Large Grant Aims to Increase Number of Math, Science Teachers

Claremont Graduate University has received a grant of nearly $800,000 from the National Science Foundation to recruit and train math and science teachers for high-need public school districts.

The grant, funded through the NSF's Robert Noyce Scholarship Program, will enable CGU's School of Educational Studies to develop 40 new teachers over the next five years. These NSF Teaching Fellows will receive national exposure, significant financial support, and continued professional opportunities through this program, according to a news release from he graduate school.

“We want to find the top undergraduate college students in the science, technology, engineering and math fields and put them on the path to the classroom and school leadership,” Lisa Loop, co-director of Claremont GraduateUniversity's Teacher Education Internship Program wrote. “This grant allows us to offer scholarships and other support to graduates who have a passion to help the next generation and who want to make a difference, especially in high need areas and minority communities.”

The United States has a critical need for qualified teachers in the science, technology, engineering, and math fields, and has established a goal of preparing 100,000 of them over the next decade. Traditionally, too few of the best undergraduate students have chosen to teach.

The Robert Noyce Scholarship Program aims to remedy this problem by funding scholarships, extra support, and recruitment campaigns to attract graduates with science, technology, engineering and math backgrounds who might otherwise not have considered careers in teaching.

NSF Teaching Fellows will leave the graduate school in as little as one year with master's degrees in education or applied mathematics and California teaching credentials. In exchange, they are required to complete two years of teaching in high-need school districts for each year of financial support.

The university will partner in its recruitment efforts with the five undergraduate schools in the Claremont College Consortium: Harvey Mudd, Claremont McKenna, Pomona, Scripps, and Pitzer Colleges. It will also launch a recruitment campaign at Texas Southern University to increase the enrollment of African-American candidates, though graduates from any other university are encouraged to apply.

This is the second time Claremont Graduate University has received a grant from the Robert Noyce Scholarship Program. In 2005, the university was awarded $460,000 it used to recruit and train 40 STEM teachers, 38 of whom remain in the classroom today.

The project’s directors are David Drew, education professor at CGU, and Darryl Yong, mathematics professor at Harvey Mudd College, along with Loop.