- Year 2024
- NSF Noyce Award # 1852875
- First Name Heather
- Last Name Johnson
- Registration Faculty/Administrator/Other
- Discipline STEM Education (general)
- Role Principal Investigator (PI)
- Presenters
Heather Johnson, Vanderbilt University
Need
As with many racially, ethnically, socioeconomically, linguistically, and religiously diverse school districts, Metropolitan Nashville Public Schools [MNPS] has a student population where roughly 72% of secondary students identify as students of color. In contrast, as reported in the 2016-2017 MNPS Annual Diversity Report, 29% of licensed secondary teachers identify as teachers of color. The recruitment and retention of diverse teachers is a state-wide (TN Department of Education, 2018) and nation-wide challenge for the field of teacher education. Research has pointed to the positive benefits of more teacher diversity: students of color need positive role models that look more like them; teachers of color hold higher expectations for students of color; and more teacher diversity can positively enrich students of all races and cultures. Despite these benefits, teachers of color remain significantly underrepresented relative to the students they serve. Vanderbilt University is a Predominantly White Institution, with over 50% of the student population identifying as white and nearly 75% of its faculty identifying as white. And yet, we are interested in problematizing and working to change the populations of students we serve and the faculty who serve them. By asking for stipends just over 50% of tuition, including mentoring support from both Fisk and Vanderbilt throughout the duration of the program, and providing two years of induction support, this project worked to significantly remove the financial barrier, and provide sustained mentoring and instructional support to both recruit and retain candidates into STEM teaching.
Research Questions
How can we recruit and retain high-quality teacher candidates of color into secondary math and science teaching? What supports can we implement and sustain through teachers’ induction years when they move to high-priority schools out of state?
Approach
This poster will describe the practical methods we used to sustain our Noyce community through early induction years.
Outcomes
We recruited 18 scholars, 11 in math and 7 in science; 8 identify as teachers of color. All but two are still teaching in high-priority schools in seven states. We believe our approach to sustaining community through early induction years is the greatest outcome of this work as our teachers are still in classrooms, thriving in the work of teaching.
Broader Impacts
We have 16 strong teachers in high-priority schools around the country teaching math and science to over 100 students each. They are positive role models, they hold high expectations for their students, and their own diversity is positively enriching students of all races and cultures they are teaching. These scholars are also actively sharing their stories with teaching communities at the southeastern regional Noyce conference and the annual Noyce summit in DC.
