Chapter 29: Examining Retention of Uteach Arlington Graduates in High-Need Classrooms¹

The nation is acutely aware of the critical need for more, well-prepared science and mathematics teachers and a STEM-educated professional workforce. In the year 2000, the National Commission on Mathematics and Science Teaching for the 21^st Century had predicted that over two million qualified teachers would be needed in the coming decade—a prediction that is now a reality (National Commission on Mathematics and Science Teaching [NCMST], 2000). Likewise, the severe shortage of STEM professionals has been of national concern since the landmark publication, A Nation at Risk (National Commission on Excellence in Education, 1983), followed by other profound guiding documents, including Project 2061 (American Association for the Advancement of Science, 1989). On the need for teachers, the National Academy of Sciences (2007) states: “Today there is such a shortage of highly qualified K–12 teachers that many of the nation’s 15,000 school districts have hired uncertified or underqualified teachers” (p. 112). In addition, reports indicate the least well-prepared teachers are those teaching in high-need schools, with many teaching out of the field in which they earned their degree and/or teacher certification (National Education Association, 2001). Yet the urgent need for STEM teachers who are well prepared and consequently well positioned to promote a strong, STEM-educated workforce conveyed in these documents is far from being realized, with the U.S. lagging behind most Western countries in student STEM persistence and achievement (e.g., Desilver, 2017).