Initiative aims for 100,000 new STEM teachers

The initial phase of the project is focused on the movement’s first three years and first 20,000 teachers. Carnegie Corporation is working with the U.S. Department of Education to leverage public dollars to support the goals of 100Kin10.

While many districts are cutting teaching positions, STEM fields, especially math and science, remain high-need—just as they were before the nation’s economy began to struggle, said Talia Milgrom-Elcott, program officer for urban education at Carnegie Corporation.

100Kin10 is not a teacher-training initiative, Milgrom-Elcott said, but rather is “facilitating a commitment to action” by inviting partner organizations to step up and apply their best thoughts to the movement.

The movement currently has more than 80 cross-sector organization partners spread over four categories. Funding partners pledge funds that can be allocated to any of the movement’s activities. Groups that commit to helping “increase the supply” will work to recruit and prepare more excellent STEM teachers. Commitments in the “Retain Excellence” category develop and keep great STEM teachers in schools across the nation. And “Build the Movement” commitments support innovation, growth, and quality in the 100Kin10 initiative.

For instance, the American Museum of Natural History has pledged to prepare 130 certified science teachers for high-need schools by 2015, with each teacher promising to teach in those schools for at least four years. Florida International University has partnered with the Miami-Dade County Public Schools to recruit, prepare, and retain 200 more STEM teachers in 26 low-performing schools. And the American Association of Physics Teachers (AAPT) aims to help increase the five-year retention rate of new physics teachers from 50-60 percent to 80 percent by providing professional development and online mentoring to 2,000 additional teachers over 10 years, aided by the online resources in AAPT’s digital library.

Milgrom-Elcott said it’s important to note that 100Kin10 focuses on retaining current STEM teachers as well as recruiting new ones, and it encourages commitments that improve the circumstances in which STEM teachers work—from how they are recruited, hired, evaluated, and paid to the support they receive and the opportunities they have to grow in their careers.

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