- Year 2023
- NSF Noyce Award # 2151006
- First Name Clair
- Last Name Berube
- Discipline STEM Education (general)
- Co-PI(s)
Bill McConnell, Deirdre Gonsalves-Jackson, Maury Howard, Lydia Kennedy
- Presenters
Clair Berube, Bill McConnell
Need
The Virginia Wesleyan University department of Education created a program to support new teachers who are also Noyce scholars upon graduation and employment. The program is called “KEEP” (Keep Exceptional Educators in Place). The department wants to ensure that new VWU teacher graduates are retained by their school districts. The KEEP program supports them for up to three years after graduation and employment. Again: this program tracks and works with VWU graduates who are STEM teachers and who are also recipients of Noyce funding while at Virginia Wesleyan. It is important because of the high rate of teacher turnover in the United States. It fills a need new teachers have for mentors upon getting their first jobs. To our knowledge, our program is the first of its kind that is linked specifically to the NSF Noyce grant recipients.
Research Questions
Research Question: How does the VWU KEEP program retain new teachers in secondary STEM classrooms in Hampton Roads? How did the VWU department of education create and modify the KEEP teacher retention program with stakeholder involvement over time for continuous improvement?
Approach
The VWU department of Education obtained the NSF Noyce grant for 1.16 million dollars in February of 2022. We are on our 2nd cohort as of April 2023. This poster will discuss the creation of the KEEP teacher retention program, how it is aimed at NOYCE scholars who have graduated from VWU and who are working in secondary STEM classrooms in Hampton Roads, how the KEEP program undergoes continuous improvement, and the highlights of the program to date.
Outcomes
Key outcomes from the KEEP program are: *Teacher retention and a reduction of new teachers leaving the field *Higher confidence upon completion of the KEEP program which leads to better teacher evaluations and reduced turnover *How the VWU KEEP program undergoes continuous improvement.
Broader Impacts
The VWU KEEP program, a teacher retention program that is aimed at teachers in the field and provides support to new teachers, will reduce teacher turnover in Hampton Roads STEM classrooms over the next 5 years.
