Ravens Strengthening STEM Education Pathways

The project aims to serve the national need of preparing life science teachers to serve students in high-need schools in New Hampshire and northern Massachusetts. Franklin Pierce University (FPU) is one of only seven schools that offer a program that leads to certification in life sciences (grades 7-12), an area of critical shortage for New Hampshire, which provides an essential foundation for a scientifically literate population.

FPU will address this problem by creating streamlined pathways for STEM students to achieve teacher certification and promoting the program to FPU undergraduates. The FPU School of Education will also market its M.Ed. program to students from sciences who are reconsidering their choice of pursuing a career in healthcare. Finally, FPU will develop further relationships with high-need public schools in the region to provide outlets for newly certified teachers to practice their profession.

This project at Franklin Pierce University includes field placement partnerships with Jaffrey Rindge Cooperative School District (NH), Wilton Lyndeborough Cooperative School District (NH), Conant High School (NH), Mascenic Regional High School (NH), and Fitchburg High School (MA). Project goals include: (1) develop a curricular pathway for biology students and environmental science students to graduate with a STEM teaching degree in five years or less, (2) increase knowledge of FPU teacher preparation programs among University STEM and health sciences faculty and students, (3) develop a recruitment plan and recruitment materials the STEM education programs to conduct outreach, (4) identify high-need LEAs and collaborate with local them to develop a plan for conducting outreach to high school students regarding potential STEM teaching careers, and (5) prepare a Track 1 or Track 2 proposal for the Robert Noyce Teacher Scholarship Program.

With a streamlined curriculum and broad dissemination of information on this teaching preparation program, more students will choose to pursue a career in teaching secondary education STEM in the schools in New Hampshire and Massachusetts, reducing identified teaching shortages and providing quality teachers who will influence future STEM practitioners who will make important contributions to improving the nation’s living standards, economic growth, and global competitiveness. The program’s effectiveness will be assessed by an experienced evaluator who will provide a summative report on the project’s goals at the end of the grant period.

This Capacity Building 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.