Noyce Program Annual Conference 8 July 2010 Washington, DC Know Your Audience: Marketing Strategies to Recruit Teachers Monica Plisch, American Physical Society Brett Westbrook, University of Texas at Austin Chris Anderson, Grimwhimsy Communications

2 Need for High School Physics Teachers Relative Demand by Field Fields with Considerable Shortage ( ) Severe/Profound Disabilities (Spec. Ed.)4.47 Mathematics Education4.46 Physics4.39 Multicategorical (Spec. Ed.)4.39 Mild/Moderate Disabilities4.37 Chemistry4.35 Mental Retardation (Spec. Ed.)4.34 Emotional/Behavioral Disorders (Spec. Ed.)4.31 Bilingual Education4.31 Learning Disability (Spec. Ed.)4.28 Visually Impaired4.24 Dual Certificate (Gen./Spec.)4.23 Hearing Impaired4.23 Speech Pathology AAEE (American Association of Employment in Education) Educator Supply and Demand in the United States Report

3 Physics Teacher Education For comparison, secondary teachers with a major in the field (2004): Science (all)77% Math61% English76% Social Studies79% Source: Schools and staffing survey, National Center for Education Statistics

4 PhysTEC Project Partners National Science Foundation: PHY; DUE (MSP, ATE, CCLI, Noyce); DMR APS Campaign for the 21st Century

5 PhysTEC Project Goals Demonstrate successful models for: Increasing the number of highly-qualified high school physics teachers Improving the quality of K-8 physical science teacher education Spread best-practice ideas throughout the physics teacher preparation community Transform physics departments to engage in preparing physics teachers

6 Increase in Physics Teachers Educated at PhysTEC Institutions

7 Building a Physics Teacher Identity Physics students strongly identified with discipline Many students have considered teaching but are undecided Problem: often a large divide between physics and education Solution: transform physics department culture to value teaching Students maintain physics identity and build teacher identity

8 Introductory Course Reform Implement research-based curricula that improve student learning Model effective teaching practices Put best instructors in intro courses Explicitly value teaching and the teaching profession

9 Early Teaching Experience: Learning Assistants LA program Undergraduate TAs Concurrent pedagogy course Early teaching experience Impact Teacher recruitment Class performance improves LA’s knowledge increases

10 Teachers in Residence TIR Activities Interact one-on-one with prospective teachers Mentor pre-service and in-service physics teachers Implement Learning Assistant programs Serve as living role model of a physics teacher Build professional learning communities