NSF Award
1556983
With funding from the National Science Foundation's Robert Noyce Teacher Scholarship Program, the project, Talented Teachers in Training for Texas (T4) Phase II, will continue to address the extreme need for highly-qualified science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) teachers by recruiting, educating, and equipping talented undergraduate STEM majors. In T4 Phase II, scholarships will be awarded to 20 undergraduate STEM majors who are seeking to earn their teaching certifications and who commit to teaching in high-needs school districts for at least four years. Building on the successful elements of Phase I, these new cohorts of scholars will participate in intensive academic mentoring during their scholarship years, three years of classroom induction and mentoring, and opportunities to attend STEM teaching conferences in an effort to build a collaborative network of science and mathematics teachers. Two new courses at SFA will be designed specifically to provide authentic explorations into teaching, including field experiences, supervised by Master Teachers. Additionally, the T4 Phase II leadership team will work in partnership with representatives from 11 community colleges in Texas to raise awareness of STEM teaching as a career option before students transfer to a university. Phase I initiated a Master Teacher Job Shadow for freshmen/sophomore STEM majors, providing an opportunity for undergraduate STEM majors to spend an entire week with a Master Teacher for a realistic look into the profession. Phase II will provide an opportunity to reach into its community college partners' STEM major populations to identify additional shadowers.<br/><br/>Through T4 Phase II, project researchers will conduct longitudinal investigations into (1) How early teaching engagement and short-term mentoring activities affect STEM majors' persistence and career choice; (2) What factors affect Scholars' persistence to degree and persistence to undergraduate STEM teaching certification; and (3) How inclusion into the T4 mentoring community impacts the Scholars in the areas of teaching efficacy, their students' learning, and their growth as teacher leaders. Phase II will sustain paired longitudinal comparison groups developed in Phase I and generate new comparison groups for the new Scholars. T4 Phase II will expand opportunities to study the effect of the cohort model on preservice teachers as well as the impact of including Master Teacher mentors in their preparation. Better understanding the linkage between supportive academic community and the retention of classroom teachers is vital to improving teacher retention rates nationwide.
