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Illinois College has received up to $75,000 in grant funding from the National Science Foundation to help strengthen partnerships and recruitment efforts with schools for STEM — science, technology, engineering and math — education.
Jaime Klein, chair of the education department and director of teacher preparation at Illinois College, said they submitted the planning projects along with A-C Central, Beardstown, Jacksonville and Virginia school districts.
“We will be planning with these schools to increase the number of teacher candidates who are prepared to teach STEM subjects,” she said, adding that the goal is to support the retention of teachers, specifically focusing on rural school districts.
Illinois College will explore the primary drivers and barriers for IC students who want to become high school STEM teachers, which will involve asking STEM majors about their perceptions and understanding of careers in STEM education. It also will involve evaluating the college’s STEM education advising and recruiting and creating an internal recruitment plan to encourage more STEM-interested students.
The grant also will allow the college to expand relationships with superintendents, principals and teachers in partner schools and learn more about what early career STEM teachers need and want. The college will work with those schools to better understand what support IC can provide, such as professional development and mentorship.
“We hope to streamline and enhance IC’s STEM and education curricula to make it possible for more students to become STEM educators, especially students who have an interest in teaching math and science,” Klein said. “This planning grant will position IC to apply for further funding in 2023 to continue this important work.”
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