teaching upper elementary students in theirfirstfield-based course and work
with middle school students in their secondfield-based course. The third and
fourth courses have a high schoolfield experience followed by a semester-long
experience of student teaching (ST) which is typically at the high school level.- Master Teachers with extensive teaching and leadership experience in the
public schools work at the University of Houston alongside students in the
programme. The master teachers teach and coordinatefield experiences asso-
ciated with theteachHOUSTONprogramme. They work with students as they
progress through the program and graduate, and then continue to work with
them as new teachers for up to three years after they start full-time employment. - Mentor Teacherscurrently teaching in public schools that work closely with
teachHOUSTONstudents during theirfield experiences. Preservice teachers
observe mathematics and science teachers who are highly recommended by their
administrators. Additionally, mentor teachers work with preservice teachers to
develop and teach two or three inquiry-based lessons during the semester for the
four field-based courses that occur prior to the entire semester of student
teaching. Constructive feedback is provided by the mentor teachers subsequent
to each teaching experience - Faculty membersat UH who are actively engaged in research in mathematics
and science, as well as the teaching and learning of mathematics and science.
They focus on developing deep-level understanding of the subject area material
and incorporating effective teaching approaches with a strong emphasis on the
integration of technology. - Appealing student benefitsto encourage enrollment and retention, including
paid internships that offer opportunities for education-oriented community
outreach including summer STEM camps as well as scholarships limited to
those in the teachHOUSTONprogram. The National Science Foundation
Robert Noyce Scholarship and Internship program offers both internships and
scholarships for preservice teachers. The Noyce Scholarship program provides
junior and senior level physics and chemistry majors and minors, and
post-baccalaureate students seeking teacher certification in physics or chemistry
with $12,000/year Noyce scholarship. Students are eligible to apply for the
scholarship for up to two years. All students accepting a Noyce scholarship are
required to sign a contract that requires them to teach for two years in a
high-needs school district for every year of scholarship support after graduation
(certification for the post-baccalaureate scholars). - Informal experiencesto better prepare teachers to be effective in high need
schools and provide opportunities for students to build skills and increase
self-efficacy as educators. Overall teacher self-efficacy is increased through
exposure to multiple forms of formal and informal teaching experiences and
teacher-efficacy has been correlated to student achievement outcomes as well as
to student self-efficacy. The Noyce summer internship program is a 6-week
experience designed for incoming freshmen and sophomore mathematics and
science majors who are interested in the teacher certification plan, but who are
not yet eligible for the Noyce scholarship program. During this experience, 12
462 C.J. Craig et al.