- Year 2022
- NSF Noyce Award # 1852787
- First Name Rosamond
- Last Name Kinzler
- Discipline Geosciences
- Co-PI(s)
Melanie Hopkins
- Presenters
Rosamond Kinzler, American Museum of Natural History
Need
This project specifically helps address the documented shortage of qualified and certified Earth science teachers in NYC, NY State (NYS) and nationally by preparing teachers to be effective in high-need schools.
Goals
The project is advancing research and practice in the fields of STEM teacher preparation and retention by examining and developing program practice in three arenas: 1) identifying effective strategies for recruiting a diverse body of candidates for STEM teaching; 2) a deeper articulation of what strong preparation for science teaching looks like, including what culturally responsive science teaching looks like; and 3) a growing effort to situate the learning of high-leverage science teaching practices in teacher preparation coursework.
Approach
The program follows a residency model for teacher preparation, relies on close collaboration between Education and Science faculty, and includes two 5-month teaching residencies in its high-need urban partner schools and mentoring from partner school teachers and AMNH faculty. The program also includes a six-week summer residency at AMNH, in which residents teach in Museum-based education programs, and a six-week summer science practicum with AMNH scientific staff. After completing their MAT degree, graduates commit to four years of teaching in high-need schools, during which they receive two years of induction support followed by two years of ongoing professional support, provided by AMNH.
Outcomes
30 new science teachers were prepared and certified as new teachers in the first 2 years of this project. Twenty-eight have been teaching in high-need schools during this past year (year 3 of the project). One Noyce Fellow is teaching, but is taking an approved leave of absence from their obligation to teach in a high-need school (they are planning to transition to a high-need school in the coming months). Another Noyce Fellow was unable to secure a position for this year due to family matters but is well positioned to begin teaching in the fall.
Broader Impacts
This project strives to demonstrate the power and potential of informal science education (ISE) institutions to help address the nation’s critical need for qualified STEM teachers and to contribute more broadly to reform by strengthening the formal role of science-based cultural institutions in science education. It advances an important model of science and education faculty cooperating in program delivery and for ISE-non-profit teacher preparation and retention partnerships. The project recruited and prepared two cohorts of 15 highly qualified and diverse Earth science teachers who are currently teaching approximately 3,000 students annually in high-need schools in NYS, and across the country, with the majority working in NYC, one of the largest and most diverse school districts in the country.
