- Year 2022
- NSF Noyce Award # 2151006
- First Name Clair
- Last Name Berube
- Discipline Biological Sciences, Chemistry, Mathematics, Other: Earth and Environmental Science
- Co-PI(s)
William McConnell, Deirdre Gonsalves-Jackson, Lydia Kennedy, Maury Howard
- Presenters
Clair Berube, Virginia Wesleyan University
Need
This poster proposal is simply a description of a brand new NOYCE grant, awarded February, 2022.
Goals
How can VWU recruit and retain diverse candidates who will teach secondary STEM subjects in high-needs school districts?
Approach
Central to Project TEEMS is development of a strong pipeline of STEM educators for local high-needs school districts. This pipeline begins in high schools, with the project team increasing awareness of STEM teaching as a career. The project team will carefully describe a cost effective and robust process for attaining certification, which includes attending a local community college for the first two years and then matriculating to VWU (possibly as a Noyce Scholar) to obtain a bachelor of science and master of education (MAEd) degree and licensure in three additional years. PPS students will see a path that begins where they are (in high school) and leads to an important and exciting career as a STEM teacher in their communities. Upon graduation and placement in jobs, Noyce graduates will take part in a retention program called KEEP: Keep Exceptional Educators in Place. This program includes four modules to be completed during the school year. Topics include general lesson and unit plan support, classroom management, STEM content support and culturally sensitive practices. This program is intended to offer support to the most important and fragile year of teaching: the first year.
Outcomes
Noyce Scholars will be supported throughout their program through a suite of pre-service experiences such as paid internships, intensive advising from a content and education adviser, support for passing content area exams, and outreach and education field experiences led by scientists and educators for K-12 students. Support during the induction years will be provided by the KEEP Program. The specific project objectives for Project TEEMS are to:1.graduate 15 Noyce Scholars within the five-year project period2.increase the diversity of our STEM education graduates3.have 100% participation of Noyce Scholars in training on cultural competence and culturally responsive pedagogies We expect that by creating a pipeline from high school (Portsmouth Public Schools) to Community College (TCC) to Virginia Wesleyan University, we will capture students who never thought college was in their future and in this way ensure that diverse STEM teachers are teaching in local area public schools.
Broader Impacts
The impact of the VWU Noyce Program will be far reaching. Project TEEMS will allow VWU to enhance our pre-service teacher program through scholarships, internship stipends, and practicum experiences; thus, this proposal will ensure that VWU students will join the ranks of highly qualified STEM teachers that stay in the field. Nearby high-needs school districts and their students will reap the rewards of this program as well: the KEEP Program includes support for teaching in urban settings in order to obtain the tools necessary for success in urban high-needs school districts. Including in teacher education units on culturally responsive pedagogy and civil rights in education, among other topics, ensures teachers can competently teach in urban classrooms. Even the best teachers can fail if not properly prepared to teach in urban schools. VWU seeks to recruit minority and female STEM teachers through the Noyce Program. While there is a shortage of good STEM teachers across all races, there is an even greater disparity among African Americans in terms of entering STEM fields. More African American teachers are needed in these STEM areas in the schools at all levels: teachers, principals, and in higher education. Minority students need to see more teachers and STEM professionals that look like them in STEM educational settings. This proposal would be the entryway into a vast unlimited field of opportunity for these students as well as all VWU students and Noyce Scholars.
