The Robert Noyce Teacher Scholarship Program, first authorized under the National Science Foundation Authorization Act of 2002 (P.L. 107-368) and reauthorized in 2007 under the America COMPETES Act (P.L. 110-69) responds to the critical need for K-12 teachers of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) by encouraging talented STEM students and professionals to pursue teaching careers in elementary and secondary schools. The program provides funding to institutions of higher education to provide scholarships, stipends, and programmatic support to recruit and prepare STEM majors and professionals to become K-12 teachers.  Scholarship and stipend recipients are required to complete two years of teaching in a high-need school district for each year of support.

In addition, the program supports STEM professionals who enroll as NSF Teaching Fellows in master’s degree programs leading to teacher certification by providing academic courses, professional development, and salary supplements while they are fulfilling a four-year teaching commitment in a high need school district.  This new component also supports the development of NSF Master Teaching Fellows by providing professional development and salary supplements for exemplary math and science teachers to become Master Teachers in high need school districts.

The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) is working with the NSF Robert Noyce Teacher Scholarship Program to identify and disseminate information about effective practices and strategies for attracting, selecting, and preparing new K-12 STEM teachers and retaining them in the STEM teacher workforce. Project components include:

• Co-sponsoring and implementing the 2009 and 2010 NSF Robert Noyce Teacher Scholarship Program annual conferences.
• Producing a general publication that highlights the accomplishments of the NSF Noyce Teacher Scholarship Program.
• Developing and maintaining an NSF Noyce Teacher Scholarship Program Web site.
• Organizing proposal preparation workshops.