- Year 2019
- NSF Noyce Award # 1439546
- First Name Jacqueline
- Last Name Leonard
- Institution University of Wyoming
- Role/Position Principal Investigator
- Workshop Category Track 1: Scholarships and Stipends
- Workshop Disciplines Audience Other: Elementary
- Target Audience Evaluators/Education Researchers, Project PIs / Co-PIs / Other Faculty/Staff, Undergraduate and/or Graduate Noyce Scholars
- Topics Culturally Relevant Pedagogy
- Session Length 30 minutes
Goals
The primary goal is the help the audience understand the need for cultural relevance, community building, and belonging among Noyce scholars of color, particularly at rural predominantly white institutions (PWIs). Institutions must be aware of divergent needs and have the ability to respond to these needs in real time in order to retain Noyce scholars. Administrators, professors, and certification officers should also be aware of issues that can impede program completion and should make decisions that result in Noyce scholars’ success.
Evidence
Case studies of Noyce scholars in the Wyoming Interns to Teacher Scholars (WITS) study will be used, along with open- and closed-end survey data, as evidence for the session.
Proposal
Preservice teachers with disaffection for mathematics or science are less likely to enter the field of education (Darling, Hammond, 2000), and if they do become teachers, they are more likely to avoid teaching these subjects (Leonard, Barnes-Johnson, Dantley & Kimber, 2011). To address the need for highly qualified teachers in elementary classrooms, we conducted a study to examine the recruitment and retention of undergraduate dual STEM and elementary education majors. The primary goal of our five-year study was to increase the number and quality of teachers of mathematics and science who are committed to serving high-need students in elementary schools. Tangible benefits in the Wyoming Interns to Teacher Scholars (WITS) study included: (a) full tuition, housing, textbooks, and digital tablets; (b) mentoring by faculty and graduate students; (c) professional development; and (d) social activities. However, the Principal Investigator, as member of an underrepresented group, believes intangible resources are also needed to successfully complete programs like WITS. Culturally relevant pedagogy, in the form of developing cultural competencies for advising, course-taking, and problem solving are needed to work with and understand the needs of scholars of color. This paper focuses on four years of data related to the recruitment and retention of Noyce scholars in Wyoming. Case studies of four interns of color will be presented along with survey data from 20 scholars that speak to recruitment and retention issues.
