$1.6 Million NSF Grant to CAS/CEHD

USM’s College of Arts and Sciences and College of Education and Human Development will participate in a $4 million grant from the National Science Foundation to recruit and educate more science and math teachers. The award from NSF’s Division of Undergraduate Education Collaboratives for Excellence in Teacher Preparation Program is to the Maine Mathematics and Science Alliance (MMSA), with sub-awards going to USM, the University of Maine at Farmington, and the University of Maine at Orono.

The grant for $4,081,964, which began September 1, is for five years. The proposal to the NSF was written by Dick Stebbins, professor of chemistry, who will serve as project director.

The project addresses the challenge presented in the NSF publication, “Shaping the Future,” which predicts a severe national shortage of teachers in mathematics and science over the next decade. Maine also faces a teacher shortage for certain areas of science and mathematics. An April 1999 report prepared by the MMSA concludes that of the approximately 4,000 Maine teachers of mathematics and science, over half are within twelve years of probable retirement. Some 50 to 7 mathematics/science teachers are expected to retire per year over the next decade. Teacher education programs in Maine graduate approximately 20 certified secondary teachers per year in mathematics, 10 in life sciences and 13 in physical sciences, numbers far below the state need.

In addition, a 1998 study found that 33 percent of Maine mathematics and science teachers teach in subjects outside their major, compared to 27 percent nationally. This use of teachers without appropriate background in math and science is due partially to lack of qualified teachers in mathematics and the physical sciences in Maine and can lower the quality of classroom teaching in these subjects.

The project participants plan to work with a recruitment consultant in designing a recruitment plan, which will be implemented for the first time in Fall, 2001. They will also gather ideas from other states that have had some experience with recruitment, coordinate with the new Maine Blue Ribbon Commission on the Recruitment and Retention of Teachers, and talk with admissions offices and education faculty at the three participating UMaine campuses. Through these discussions, they hope to identify groups to target in locating potential teachers, including people wishing to change careers. The project also will explore loan forgiveness programs and apply for NSF scholarship money to encourage and support interested students.

In addition to increasing the number of teachers of mathematics and science in grades 7 through 12, the grant project seeks to improve the quality of math and science education through curricular changes. A content-rich curriculum will be devised by CAS and COEH faculty, working together to assure that teacher-training integrates mastery of the subjects with best pedagogical practices. To do this, the grant assumes that teacher preparation is the responsibility of faculties of both colleges of arts and sciences and colleges of education. Faculty from both colleges will discuss together the integration of content and pedagogy in courses for future teachers so that CAS faculty will have some input into the math/science content in courses taken by future teachers in CEHD.

Working together, the faculty will review the current literature on how students learn science and mathematics and encourage changes in teaching practice consistent with the findings to make math/science faculty more effective teachers. This will benefit not only future teachers, but all students taking math/science courses at USM. Additionally, each of the three campuses will hire a new faculty member with a joint appointment in CAS and CEHD (either math/math education or science/science education) to increase interaction between faculty in the two colleges and to increase the ability of each campus to respond to continuing federal and state initiatives in math/science education. USM already has hired Elizabeth Allman, a mathematician/math educator.
The project also addresses the need to support teachers of mathematics and science in the first three years of teaching. Possible approaches to teacher induction, such as mentoring programs, will be explored during the second year of the grant.

USM’s share of the grant to shape programs in COEH and CAS and for outreach to public schools during the five-year period is $1.6 million.

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