Grants pair SUSD’s new secondary science teachers with mentors

New secondary science teachers at Scottsdale Unified School District will be paired with a mentor thanks to the generosity of the National Science Foundation (NSF) and the National Science Teachers Association. This is a joint effort to retain highly qualified teachers in Arizona.

The NSF grant was awarded to Dr. Julie Luft, a professor at Arizona State University, for the amount of $1.4 million over the next four years with a $300,000 for the fifth year. The National Science Teachers Association e-Mentoring for Student Success (eMSS) grant will support 20 new teachers and 20 mentors in Arizona.

Janey Kaufmann, K-12 science/social studies coordinator, applied for the grants after learning of these two opportunities from the National Science Teachers Association/Council. The grants will be supporting new teachers beginning the 2005-2006 school year.

“I wrote letters in support for SUSD’s participation in both grants in an effort to enhance the science-specific mentoring for our new teachers and to retain highly qualified science teachers,” said Kaufmann.

The grants are exclusively for new teacher induction and specifically secondary science teachers.

“The grants will support both face-to-face mentoring and electronic mentoring. For example, with the eMSS grant a mentor could be a Scottsdale physics teacher, and the new teacher could be a teacher in Fredonia. With the NFS grant both the mentor and the new teacher would be in our district,” said Kaufmann.

The NSF grant will support first year secondary science teachers by paying a stipend of $1,000 to the new teacher and $1,500 to the mentor of the new teacher. Data will be collected for the grant to determine if a science-specific induction program will lead to the retention of science teachers. With eMSS grant the mentor will receive a stipend of $1,400 and the new teacher will receive a $400.

Kaufmann is a member of the Executive Committee for these grants. The committee will be in charge of ensuring the implementation of the grants, monitoring the impact and developing a plan for sustainability that meets the needs of beginning science teachers in Arizona.

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