NSF Award
1439827
Given the need for this nation to maintain its leadership in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) and the growing diversity and needs of our school population, it is important to increase our production of STEM teachers who are well prepared to teach in high needs schools. This project is designed to meet that challenge. It is a Track I Phase I Robert Noyce Scholarship project designed to graduate and certify 24 secondary mathematics teachers to serve in high-needs rural and urban communities, targeting the southwestern Illinois region. It is a partnership of the Southern Illinois University Edwardsville (SIUE) College of Arts and Sciences and School of Education, the SIUE STEM Center, Lewis and Clark Community College (LCCC), master teachers, community-based organizations, and Belleville, Cahokia, and Highland Community School Districts. <br/><br/>The project will: 1) recruit highly qualified STEM students that demonstrate an aptitude for teaching mathematics, 2) provide these students with an enhanced experience in mathematics education and research, 3) supply high-needs middle and high schools with exemplary mathematics educators, 4) increase outreach in the communities of southwestern Illinois, and 5) disseminate project findings for use in other mathematics education settings. As a means of interesting STEM majors in a teaching career, four summer internships will be awarded each year to SIUE and to Lewis and Clark freshman and sophomores with an interest in STEM and aptitude for mathematics who also show promise to be strong teachers and an additional eight tutoring internships will be awarded annually at Lewis and Clark Community College. Eight competitive Noyce Math Scholarships will be awarded yearly to junior and senior mathematics majors who are committed to pursuing a mathematics teaching career. After graduation, new teacher support will include a summer face-to-face workshop, online mentoring and support, and professional development events to maintain a collaborative network of peers and supportive master teachers.<br/><br/>This project complements the science oriented Robert Noyce Scholarship project currently in progress on the Edwardville campus, allowing for synergistic use of commonly needed resources. Both projects are designed to build scholars' self-efficacy (a belief in one's ability to do a challenging job well) for teaching mathematics in a high-needs school, and the findings from both Noyce projects will be examined together to assess the impact of the self-efficacy approach.
