in high-need suburban and rural schools. The project will partner with seven independent school districts in the Sam Houston State University (SHSU) general geographic area with a primary partner being the Huntsville Independent School District. Additional partners include other school districts in the surrounding area and two community colleges from the Lone Star College (LSC) system, namely LSC-Montgomery and LSC-Tomball. An underlying aim of the project is to strengthen pathways from community colleges to a four-year STEM degree and teaching licensure while, at the same time, increasing the number of certified male teachers who reflect the demographics of the African American and Hispanic students served in high-need school districts in Texas in the vicinity of SHSU. This project will provide scholarships along with academic and co-curricular support to thirty-nine (39) STEM students who are majoring in SHSU's College of Science and Engineering Technology with majors in computer science, chemistry, engineering technology, geology, mathematics, physics, or astronomy. Important consideration will also be given to students in the LSC system who are transferring to one of these majors at SHSU. The project will be guided by a Culturally Responsive-Sustaining (CR-S) theoretical framework. Using the CR-S framework, prospective teachers will learn strategies to create student-centered learning environments, prepare students for rigorous and independent learning, elevate marginalized voices, and empower students to work as agents of social change in STEM.Several goals guide the execution of this project. The first goal is to recruit and prepare thirty-nine (39) pre-service teachers to become certified secondary STEM teachers. These Noyce Scholars will earn a double major with the additional major in education complementing a STEM major. In turn, the project will address critical teacher shortages in high-need schools in the SHSU geographic area. For a second goal, over the 5-year duration of the project, a project intent is that at least 40% percent of the Noyce Scholars will be African American and/or Hispanic males and at least 35% will be transfer students that emanate from community college partners. As a corollary to this goal, the project will utilize a national "Call Me Mister" model while partnering with SHSU's Establishing Leadership In & Through Education (ELITE) program - a Minority Male Program for Black and Hispanic Males for whom special academic support and peer mentoring are provided. Third, the project will provide financial, academic, and co-curricular support to assure that the new teachers are well-prepared to teach and meet students' needs in high-need schools in suburban and rural Texas. In the process, the project will incorporate SHSU's extensive residency model for teacher preparation. This model provides important opportunities for field-based learning and experiences. Likewise, teacher preparation and induction will emphasize strong pedagogical and STEM discipline content knowledge and will incorporate a culturally responsive curriculum along with a diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) curriculum and activities. This approach will enable high-need schools in rural and suburban Texas and other areas nationwide to provide their K-12 students with a solid and inclusive STEM education, thereby helping to prepare many of these students for STEM careers. A fourth goal is to develop an understanding of the effectiveness of project components with respect to project goals as well as to provided formative and summative feedback through education research and mixed methods project evaluation. In concert with this, project outcomes and lessons learned will be disseminated through several panel presentations at local venues, regional and national conferences, and project networks. 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.