LITTLE ROCK -- The University of Arkansas at Little Rock will start a program aimed at improving Arkansas' early education opportunities in science, technology, engineering and mathematics with a grant of nearly $1.2 million from the National Science Foundation.
The UALRTeach Noyce Teacher Scholarship Program will be a collaboration with Henderson Middle School in Little Rock, UALR Children International and the Museum of Discovery, a news release said. UALRTeach is a STEM initiative that prepares teachers for secondary education.
The new collaboration -- financed by the five-year, $1,193,677 award from the National Science Foundation's Robert Noyce Scholarship Program -- will take a multipronged approach to tackling Arkansas' shortage of science and mathematics teachers, particularly in high-need schools.
Scholarships will be offered to highly qualified UALR junior and senior STEM majors who intend to earn teaching licenses and teach in a high-need school for at least two years.
Additionally, participants in the program will teach enhanced inquiry-based mathematics and science lessons to students at Henderson Middle School.
The grant also will help launch the Noyce Internship Program, in which paid summer interns will lead educational presentations, tutoring and learning at Children International, the Museum of Discovery and other partner sites, the UALR news release said.
NW News on 09/14/2015