This study explored the challenges facing 1st-year alternatively certified teachers of mathematics and science in urban middle schools. Four teachers, participants in the Robert Noyce Scholarship Program, were followed from preservice training through their 1st year of teaching, having taken part in innovative coursework, workshops, and internship training. Through focus groups, interviews, and classroom observations, data were collected to analyze their experiences in economically disadvantaged settings.
Impact of a Robert Noyce Scholarship on STEM Teacher Recruitment
This study examined the first 3 years of the University of Portland Noyce program to determine its effectiveness in attracting science, technology, engineering, and mathematics majors to the teaching profession, using surveys and focus group interviews.
The Use of Grounded Theory to Investigate the Role of Teacher Education on STEM Teachers’ Career Paths in High-Need Schools
An inductive grounded theory approach was used to investigate the role of teacher education on the career paths of 38 Noyce scholarship recipients, most of whom were teaching in high-need schools. The emergent research design was guided by the initial research question: “What are Noyce scholars’ reasons for the decisions made on the career paths of becoming and remaining teachers in high-need schools?”
Service Learning Within a Secondary Math and Science Teacher Education Program: Preservice MAT Teachers’ Perspectives
This study adds to the literature around the benefits of service learning experiences for preservice science and math teachers. It follows Master of Arts in Teaching (MAT) students’ views of their service learning experiences throughout their MAT program and first two years teaching. Data sources included audiotaped individual interviews, focus group field notes, and surveys with seven preservice teachers over a three-year period.
Recruiting, Preparing, and Retaining High Quality Secondary Mathematics and Science Teachers for Urban Schools: The Cal Teach Experimental Program
This article focuses on the design of the Cal Teach program compared to the traditional pathway through which teachers are prepared. It focuses on challenging issues in recruiting strong candidates (i.e., STEM majors) and how they are addressed, the preparation of candidates, problematic aspects of traditional teaching education programs and how Cal Teach is modeled and designed to overcome these problems. Mechanisms used to help retain graduates in the teaching force are described.
