These 15 educators were selected to represent Loyola at the conference, sharing their experiences and favorite classroom resources, networking with other educators, and expanding their repertoire of instructional tools and strategies with a focus on place-based, culturally responsive STEM teaching and learning.

The National Science Foundation (NSF)’s Robert Noyce Teacher Scholarship program addresses the critical need for recruiting, preparing, and retaining highly effective elementary and secondary mathematics and science teachers and teacher leaders who persist as classroom teachers in high-need school settings. Loyola University Chicago, under the leadership of Dr. Lara Smetana (School of Education), has been awarded multiple related awards through the Noyce program.

Since 2017, Loyola University Chicago has supported over 30 new secondary STEM teachers under this program, reducing financial barriers to attend college and pursue a teaching career, and providing the sorts of personalized support systems that help keep excellent teachers in the field. The LUC-Noyce Scholars program has built a strong, supportive, and engaged professional network of STEM teachers and leaders within Chicago area schools. The program provides mentoring through teachers’ first years in the classroom, sponsors professional learning opportunities for students, alumni, and school partners, and advanced knowledge and disseminated research findings that inform the field of STEM teacher education. This all extends teachers’ learning from their time as undergraduate and graduate students in Loyola’s SOE, and allows an opportunity to give back to the next generation of teachers as well.

The conference was also a convening of the fellows who participated in the  Midwest STEM Teacher Innovation Program (MidSTIP), including 5 SOE alumni and 3 SOE partner teachers. This new professional learning initiative, funded by NSF, was designed to create a hub of STEM teachers engaged in immersive STEM curricular development connected to authentic research practices and culturally responsive pedagogy. The highly competitive program provided collaborative, pedagogical, emotional, and financial support to six teacher cohorts, one of which was hosted by Loyola and led by Drs. Megan Leider and Lara Smetana. Loyola’s Level Up cohort was designed to create a safe and cooperative space for innovative and motivated early career teachers to critically examine their curriculum, reflect on their instructional practices (who they are in their classrooms and does this match with their beliefs, values, and experiences), and work collaboratively to strengthen the accessibility and rigor of their teaching.  

As part of the summer initiative, Loyola’s Level Up partnered with several key Chicago area groups including Chicago Arts Partnerships in Education and My Block My Hood My City. We are currently working with Kansas State University faculty to investigate how sustained professional learning programs such as this contribute to teachers’ innovative practice, persistence in the field of teaching, and retention in high-need schools.