Supporting new science teachers

According to Richard Ingersoll, professor of education and sociology at the University of Pennsylvania, the rate of turnover for all teachers, especially those new to the profession, is higher than in many other occupations. After 3 years, nearly 30 percent of all beginning teachers leave the profession, and this number jumps to nearly 40 percent after 5 years.

A National Science Teachers Association (NSTA) informal survey found that the overriding cause of this crisis is widespread job dissatisfaction among teachers. Principal reasons cited by departing teachers included lack of adequate support and professional development options. These new science teachers need effective and efficient professional development and mentoring support to help them during the difficult early years of their classroom careers. Without a focused effort to address the problems that plague the teaching force, the country will face an escalating shortage that will thwart any efforts to raise student performance in science.

NTSA is working to address this predicament. The NSTA New Science Teacher Academy is focused on encouraging and supporting early-career science educators and designed specifically to help reduce the high attrition rate in the science teaching profession. Introduced in May, this professional development initiative was created to help strengthen quality science teaching, enhance teacher confidence and classroom excellence, and improve teacher content knowledge.

NTSA is working to address this predicament. The NSTA New Science Teacher Academy is focused on encouraging and supporting early-career science educators and designed specifically to help reduce the high attrition rate in the science teaching profession. Introduced in May, this professional development initiative was created to help strengthen quality science teaching, enhance teacher confidence and classroom excellence, and improve teacher content knowledge.

Research shows that the most direct route to increased student achievement is quality teaching, but most fail to make the necessary investment in the profession. High-quality teaching requires training, mentoring, collaboration and practice, along with deep subject matter knowledge; focuses on skills of science and exploration and questioning, and allows for, recognizes, and builds on learning styles and abilities. Quality professional development is cited as the best way to improve the knowledge and skills of science teachers, but few resources are dedicated to this endeavor.

One program, focused on encouraging and supporting early-career science educators and designed specifically to help reduce the high attrition rate in the science teaching profession, is the NSTA New Science Teacher Academy. Introduced in May, this professional development initiative was created to help strengthen quality science teaching, enhance teacher confidence and classroom excellence, and improve teacher content knowledge. The New Science Teacher Academy, co-founded by the Amgen Foundation with a three-year, $3 million grant, will provide early-career science teachers with the professional development and mentoring support needed to set their sights beyond survival and to refocus on enhancing their students’ success.

The Academy will initially support up to 200 science teachers across the nation each year. There are two tiers of participation in the New Science Teacher Academy, NSTA Fellows and NSTA Associate Fellows. Both fellowship programs will include a year-long immersion in a host of science-related activities and professional development opportunities. In addition, NSTA Fellows and Associate Fellows will receive a comprehensive NSTA membership package and financial support to attend and participate in NSTA’s National Conference on Science Education. NSTA Fellows will also receive online mentoring with trained mentors who teach in the same discipline. Each year, the 200 Fellows supported by the Amgen Foundation will be named Amgen-NSTA Fellows and Amgen-NSTA Associate Fellows.  NSTA is seeking to continue the Academy with funding from corporations interested in creating their own Fellows.

If we want to attract and keep good quality science teachers in the profession, the bottom line is that they need more support. Opportunities to learn and grow throughout a teaching career can have a profound effect on the quality of the teaching force and the performance of students. The NSTA New Science Teacher Academy is just one example of a program that aims to support early-career science teachers in succeeding in the classroom. If we are to reform science education in the U.S., we must first focus on the problems with the science teaching community.

Linda Froschauer

NSTA Retiring President