The National Science Foundation has awarded a grant to the project entitled "Science and Mathematics Teacher Research Initiative: a Comparative Study of CalTeach Students to non-CalTeach Students in the Same Teacher Preparation Programs." The grant is awarded to UC Santa Cruz in partnership with professor Julie A. Bianchini from UC Santa Barbara's Gevirtz School as well as Patricia L. Stoddart, Elisa Stone, Alan J. Daly, Sandra J. Carlson. The $799,971 award will cover research from 2016-2019.
CalTeach is a University of California system-wide program to recruit, prepare, and support exceptional K-12 science and mathematics teachers. The initiative began in response to both state and national concerns about the critical shortage of qualified science and mathematics teachers. CalTeach at UCSB includes opportunities for both undergraduate students and graduate teacher credential candidates.
The study will analyze CalTeach K-12 and secondary STEM teacher preparation at five UC campuses, including UC Santa Barbara. CalTeach students will be compared to non-CalTeach students, and researchers will focus on areas like preparation of teachers to implement the Next Generation Science Standards and Common Core State Standards. Additionally, the research hopes to find ways to better prepare teachers for classrooms of “culturally and linguistically diverse” learners.
The proposal team also envisions national impact from the study. The iterative research and evaluation process across two cycles of implementation at five sites will advance understanding of the impact of different models of teacher preparation, with the possibility of scaling up to similar teacher education programs across the country.