New Option for Science, Math Teacher Preparation at University of Arkansas

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – This fall, the University of Arkansas started a new four-year licensure program for science and mathematics teachers as part of an initiative launched last year by Arkansas Gov. Mike Beebe.

The governor announced a pilot program called STEM Works in August 2011 to focus on science, technology, engineering and mathematics education in high schools and universities. Beebe and his Workforce Cabinet encouraged Arkansas higher education institutions to consider implementing teacher-preparation programs modeled after the UTeach program begun at the University of Texas at Austin in 1997. Following a successful proposal, the state awarded startup grants of $216,667 to the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville, the University of Arkansas at Little Rock and the University of Central Arkansas in the first year of a multi-year grant to help fund the program.

The program designed at the University of Arkansas represents a new and powerful partnership between the J. William Fulbright College of Arts and Sciences, where students will earn a degree in mathematics or science, and the College of Education and Health Professions, which will facilitate awarding an Arkansas teaching license. The UTeach Arkansas program is co-directed by Gay Stewart, professor of physics, and William McComas, who holds the Parks Family Professorship in Science Education. 

“There is no doubt we will produce more science and math teachers than we have in the past,” McComas said of the new four-year licensure program. “We thank the state for accelerating our thinking about how to create a high-quality program such as this.”

What makes this program distinct from other four-year programs of teacher education is that students will earn both a degree in science or mathematics and a license. 

“These students will graduate with degrees in science or mathematics and be well-prepared in pedagogy so that they can communicate their knowledge to their students,” Stewart said. “They will also take a course in research methods so that they know what research in their field looks like.”

In addition, students will design inquiry-based lessons as part of their coursework, Stewart said. “This is what it means to do science,” she said. “It should not be mere memorization of facts.”

State officials have encouraged new options for secondary teacher education to increase the number of well-qualified teachers in the STEM fields. According to Stewart, by better preparing teachers in science and mathematics, the university is also better preparing these teachers’ students to be college-ready to enter any STEM discipline for future careers.

Classes are full for the fall semester of the program, which is already the third-largest entering class of 33 such programs in the country, Stewart said.

“Our goal was to enroll 40 students this fall and we have 80,” Stewart said. “We added another section to the introductory class to accommodate the students who wanted to enroll. We had an information table at freshman orientation, and advisers did a good job of identifying freshmen interested in science and mathematics.”

UTeach is unique in its early intensive field experiences for teacher candidates, the use of mentor teachers in area classrooms and development of teacher candidates’ content knowledge and effective teaching techniques. It also employs as instructors Master Teachers, non-tenured clinical faculty with exemplary secondary teaching experience.

“UTeach has phenomenal retention rates,” Stewart said. “Five years after graduation, 80 percent of UTeach graduates are still teaching.” 

“We hope to do even better,” McComas added.

One of the most original elements of UTeach is a free one-credit class in the fall that includes at least 10 hours of field work at a local elementary school during which the college students will plan and teach three lessons. The second semester features a similar class in which students practice- teach at a local middle or junior high school. Both of these introductory experiences are designed to acquaint students with the exciting prospect of becoming teachers. Once students complete this initial experience, they will take a number of other classes all designed to fuse science and mathematics with pedagogy, culminating in a semester-long teaching internship before graduation.   

“UTeach Arkansas really is the best of all worlds possible in a four-year package,” McComas said. “Students gain a strong grounding in their content area while learning how to teach it in multiple school settings. Even our motto ‘Two Futures, Four Years, One Degree’ reflects this.”

UTeach integrates well with other programs offered at the University of Arkansas. The College of Education and Health Professions offers several other options for teaching, including a fifth-year teacher licensure program in which students earn a Master of Arts in Teaching degree and teaching license. In addition, UTeach will fit well with the new Master of Education degree that will start in the fall of 2013, McComas said.

“This degree is designed to support teacher professional growth so graduates from the UTeach program would be welcomed back to campus in this new M.Ed. in curriculum and instruction,” he said. “We look forward to exploring other opportunities to enhance science and mathematics at the University of Arkansas to make the university a leader in STEM education in the state and beyond.”