- Year 2016
- NSF Noyce Award # 1339993
- First Name Hoonandara
- Last Name Goonatilake
- Discipline Mathematics
- Co-PI(s)
Katie Lewis, Texas A&M International University, katie.lewis@tamiu.edu
- Presenters
Runchang Lin, Texas A&M International University, rlin@tamiu.edu
Gamaliel Fernandez-Alos, Texas A&M International University, gamalielfernandezalo@dusty.tamiu.edu
Need
(a) Quality Enhancement Plan (QEP) is essentially the current status of the university’s progress on the ongoing development and refinement of the QEP for the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC) Reaffirmation Process. As all faculty are aware, according to the SACSCOC Handbook for Reaffirmation of Accreditation, “student learning is at the heart of the mission of all institutions of higher learning.”
(b) Developing a QEP as part of the reaffirmation process is an opportunity and an impetus for the institution to enhance its overall quality and effectiveness by focusing on an issue, or issues, the institution considers important to improving student learning. TAMIU’s Teacher Preparation Program is accredited by the State Board for Educator Certification (SBEC). The Alternative Certification Program (ACP) prepares and transitions eligible, previously-degreed teacher candidates to careers as classroom teachers. Eligible candidates are selected and prepared in accordance with the guidelines, criteria, and standards set forth by the State Board of Educator Certification. This presentation will highlight the different components that are carefully designed to address preparation of teachers in the South Texas region.
Goals
(a) The primary goal of the TAMIU Noyce Program is to provide all Noyce Scholars with the resources and support to become the teachers that remain in their student’s memories, the ones that not only teach the required materials but more importantly the ones that pass on their passion for the subject to positively impact their student’s lives.
(b) Major enrichment activities of the project include.
** High school recruitment
** Summer mathematics boot camp
** Mathematics internship program
** Exemplary teacher preparation efforts
** Curriculum development in mathematics and education courses
** TExES weekend review sessions
** Before and post graduation mentoring services
** Professional development workshops
Approach
(a) As finishing the second project year, we found we are on the track of achieving project goals.
(b) The following primary objectives have been used to achieve our project goals.
** Objective #1 – Increase the number of mathematics or engineering majors choosing to also enroll in the teacher certification program by at least 9 each year
** Objective #2 – Intensify the mathematics teacher preparation program with 4 enrichment activities
** Objective #3 – Increase new teacher support mechanisms, by assigning University Mentors to each Noyce Alumni and increasing electronically available resources
(c) Within the University, the Deans, Departments, and faculty of both mathematics and education have been involved. Teachers and administrators of local ISDs are also involved.
Outcomes
(a) One Noyce scholar of our project has graduated and is teaching mathematics at a high-need high school. Three other Noyce scholars have passed the TExES and will graduate in Spring or Summer 2016 and will teach math in high-need schools.
(b) The TAMIU Noyce project provides not only financial aids but also many enrichment activities, which help to better prepare preservice teachers in STEM field.
(c) On one hand, we will keep implementing the project as proposed. On the other hand, as we have more and more data from the implementation, analysis can been done to study the model established in this project.
Broader Impacts
(a) The TAMIU-NMTSP will produce innovative, challenging, and engaging experiences for underrepresented minority students from high-need areas through increased collaboration among mathematics and education faculty at TAMIU. Most students come from the surrounding South Texas community (95% Hispanic) situated on the border with Mexico. Students will experience meaningful mathematics instruction combined with pedagogy and hands-on experiences to foster in these students the desire to excel in their chosen field and become academic leaders in the local secondary schools. As they pass on their enthusiasm and expertise in the classroom, their own students will be encouraged, by word and example, to continue their own studies in mathematics fields. The 36 participating students can potentially provide instruction to as many as 7,560 students every year, once they are employed by the local school districts. They will also have the opportunity to influence systemic changes in the district curriculum to improve student achievement and the quality of instruction, thereby resulting in higher numbers of students, particularly Hispanic students, pursuing STEM post-secondary courses of study and entering STEM careers. Project findings will be disseminated to local stakeholders, local school and state administrators, in peer reviewed journals and to the general public through local, regional, and national forums and conferences, as well as through the TAMIU Noyce website. This will undoubtedly benefit other academics, professionals, and institutions (from the lessons learned) in conducting similar programs in the future.
(b) The individual Noyce scholars, the University, the local community, and South Texas has been directly impacted by this project.
(c) All activities and data from recruitment efforts, boot camp, professional development, participants’ progress in each year of the program and input from the external evaluator will be documented, analyzed, and summarized. The extent of program successes, adjustments made, and any lack of progress will be discussed and assembled to a series of publications in program related sites and peer-reviewed journals. The results of this project designed to ‘home grow’ and retain qualified mathematics and science teachers in the South Texas region, by aggressively recruiting potential teachers from the high needs school districts to return/remain to serve in their hometown to improve mathematics instruction will also be disseminated to stakeholders, local school and state administrators and to the general public through local, regional, and national forums and conferences; the TAMIU Noyce electronic distribution network and the expanded TAMIU Department of Teacher Preparation website. The lessons learned from this project will undoubtedly benefit other academics, professionals, and institutions in conducting similar programs in the future.
