Noyce Program Annual Conference

8 July 2010 Washington, DC

National Task Force on Teacher Education in Physics

Monica Plisch

Assistant Director of Education American Physical Society

Need for High School Physics Teachers

Relative Demand by Field Fields with Considerable Shortage (5.00 - 4.21) Severe/Profound Disabilities (Spec. Ed.)

Mathematics Education Physics

Multicategorical (Spec. Ed.) Mild/Moderate Disabilities

Chemistry

Mental Retardation (Spec. Ed.) Emotional/Behavioral Disorders (Spec. Ed.) Bilingual Education Learning Disability (Spec. Ed.) Visually Impaired Dual Certificate (Gen./Spec.) Hearing Impaired Speech Pathology 4.47

4.46

4.39

4.39

4.37

4.35

4.34

4.31

4.31

4.28

4.24

4.23

4.23

4.21

2008 AAEE

(American Association of Employment in Education)

Educator Supply and Demand in the United States Report

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www.ptec.org/taskforce

Physics Teacher Education

For comparison, secondary teachers with a major in the field (2004): Science (all) 77% Math English 61% 76% Social Studies 79% Source: Schools and staffing survey, National Center for Education Statistics

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Demographics of High School Physics Teachers

• 23,000 Physics Teachers Nationwide • 1,200 new physics teachers each year • ~400 of these have physics major or minor 1200 1000 800 30% 25% 20% • Number taking physics growing by 1% per year 600 15% 400 200 Physics Enrollment AP or Honors Physics 10% 5% 0 1985 1990 1995

Year

2000 0% 2005 Source: AIP Statistical Research Center

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TIMSS-Physics Performance

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http://timss.bc.edu

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Task Force on Teacher Education in Physics (T-TEP)

© 2010 T-TEP, www.ptec.org/taskforce 6

T-TEP Charge

 Increasing the number of qualified high school physics teachers – Are there generalizable, yet flexible, strategies that institutions can employ?

 Identifying best practice – Are there effective: a) strategies in recruitment b) models of professional preparation c) higher education systems of support during the first three years of teaching  Research, Policy, Funding Implications © 2010 T-TEP, www.ptec.org/taskforce 7

T-TEP Members

 Stamatis Vokos, Chair (Seattle Pacific)  Eugenia Etkina (Rutgers)  J.D. Garcia (University of Arizona)  David Haase (North Carolina State)  Drew Isola (Allegan Public Schools)  Eugene Levy (Rice)  Valerie Otero (University of Colorado)  Mary Ann Rankin (University of Texas)  Jack Hehn (American Institute of Physics)  Warren Hein (American Association of Physics Teachers)  Ted Hodapp (American Physical Society)  Cathy O'Riordan (American Institute of Physics)  Monica Plisch (American Physical Society)  David Meltzer, Senior Consultant (Arizona State) © 2010 T-TEP, www.ptec.org/taskforce 8

T-TEP Data Sources

 Consulted results of research in teacher education  Analyzed multiple types of publicly available data  Surveyed all 758 U.S. physics departments (79% response rate) to obtain quantitative teacher production data  Interviewed faculty or staff in identified institutions to verify and enrich survey data  Conducted 12 site visits to institutions  Collaborated with APLU, AACTE, KSTF, ACS  Gathered advice from teacher education experts, program officers at foundations, and policy makers © 2010 T-TEP, www.ptec.org/taskforce 9

Site Visits to Promising Programs

Diversity in Geographic location, Size, Type, Mission, Demographics,

Findings: How are physics teacher prepared

© 2010 T-TEP, www.ptec.org/taskforce 11

Finding #1: Few are doing PTE

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Few physics departments and schools of education are actively engaged in the recruitment and professional preparation of physics teachers.

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Finding #1: Few are doing PTE

Distribution of Graduates Across Institutions

80 60 40 20 Phone Interviews and/or Site Visits 0 0 1 2 3 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 4 5 6 7 8 9

Number of Graduates in 2-yr Period

© 2010 T-TEP, www.ptec.org/taskforce 13

Finding #2: It takes a champion who cares

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Without exception, all of the most active physics teacher education programs have a

champion

who is personally committed to physics teacher education. With few notable exceptions, these program leaders have

little institutional support

.

© 2010 T-TEP, www.ptec.org/taskforce 14

Finding #3: Ph.D. granting departments produce fewer physics teachers

Physics departments award more than 200 bachelor’s each year from education programs  About 150 from bachelor’s & master’s departments  About 50 from PhD departments © 2010 T-TEP, www.ptec.org/taskforce

Finding #4: Little or no collaboration

4

Few institutions demonstrate strong collaboration between physics departments and schools of education. © 2010 T-TEP, www.ptec.org/taskforce 17

Finding #5: No physics-specific pedagogy

5

Programs do little to develop the physics specific pedagogical expertise of teachers.

© 2010 T-TEP, www.ptec.org/taskforce 18

Finding #6: Universities don’t support recent physics teacher graduates

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Few programs provide support, resources, intellectual community or professional development for new physics teachers.

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Finding #7: Little support for teachers who are teaching physics outside their major

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Few institutions offer a coherent program of professional development for in-service teachers, even though most teachers of physics are not adequately prepared to teach physics.

© 2010 T-TEP, www.ptec.org/taskforce 20

Findings Summary: A Grim National Picture

 Few are doing physics teacher preparation  If they are there is an under-supported champion  Ph.D. departments produce fewer physics teachers  Little or no collaboration with Schools of Education  Little or no physics-specific pedagogy  Little support for recent graduates  Little support for those teaching physics outside © 2010 T-TEP, www.ptec.org/taskforce major 21

Findings Summary: A Grim National Picture

© 2010 T-TEP, www.ptec.org/taskforce

Finding #8: There are things that work!

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There exist thriving programs that can serve as models and resources for other institutions.

 A program champion or a group dedicated to physics teacher education  Active collaboration between physics and education departments  A sequence of courses that are focused on the teaching and learning of physics  Early teaching experiences led by the physics department  Individualized advising of teacher candidates by faculty knowledgeable about physics education  Mentoring by expert physics teachers  A rich intellectual community for graduates © 2010 T-TEP, www.ptec.org/taskforce 23

Recommendations



Commitment

 Physics and education depts., university administration, professional societies, funding agencies 

Quality

 Focus on student learning in pre-college classroom 

Capacity

 Multi-partner collaborations adopt bold strategies to boost # of qualified individuals going into teaching (STEM majors, career changers) © 2010 T-TEP, www.ptec.org/taskforce 24

T-TEP Recommendations — Commitment

1) Physics and Education departments should recognize that they share responsibility for physics teacher education.

2) Institutions should join national consortia,

e.g.,

PTEC, SMTI 3) Disciplinary professional societies should advocate and support discipline-specific teacher professional education.

4) NSF and U.S. Dept. of Education should develop a coherent vision for discipline-specific teacher professional education and support programs that address critical issues.

© 2010 T-TEP, www.ptec.org/taskforce

T-TEP Recommendations — Quality

1) 2) 3) 4) 5) 6) Teaching at all levels should be informed by physics education research.

Experiences for teachers should integrate physics content, physics specific pedagogy, and practice, with reflection.

Programs should support learning communities of teachers.

General science certification should be replaced with subject specific endorsements.

Accreditation criteria should be revised to be based on subject specific teacher preparation.

Physics education researchers should set research agenda for the study of teacher knowledge/skills/dispositions and meaningful student achievement.

© 2010 T-TEP, www.ptec.org/taskforce

T-TEP Recommendations — Capacity

1) Institutions should use multiple strategies for

recruiting

talented STEM majors into teaching careers 2) Institutions should develop a course of study that strengthens

all components

of the teacher professional continuum (

e.g.,

coherent offerings for inservice, as well as preservice teachers) 3) Institutions, school systems, business partners, STEM professionals, should pool subject-specific teaching expertise and contexts to create communities of practice ( e.g., physics teaching and learning regional centers ) © 2010 T-TEP, www.ptec.org/taskforce

Summary

 The national landscape shows a system that is largely inefficient, mostly incoherent, and massively unprepared  Physics departments, schools of education, university administrators, school systems, state and federal government, as well as business and foundations have indispensable collaborative roles to play  We have excellent models from a handful of isolated pockets of excellence © 2010 T-TEP, www.ptec.org/taskforce

Questions

 What can T-TEP do to help you with your work at your institution?

 What steps should T-TEP take to push the recommendations forward?

© 2010 T-TEP, www.ptec.org/taskforce 29

PhysTEC Project Partners

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

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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

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PhysTEC Project

National Coalition

• National Conference • Recognized Programs • Community Leaders • Sharing Innovative Ideas • Broad Dissemination • 180 member institutions

Demonstration Projects

• Comprehensive ( < $100k/yr) • All key elements • Teacher in Residence • Pilot sites ( < $25k/yr) • Innovative ideas • Possible: TYC, LAs, TIRs • National models • Institutional support

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25 20

Increase in Physics Teachers Educated at PhysTEC Institutions

Before PhysTEC Years 1 - 3 Years 4 - 6 15 10 2001 2004 2004 2007 5 0

Arizona Arkansas Cal Poly* Colorado* Western Michigan Non PhysTEC**

*Became a PhysTEC site 2003 or later **Number of physics certifications averaged over 319 institutions in 15 states. Note that all PhysTEC teachers are more highly qualified than the minimum standards in most states.

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Arkansas Success Story

25 Physics Majors Physics Teachers 20 15 10 5

Dramatic increase in majors enabled a large increase in physics teachers PhysTEC funding ends; program sustained locally PhysTEC funding starts

0 1990 1992 1994 1996

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1998 2000

Year

2002 2004 2006 2008

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PTEC Member Institutions

…committed to improving the education of physics and physical science teachers

QuickTime™ and a decompressor are needed to see this picture.

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RFP Components

• Site Types (Pilot, Comprehensive) • Funding (up to $25k, $100k/yr for 3 years) • National Models • Research • Key Elements • Expectations (reporting, data, meetings) • Review process • Timeline

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Key Components

• Recruitment • Master teacher (TIR) • Course transformation • Early teaching experience • Learning Assistants • Collaboration (physics, education, schools) • Relationships with practicing teachers • Sustainability • Assessment • Induction and mentoring

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• RFP: October • 2-3 page pre-proposal: 1 November • Full (15 page NSF style) proposal: 1 January • Funding decision: April • Project Start: August

Timeline

• PhysTEC 2011 Meeting: 23-25 May (held in tandem with UTeach Institute)

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