ETSU faculty receive NSF grant to recruit, prepare, and retain high school teachers in STEM fields
“There is a high need for high school teachers in those subjects in eastern Tennessee and nation-wide,” said Dr. Beverly Smith, Professor in ETSU’s Department of Physics and Astronomy and the lead investigator and Director of the ETSU Noyce Program. “The goal of this program is to encourage students majoring in those subjects to become high school teachers.
This grant focuses on two main initiatives:
1. Undergraduate Internships: Aimed at students majoring in Physics, Chemistry, or Mathematics. The program offers training and mentorship by ETSU faculty and professionals from partner institutions to help students gain teaching experience, confidence, and skills, regardless of their eventual career paths.
2. Scholarships for M.A.T. Program: Scholarships are available for students with bachelor's degrees in five key subjects (physics, chemistry, and mathematics) to pursue a Master of Arts in Teaching (M.A.T.) and obtain teacher certification. This supports students who find it challenging to complete both their major and education requirements within four years.
Partner organizations involved include ETSU Natural History Museum, Bays Mountain Park, and Pisgah Astronomical Research Institute. The broader goal of the NSF Robert Noyce Teacher Scholarship Program is to encourage talented STEM students and professionals to become K-12 teachers, particularly in high-need school districts.
“These experiences will be invaluable to students, whatever their final career path,” Smith says. “The skills they will learn as interns will help them whether they go on to graduate school in their field, work in industry or become teachers.”
For more information about the program, see Noyce
Media Contact:
Jennifer Hill
hill@etsu.edu
423-439-4317