Strengthening the Mathematics and Science Teacher Pathways in the Post-Pandemic Environment

This project aims to serve the national need of high-quality STEM teachers in urban high-need school districts, a challenge that has been intensified by the widespread impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. Amid the post-pandemic era, teacher preparation programs have been demonstrating resilience in adapting to this challenge with a focus on addressing enrollment fluctuations and bridging prospective teachers’ knowledge in key areas.

This project aims to strengthen the mathematics and science teacher pathways by attracting, training, and keeping talented STEM majors within the teaching profession, especially for high-need school districts. The investigators will actively expand partnerships to attract STEM majors with a genuine passion for teaching and provide streamlined professional development opportunities during both their teacher preparation program and the first year of teaching.

Through these initiatives, the project will focus on empowering prospective teachers to meet the specific needs of urban schools and reinforcing their commitment to pursue careers in teaching. As a result, this project has the potential to increase the number of well-equipped STEM in high-need middle schools and high schools within the New York City public school system.

This project at the College of Staten Island includes partnerships with the Kingsborough Community College and the New York City Public Schools on Staten Island and Brooklyn. Project goals include: 1) expand recruitment by building bridge programs with community colleges within the City University of New York to include students from a wider geographical area, such as Brooklyn; 2) refine enrichment activities to engage prospective teachers in reflective practices; and 3) build a teacher induction program for newly graduated teachers.

This project will fund 30 high-achieving undergraduate students to complete a Bachelor of Science in biology, chemistry, earth sciences, mathematics, or physics and obtain a New York State initial teaching certification. The anticipated products of the project include a refined model for preparing talented STEM majors to teach in high-need schools, a set of enrichment activities that support the growth of prospective teachers to become reflective educators, and an induction program focused on facilitating a seamless transition from prospective teacher preparation to successful in-service teaching.

To assess the effectiveness of the project, a longitudinal design will be implemented, which involves utilizing surveys, observations, interviews, and education records to monitor, document, and evaluate the project’s development and outcome. These data will also inform the design of preservice coursework for secondary education programs for mathematics and science majors.

The results will be broadly disseminated through various channels, including the project website, scholarly journal articles, and presentations at regional and national conferences. This Track 1: Scholarships and Stipends project is supported through the Robert Noyce Teacher Scholarship Program (Noyce). The Noyce program supports talented STEM undergraduate majors and professionals to become effective K-12 STEM teachers and experienced, exemplary K-12 teachers to become STEM master teachers in high-need school districts.

It also supports research on the effectiveness and retention of K-12 STEM teachers in high-need school districts.

This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.