Partnering to Recruit, Engage, Prepare, and Support New STEM Teachers for North Dallas Area Schools

This project aims to respond to the national need of preparing and retaining high-quality teachers. Teacher shortages in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) are becoming increasingly dire in the aftermath of the Covid-19 pandemic and its impact on attitudes regarding teaching. New strategies are needed to rise to the challenges of recruiting, preparing, and retaining K–12 teachers. This program seeks to partner to recruit, engage, prepare, and support (PREPS) new teachers in the north Dallas area to increase the number of well-prepared science and mathematics teachers and retain them in the teaching profession. The PREPS project intends to investigate and disseminate effective strategies for recruitment of STEM majors into the teaching profession. PREPS also intends to investigate and disseminate effective strategies for support and retention of these newly prepared STEM teachers. This project at the University of Texas at Dallas (UT Dallas) School of Natural Sciences and Mathematics includes partnerships with at least three high-need independent school districts (ISDs) in the north Dallas area of the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex (DFW): Garland ISD, Mesquite ISD, and Richardson ISD. The PREPS project is part of the UTeach Dallas STEM teacher certification preparation program. Project goals include strengthening collaborations with partner ISDs for 1) quality field experiences for preservice teachers, 2) effective induction support for new teachers, 3) investigation of new pathways for recruitment into and/or completion of teacher preparation, and 4) identification of barriers to new teacher retention and strategies to address these barriers. At the university, project goals include 1) targeted recruitment into teacher preparation of STEM majors in critical teacher shortages in mathematics and the sciences, 2) identification and dissemination of effective post-pandemic messaging for teacher recruitment from a pool of undergraduate STEM majors, 3) investigation of a potential partnership with the UT Dallas School of Science and Engineering for recruitment into the teaching profession of STEM majors in additional critical shortage areas such as computer science, and 4) systematic use of data for continuous improvement. UTeach Dallas PREPS also intends to explore direct recruitment of students in local, diverse, high-needs high schools into mathematics and science majors at UT Dallas and into UTeach Dallas. The project plans to disseminate findings to multiple university-based teacher preparation national and statewide networks. UTeach Dallas PREPS intends to provide up to 54 scholarships and 40 internships, with recipients anticipated to directly impact STEM learning for up to 27,000 students in their first five years of teaching in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex. Participants are expected to positively impact K–12 students through internships and in their field experiences beginning as early as their first university semester. 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.