- Year 2024
- NSF Noyce Award # 1852624
- First Name Jodie
- Last Name Styers
- Registration Faculty/Administrator/Other
- Discipline Mathematics
- Role Principal Investigator (PI)
- Presenters
Paul Becker, Jodie Styers, Penn State Behrend
Need
High-needs school districts serve students with enhanced needs ranging from high-levels of poverty, food insecurity, increased familial responsibilities, or limited access to basic amenities. Teachers in high-needs districts are often on the front lines when it comes to identifying which students may need additional support to be healthy and to succeed academically. These additional responsibilities often result in higher teacher turnover in districts of higher-needs when compared to other districts. Providing supplemental instruction that focuses on critical aspects of teaching high-needs students better prepares Noyce Scholars to address them when they enter the classroom. This may result in increased awareness of students’ needs, confidence in addressing those needs, higher quality instruction, and less attrition.
Research Questions
1. Which unique challenges or circumstances do teachers in high-needs districts face? 2. How can we better prepare pre-service teachers to be effective mathematics teachers in high-needs districts? 3. How effectively did supplemental Noyce Programming equip alumni to teach in high-needs settings?
Approach
Our poster describes the individual workshops presented by the Noyce Mentor Teachers from the four partner districts involved in our program. Each workshop was developed and implemented by the Noyce Mentor Teacher team (two in-service teachers) from one of our high-needs school districts and attended by our junior cohort of Noyce Scholars. Indication of takeaways absorbed by our (junior) Noyce Scholars is demonstrated with evidence from the cohort’s reflections on later field-placement experiences and survey results from our Noyce Alumni.
Outcomes
Upon completion of the Noyce Program, 75% of Noyce Scholars (now Noyce Alumni) accepted teaching positions in high-needs school districts. Their responses to a yearly survey generated the following results:-I am confident in my ability to establish and cultivate a positive rapport with high-needs students: 66% strongly agreed, 33% agreed-I am confident in my ability to connect students in need with the resources offered by the district: 33% strongly agreed, 33% agreed, 33% disagreed-I am confident in my ability to select and adapt materials relevant to, and appropriate for, high-needs students: 66% strongly agreed; 33% neutral. These Noyce Alumni all currently remain in positions designated as high-needs.
Broader Impacts
The Noyce Mentor-Scholar programming and mentorship are broader impacts of our Noyce program. At its core, this program seeks to increase the number of mathematics teachers that interview for, and accept, teaching positions in our local high-needs districts.
