Four students who are taking part in a special program that will help train the math and science teachers of tomorrow were hosted by President Dana Mohler-Faria.
Katie Almeda, Sarah Gendron, Sarah Seltzer and Arianna Jefferson are participating in the Southeast Massachusetts Science Teacher Scholars Program. All science majors, they served at K-12 educational camps and programs at Massasoit Community College, Hanscom Air Force Base, and here at Bridgewater. The summer internships marked the first phase of the five-year, $1.45 million initiative, which is funded by the National Science Foundation’s (NSF) Robert Noyce Teacher Scholarship Program.
The program encourages talented science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) students to pursue teaching careers in elementary and secondary schools, addressing the critical local need for K-12 teachers in those fields. The program offers scholarships, internships and a teacher-mentor to support and prepare students majoring in the sciences for a career in teaching. Students are eligible to apply for scholarships valued at $10,000 to cover the cost of tuition, fees, and books for their last two academic years prior to receiving a bachelor’s degree, and licensure to teach elementary or secondary education.
In return, the participating students agree to work as science teachers in public schools in what are considered “high-needs” districts. They include Brockton, Fall River, Randolph and Freetown-Lakeville.
(For a full story on the program, see the forthcoming spring issue of Bridgewater magazine.)
“The main goal of the whole grant for all the Noyce programs is to put more talented scientists in the K-12 classrooms,” said Dr. Jeff Williams, BSU physics professor and co-investigator of the program with Dr. Nicole Glen, assistant professor of elementary and early childhood education.
According to a 2007 report from the National Research Council, elementary students understand science more effectively when taught by teachers who have adequate knowledge of the field. Yet, the National Science Board reported in 2010, more than half of fifth-grade students in the U.S. are being taught science by teachers who do not hold a science or science education degree. Specifically in Massachusetts, 55 percent of schools report a need for more qualified, licensed science teachers.
The program, in partnership with Massasoit Community College, has been four years in the making. Drs Williams and Glen had applied three times for the grant before seeing their program greenlighted.
“High-needs districts,” generally, have high teacher turnover rates because not all teachers choose to work in urban environments. As a result, such districts tend to lose high-quality teachers more easily than suburban schools.
“But since our scholarship program is targeted to students who do have high GPAs and who are really good students, the goal is to put those good science students into these districts with kids who need good teachers and to help mentor them so they will stay in those districts even when some of their colleagues might leave for other jobs in perhaps more suburban schools,” Dr. Glen said. (Photos by Nicholas Allende)
