News Features & Releases

Noyce Scholarship Program to Place Math and Science Teachers in Boston Public Schools
Harvard Graduate School of Education

Cambridge, MA -- October 19, 2005

The Harvard Graduate School of Education has launched a new scholarship program to place math and science teachers in the Boston Public Schools. The program, which is being funded for three years by the National Science Foundation's (NSF) Robert Noyce Scholarship program, will provide stipends for up to 14 students per year. The project, entitled "Recruiting, Training, and Retaining Boston's Next Generation of Math and Science Teachers," will be led by senior lecturer Katherine K. Merseth, director of the Ed School's Teacher Education Program (TEP).

"We are extremely pleased to collaborate with our colleagues in the Boston Public Schools to provide outstanding middle and high school teachers in these critical fields," said Merseth. "This NSF funding allows the Graduate School of Education to have an important impact on the lives and careers of Boston teachers and students."

Noyce Scholars will receive $10,000 stipends to be used during their 11 months in the Teacher Education Program, which will include teaching internships in Boston middle or high schools. In return, the scholars will commit to teach for at least two years in Boston upon successful completion of their teacher certification through TEP.

Participants in the program will continue to receive training at the Ed School during their initial years in the classroom. This will consist of monthly support seminars, including content-specific instruction offered by faculty in Harvard's Division of Engineering and Applied Sciences and the Faculty of Arts and Sciences Mathematics Department.

Scholarship recipients will be selected jointly by the Graduate School of Education and the BPS Office of Human Resources.

The Teacher Education Program is one of 13 master's programs at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. TEP focuses on preparing individuals for careers as middle or high school teachers in urban settings. The 11-month program includes intensive coursework at HGSE and a teaching internship in a Boston or Cambridge public school. For more information, visit http://www.gse.harvard.edu/tep/tep/students/noyce.html.