Loyola Marymount University’s School of Education has joined more than 80 partners in the “100K in 10” movement, a growing coalition committed to recruiting, developing and retaining 100,000 STEM teachers – science, technology, engineering and math – in the next10 years..
The “100K in10” movement mobilizes colleges and universities, foundations, government agencies, school districts, corporations and nonprofit organizations to strategically address the challenges of increasing the number of highly qualified teachers.
By joining the “100K in 10” movement, LMU becomes one of a handful of university partners in the initiative, including Stanford, UC Berkeley, USC Rossier School of Education and the University of Chicago.
The LMU School of Education’s Center for Math and Science Teaching has committed to train at least 15 STEM teacher leaders per year by partnering with 10 public and charter schools throughout Los Angeles.
For the past 3 years, CMAST has been at the forefront of a national movement to train, inspire and retain highly effective STEM teachers for a new career path, the teacher-leader. The goal of the program is to build a team of expert scholar/practitioners who increase student engagement and achievement in K-12 math and science classrooms. Through a capacity-building model, each CMAST teacher-leader will ultimately reach 13,500 students.
“The LMU School of Education is proud to be part of this collaborative effort to develop and retain STEM educators,” said Shane P. Martin, dean and professor of the LMU School of Education. “CMAST is a model in training teacher-leaders to stay in the classroom and make significant impact in student achievement in their schools.”
Teachers trained by CMAST have seen significant increases in student scores on state achievement tests. From 2009 to 2011, the five school sites that implemented CMAST increased the percentage of students who were proficient or advanced on high school math California Standards Tests on average 16 percent.
“The result of CMAST’s participation in this initiative will be more K-12 students entering college ready to choose and succeed in STEM fields,” added Kathy Clemmer, CMAST’s executive director.
President Obama told a group of corporate and foundation leaders recently, “[Our future] demands that we give every child the skills and education they need to succeed. And I thank you for the commitment that you made to recruit and train tens of thousands of new science, technology, engineering, and math teachers. Nothing could be more important.”