Clarkson Professors Receive Grant to Address STEM Teacher Shortage

Potsdam, NY, Dec. 17, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- A team of five Clarkson University professors has been granted more than one million dollars through the National Science Foundation Robert Noyce Teach Scholarship Program to help address the shortage of STEM (science, technology, engineering, mathematics) secondary teachers in high-need schools. Over the next five years, the grant will be used to help 20 high-achieving science and math undergrad students become science and math teachers in high-need districts. 

Under the direction of Assistant Professor of STEM Education Seema Rivera, Mathematics Professor Katie Kavanagh, Associate Physics Professor Michael Ramsdell, Associate Engineering Professor Jan DeWaters, and Associate Math/STEM Education Professor Ben Galluzzo, are working to better prepare future teachers and retain a talented and effective STEM education workforce through their program, STEM Up NY. The grant will provide scholars with $20,000 to fund their undergraduate senior year, and an additional $20,000 for the year it takes to complete their Master of Arts in Teaching. In addition, they will receive extensive support in preparing for and securing their first teaching positions. In return, the students will commit to spending four years teaching in a high-need district.

“We know there’s a shortage of teachers in high-need urban and rural schools, where they also tend to have high turnover rates,” Rivera said. “The need is clear. We also know that many Clarkson students stay in STEM fields, but some realize that they also love working with people and want to become teachers. Those are the students this program was created for.” Applications for this scholarship are currently being accepted, and this award is expected to end in 2024.

Attachment

• stem-up

Melissa Lindell
Clarkson University
315-268-6716
[email protected]