- Year 2016
- NSF Noyce Award # 1136399
- First Name Jeff
- Last Name Carpenter
- Discipline Physics
- Co-PI(s)
Anthony Crider, Elon University, acrider@elon.edu
; Janice Plumblee, Elon University, richards@elon.edu - Presenters
Anthony Crider, Elon University, acrider@elon.edu
Need
North Carolina has a particularly great need for STEM educators. The NC Department of Public Instruction website showed districts trying to fill 34 STEM positions when our project began. According to the US Department of Education (2011), since 1990, North Carolina has had a teacher shortage in mathematics and/or science every year except one and, since 2002, shortages in both areas at the middle and high school levels every year.
Elon University’s local public school district, the Alamance-Burlington School System (ABSS), is struggling to provide excellent STEM education and accommodate an increasingly diverse student population. Two of the unfilled vacancies mentioned above were in ABSS high schools, and each year ABSS must find 10-15 new high school STEM teachers to compensate for turnover. In 2009-2010, none of the district’s high schools met federal Adequate Yearly Progress standards, and many do not offer advanced courses, such as AP Physics and Calculus. Cummings High School exemplifies some of the challenges. From 1972 to 2008, its student population changed from 72% white and 23% black to 11% white, 57% black, and 28% Latino, and it became known as one of the worst high schools in the state. In 2006, Superior Court Judge Howard Manning, Jr. threatened to close it unless its performance improved. Changes in teacher salaries in NC have served to increased the teacher shortages.
Goals
As a part of our recruitment strategy, we arrange paid, education-related internships for first- or second-year students who express interest in STEM disciplines. Internships provide experiences that strengthen participants’ STEM expertise and foster interest in education; the intention is that many interns will later apply for Noyce scholarships.
Approach
The internships include a variety of settings and experiences. Some interns serve as teaching assistants for programs offered by the Elon Academy, a college-access program for local students with financial need and/or no family history of college. Other interns serve as teaching assistants for summer introductory mathematics and science classes at Alamance Community College, and some are placed in summer STEM programs run by the local, high-need Alamance Burlington School System. These internship opportunities provide valuable experience working with students who attend schools in high-need districts. Because many of our students are from out-of-state, interns also have the option to arrange internships near their hometown. Interns have worked with the summer Jump Start Math program run by Delaware County Community College and supported educational programming at the Brookside Nature Center in Wheaton, MD. This summer we will have interns working at the Children?s Science Center in Washington, D.C., IJAMS Nature Center near Knoxville, TN, and the Greensboro NC Science Center. To enhance the quality of the internship experience, a $180 stipend is provided to a STEM education mentor at each internship site.
Outcomes
Two-year scholarships have encouraged talented STEM majors to complete a Teacher Education program to earn licensure (grades 9-12) in addition to their Bachelor’s degree in Mathematics or one of the Sciences. Four cohorts of scholars have received a $21,900 scholarship during both their junior and senior years. They benefit from Elon’s close relationship with the Alamance-Burlington School System; field experiences in its high-need high schools have helped prepare them to fulfill their teaching obligations. Their program has been supplemented with special experiences, including documented extra mentoring by university and secondary-school educators.
Broader Impacts
Our Scholars are required to teach for four years in a high-need school district. Seven Scholars are currently teaching in high-need school districts. During their induction into the teaching profession, they receive face-to-face and virtual mentoring from secondary-school and Elon faculty, and financial support for professional development activities and purchase of classroom materials.
