Increasing and Diversifying the Mathematics Teacher Pipeline for High-Need Districts

With support from the Robert Noyce Teacher Scholarship Program (Noyce), this Track 1: Scholarships and Stipends project aims to serve the national need of recruiting and preparing highly-qualified secondary mathematics teachers who are dedicated to teaching in high-need school districts. This project has the potential to directly benefit the Erie, Pennsylvania community by recruiting and training mathematics teachers for four urban and rural Pennsylvania school districts: Erie (urban), Iroquois (urban), Corry Area (rural), and Northwestern (rural). One hundred students will be recruited to the project's High School Mathematics Institute, a two-year program exploring mathematics as a discipline and potential career path. Each year, an internship experience will engage six sophomore STEM undergraduates with students from high-need school districts. As a part of their on-campus methods training, undergraduate Noyce scholars will design and teach lessons for visiting K - 12 students from partnering school districts. Project investigators will provide continued support for Noyce alumni through mentorship and professional development opportunities.

Sixteen undergraduate mathematics majors will be awarded Noyce scholarships over the project's five-year duration. Each undergraduate scholar will be assigned two Noyce mentors from partnering school districts. Scholars will complete field experiences and one-week immersions in both rural and urban partnering districts. The project aims to: (1) increase the number of dual-major graduates from the institution's secondary mathematics education and mathematics programs; (2) provide rich mathematical experiences for students from local high-need school districts; (3) provide experiences for Noyce scholars that promote positive dispositions for working in high-need school districts; and (4) equip and support Noyce scholars for successful careers in high-need school districts. Evaluation of progress toward these goals will utilize surveys, essays, lesson observations, and exit interviews. Results will be disseminated to the broader mathematics education community through conference presentations and scholarly articles. The Noyce program supports talented STEM undergraduate majors and professionals to become effective K - 12 mathematics and science teachers in high-need school districts and experienced, exemplary K - 12 STEM teachers to become STEM master teachers. It also supports research on the persistence, retention, and effectiveness of K - 12 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.