UMBC's Sweigart believes that as more math and science standouts are lured into classrooms, they will catch the teaching bug.
Asked why more don't follow her path, she said, "I think the main reason is, that they don't know what it means to be a teacher. When you see the kids responding and realize how much difference you make, that has a huge impact on the desire to teach. It has a real ripple effect."
STEM programs around the country
UTeach:: Forged in 1997 at the University of Texas at Austin, UTeach is the most widely imitated STEM development program in the country. It combines aggressive recruiting of math and science majors, challenging courses, heavy fieldwork, mentoring by practicing teachers and postgraduate support. The program maintains an average enrollment of about 300, and about 85 percent of its graduates go into teaching. In the past two years, 13 universities have signed on to implement UTeach at their campuses.
Cal Teach:: An umbrella program on nine University of California campuses, Cal Teach aims to place 1,000 math and science teachers a year into the state's public schools. Modeled after UTeach in many ways, it offers financial incentives, mentoring and fieldwork to math and science majors interested in teaching.
The New Teacher Project:: Founded by teachers as a revenue-generating nonprofit in 1997, the New Teacher Project has since worked with more than 200 public school districts around the country to bolster recruiting. The project tries to create innovative programs to lure talented teachers, break down policy barriers that keep those recruits away from high-need districts and help potential teachers with certification and preparation for public school classrooms.
NYC Teaching Fellows:: The fellows program offers a seven-week summer course to help career-changers enter the classroom and subsidizes master's degree course work. Though it targets teachers of all types, it places emphasis on high-need areas, including science and math. In nine years, the program has provided almost 14,000 teachers to New York City schools.
Academies Creating Teacher Scientists:: The federal program pairs middle- and high school teachers with mentor scientists who can help them improve their classroom lessons.
