- Year 2023
- NSF Noyce Award # 1759454; 1950036
- First Name Paige
- Last Name Evans
- Institution University of Houston
- Role/Position PI
- Workshop Category Track 1: Scholarships and Stipends
- Workshop Disciplines Audience Chemistry, Computer Science, Engineering, Geosciences, Life Sciences, Mathematics, Physics, STEM Education (general)
- Target Audience Co-PIs, Other Faculty/Staff, Project PIs
- Topics Supporting New Teachers/Induction
- Session Length 45 minutes minutes
- Additional Presenter(s)
Amanda Campos, arcampos5@cougarnet.uh.edu
Goals
The purpose of this session is to provide an overview of how we support our early career STEM teachers through a summer conference style event, The New Teacher Academy, followed by networking events throughout the year. We also provide weekly support to the early graduates by connecting them with their former University Supervisor. In this session, we will explain the New Teacher Academy in more detail, the networking events, as well as the logistics for the weekly support previously mentioned. Additionally, we will share the survey results of the two-day conference style New Teacher Academy. Thus, the learning goals are that attendees will become more familiar with the following: the conference style New Teacher Academy sessions, the networking events throughout the year, and the logistics of the weekly support provided to new teachers.
Evidence
A survey was conducted to determine the effectiveness of the New Teacher Academy including open-ended questions. Evaluation highlights will be presented as well as results of surveys conducted throughout the school year based on the weekly check-ins.
Proposal
teachHOUSTON is a secondary STEM teacher preparation program with a mission to prepare and retain highly qualified STEM teachers for underserved students in the Greater Houston area. In order to support recent graduates inside and outside the classroom, teachHOUSTON enhanced their induction program through a New Teacher Academy (NTA). The NTA is a year-long effort to provide high-quality training and support for novice STEM teachers, teachHOUSTON graduates, in the Houston area. The NTA supports new teachers by providing a two-day conference style workshop tailored to the novice teachers’ needs and interests. building a community of collaborative peers through experiential mentoring, conducting weekly check-ins during the school year, and providing networking activities throughout the year. Additionally, support was provided to implement promising practices in professional learning communities, promote student-centered classroom instruction, explore culturally responsive pedagogy and management, and build collegial relationships. This session provides an overview of the Academy’s endeavors, subsequent networking events, weekly support provided to teachers in their first year of teaching as well as the evaluation of the program’s effectiveness.
