Stanford ramps up efforts to recruit and prepare K-12 math and science teachers

The Stanford Teacher Education Program (STEP) has joined 100Kin10, a new national initiative to improve the academic performances of all U.S. students in science, technology, engineering, and math. The nationwide effort is aimed at recruiting, developing, and retaining 100,000 STEM teachers over the next 10 years.

STEP’s role in 100Kin10 is to prepare and retain at least 230 highly qualified STEM teachers for academically and linguistically diverse K-12 classrooms in the next five years through its elementary and secondary teacher preparation programs. STEP will evaluate the performance of these teachers based on their impact on student learning, their retention rates, and the extent to which they take leadership positions in the field. The program will partner with local schools and districts, as well as local and national nonprofit organizations, to connect highly qualified teacher candidates with schools and districts who need them the most.

"We are honored to be one the few university-based teacher education programs selected to participate in this national initiative," said Professor (Teaching) Rachel Lotan, director of the Stanford Teacher Education Program. "Our teaching candidates are led by our outstanding faculty and they learn to practice teaching under the mentorship of highly qualified cooperating teachers in our partner schools. We are excited to build on the excellence of our program and our efforts to recruit and prepare exceptional STEM teachers."

In addition to preparing and retaining STEM teachers through its teacher education program, the Stanford School of Education prepares teacher educators at the PhD level who will impact the preparation of new mathematics and science teachers nationwide. These doctoral students will deepen their research expertise in the teaching of mathematics and science, and will co-teach STEP classes and supervise teacher candidates.

Organizations spanning multiple sectors—including higher education institutions, corporations, school districts, museums, foundations, federal agencies, states, and nonprofit organizations—have joined100Kin10to address the challenges of increasing and retaining the nation’s highly qualified STEM educators. To date, more than 80 partners are participating in the effort, including NASA, Google, The Broad Institute of Harvard and MIT, and the Clinton Global Initiative. The initiative is being led by Carnegie Corporation of New York and the Opportunity Equation.

Secretary of Education Arne Duncan has lauded the 100Kin10 initiative. "President Obama and I believe that recruiting and preparing 100,000 excellent new teachers in the STEM fields is essential for our students’ success in the 21st century knowledge economy," said Duncan. "We need an all-hands-on-deck strategy to make this happen. I applaud the work of Carnegie Corporation and the Opportunity Equation and the 80 organizations including corporations, universities, non-profits, states, and districts that are coming together under the banner of ‘100Kin10’ to provide our students with a world-class education in the STEM subjects."

Michele Cahill, vice president for National Programs of the Carnegie Corporation of New York and co-chair of the Opportunity Equation, said, "With 100Kin10, partners aren’t just voicing their concern. They are making real, measurable commitments to solving a complex, national problem. We hope their commitments will help mobilize others to join in the effort to increase the supply of excellent math and science teachers and retain them and all those currently in the classroom so that all students have access to rich, engaging, challenging science and math learning."

A dozen corporate and foundation partners have created an initial funding base of nearly $20 million in pledges that can be allocated to any of the 100Kin10 partner organizations at the discretion of the funder. , including a complete list of partners and their commitments, is available on the 100Kin10 website.