- Year 2018
- NSF Noyce Award # 1540690
- First Name Beth
- Last Name Costner
- Discipline N/A
- Co-PI(s)
Kelly Costner, Winthrop, costnerk@winthrop.edu
Cassandra Bell, Winthrop, bellc@winthrop.edu
Trent Kull, Winthrop, kullt@winthrop.edu - Presenters
Leigh D’Amico, Winthrop, kale_leigh@yahoo.com
Alesha Love, Winthrop, lovea10@winthrop.edu
Need
The Winthrop Initiative for STEM Educators (WISE) is designed to specifically address the growing need for teachers in South Carolina (and the South Eastern states). The South Carolina Annual Educator Supply and Demand Report produced annually by the Center for Educator Recruitment, Retention, and Advancement (https://www.cerra.org/supply-and-demand.html), indicates the number of teachers trained in state is dropping and the number of alternatively trained teachers is increasing. Further, there was a 16% increase from the previous year in the number of open positions state wide. For the 2017-2018 academic year nearly 580 new mathematics and science teachers were hired in the state. Over 70 STEM positions were reported as vacant as of the start of the academic year. The WISE program as a whole works to recruit, prepare, and retain STEM teachers to help address the need for teachers.
Goals
The WISE Program has specific goals to address the preparation of high quality STEM Educators.
GOAL 1- Recruitment of STEM Educators: Recruit qualified and diverse participants for WISE internship and Scholars programs. This is accomplished through summer internships that allow individuals not necessarily considering careers in education to explore STEM education through professional development and service learning. In addition, the program engages in aggressive recruitment for the Scholars program that includes support throughout the preparation program and the crucial first year of teaching.
GOAL 2-High-Quality Preparation of STEM Educators: Implement summer internship to highlight integration of research and education. Implement multiple options for STEM teacher certification. Implement components to prepare effective and highly effective teachers. The summer internship program allows for exploration of a variety of STEM careers with an emphasis on education and an introduction to student research in the STEM fields. Participants explore a variety of STEM and STEM education topics with the intent of developing a better understanding of STEM education. Further, with specific involvement of the WISE project leadership, the university has adapted paths to STEM education that balance the need for content and pedagogy development.
GOAL 3 – Support and Retention of STEM Educators: Retain STEM educators in high needs schools in partner districts. Maintain high expectations for mentor identification, selection, and scholar support. Through partners within Winthrop?s University-School Partnership, mentor selection and recruitment is ongoing. Within the past year we are beginning to be able to use our WISE scholars that have taught for more than three years as mentor teachers in the program, thus providing a more coherent pipeline for the program. As more of our graduated scholars meet the expectations for host and mentor teachers this network will continue to grow. Further, 88% of the scholars that completed the program are still teaching in STEM classroom in the United States with the majority on the Southern States of North and South Carolina.
GOAL 4 – Effective STEM Educators: Ensure WISE scholars are effective classroom teachers. Throughout the grant period scholars still engaged in the preparation program as well as those already teaching in regional classrooms are active in program sponsored professional development activities. During the 2017-2018 professional development activities included support for STEM conference participation, training in Project WET and Project Learning Tree, and targeted mentoring for new teachers.
Approach
Recruitment of STEM Educators This is accomplished through summer internships that allows for exploring STEM education through professional development and service learning. High-Quality Preparation of STEM Educators Specific involvement of the WISE project leadership, the university has adapted paths to STEM education that balance the need for content and pedagogy development. Support and Retention of STEM Educators We are beginning to be able to use our WISE scholars that have taught for more than three years as mentor teachers in the program, thus providing a more coherent pipeline for the program. Effective STEM Educators During the 2017-2018 professional development activities included support for STEM conference participation, training in Project WET and Project Learning Tree, and targeted mentoring for new teachers.
Outcomes
Since the inception of the project we have produced 45 classroom teachers and supported 89 Interns. WISE currently has nine scholars that are in the pipe line for certification between 2019 and 2020. Further of the interns supported, 21% were selected as scholars and are either finishing certification programs or teaching in the region while another 8% are still pursuing teacher education or have taught in STEM classrooms after graduation. Further, 88% of the scholars that completed the program are still teaching in STEM classroom in the United States with the majority on the Southern States of North and South Carolina.
Broader Impacts
WISE provides multiple program options for more STEM majors to graduate with certification while engaging in high quality teacher preparation to support broader impacts. The current project is magnifying the strengths of our original WISE program and includes a redesigned teacher education track, increased opportunities for interactions between and among current and past WISE participants, and the collection and examination of longitudinal data on graduates. South Carolina continues to need qualified STEM teachers at the secondary level. For the 2017-2018 academic year nearly 580 new mathematics and science teachers were hired in the state. Over 70 STEM positions were reported as vacant as of the start of the academic year (J. Garrett, https://www.cerra.org/supply-and-demand.html). There is a clear need for more STEM education students in SC and Winthrop provides an innovative and data-driven teacher education program to address this need.
