Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano congratulates Northern Arizona University President John Haeger after announcing at a Dec. 10 press conference at the state Capitol that NAU has been awarded a $3.4 million dollar grant for math and science teacher education. Photo by Thomas Boggan

NAU awarded $3.4 million
to increase math and
science teachers

As the nation grapples with an increasing need for scientists, engineers and technical experts, Northern Arizona University finds itself perfectly poised to attract and retain qualified teachers who will draw students into these fields.

Gov. Janet Napolitano today announced that NAU is one of 12 colleges and universities in the nation, and the only one in the state, to receive a multimillion-dollar grant that has the potential to more than double the number of science and math teachers NAU currently is producing.

"This grant demonstrates how education performance is directly tied to economic performance," Napolitano said. "By fostering innovation in our classrooms, we can regain our status as a global leader in scientific discovery."

The $3.4 million grant will replicate a program modeled after the highly successful UTeach program established at the University of Texas at Austin in 1997. The National Math and Science Initiative awarded $2.4 million funded by ExxonMobil, while the Helios Education Foundation contributed an additional $1 million.

The UTeach program introduces undergraduate math and science majors to elementary and secondary school teaching by offering compact degree plans, early teaching experiences and financial assistance.

The model has been shown to dramatically increase student recruitment into math and science teaching, while increasing the retention rate of graduates to 84 percent after four years, compared to only 60 percent nationally.

"This gives us a platform to raise the quantity and quality of math and science teachers in Arizona's schools," said Julie Gess-Newsome, director of NAU's Center for Science Teaching and Learning, which, together with the Department of Mathematics and Statistics, will administer the program under the name of NAUTeach.

She said the model has been lauded for its revolutionary approach to training teachers. Graduates earn a degree in their field of expertise in science or math as opposed to a degree in education. At the same time, they will graduate with the certification to teach in Arizona.

Participating students are given early and continued teaching experience, even as freshmen, Gess-Newsome explained. "It's distinctive in that education majors typically gain teaching experience at the end of their college career," she said, adding that NAUTeach will provide students with a stipend to defray the cost of tuition for early stages in the program.

"It's a very low-risk way for students to try teaching as a career," she said.

NAU President John Haeger said the university has an extraordinary responsibility to produce more teachers who will educate the next generation of science and technology experts.

"America was once a leader in math and science education, but that position has steadily and drastically eroded," Haeger said. "Today we rank 24th out of 29 industrialized countries. Grants such as this will help us reverse that trend to again ensure our competitiveness in a knowledge-based economy."

Daniel Kain, dean of Northern Arizona University's College of Education, said NAU is well-suited to initiate the UTeach program.

"The National Math and Science Initiative recognizes NAU's long-term commitment to excellence in teacher education that is the history of our university," Kain said. "This award represents a charge for NAU to take on the serious business of preparing more teachers to address the changing needs of our state and nation."

Through a coordinated national rollout of the program, investors in the effort expect it will have a profound ripple effect on the nation's supply of qualified math and science teachers.

"I have been impressed by the tremendous results the UTeach program has had in Texas, and I look forward to the great outcomes that will result from expanding this program across the nation," said Tom Luce, president and CEO of the National Math and Science Initiative, a non-profit organization whose goal is to help the United States maintain its global leadership position in technological innovation. He said the initiative is committed to the hallmarks of the UTeach program becoming the national standard for math and science teacher preparation.

ExxonMobil contributed an initial $125 million to the National Math and Science Initiative efforts. Additional donors include the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and the Michael and Susan Dell Foundation.

"As a company that employs 14,000 engineers and scientists, ExxonMobil knows how important it is to provide the best education and training possible for our nation's young people," said Rex Tillerson, chairman and chief executive officer of Exxon Mobil Corporation. "We are proud to be part of this important effort to begin to address the critical shortage of math and science teachers in our schools."

The Helios Education Foundation contributed $1 million toward the NAUTeach initiative.

"Programs that work to improve teacher quality and development in areas such as math and science are critical," said the foundation's chairman and CEO, Vince Roig. "We congratulate Northern Arizona University, and we look forward to a long-term, successful partnership."

Other universities that received similar grants to initiate the program include the University of Florida, Florida State, the University of Colorado at Boulder, Western Kentucky, Temple, the University of Texas-Dallas, the University of Houston, Louisiana State, the University of Kansas, the University of California at Irvine and the University of California at Berkeley.

"UTeach has proven to be a very successful model for preparing our next-generation science and math teachers, and we're very excited to have the opportunity to replicate the program at universities across the Unites States," said Mary Ann Rankin, dean of the College of Natural Sciences at the University of Texas at Austin. "The more the program spreads, the more fine teachers we will be producing to inspire and educate our nation's children to discover and create new science and technology for the future."

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