Preliminary Draft of a Section from the EP3 Guide. Not for Wider Circulation. To learn more about this project visit ep3guide.org

High School Physics Teacher Preparation

Description

Physics programs are encouraged to implement, document, publicize, and support pathways to recruit and educate future high school teachers. This includes creating an environment within the program that promotes high school teaching as a valid and desirable career option for students.

expand  Benefits to the Program

Engaging in effective practices to support high school physics teacher preparation improves learning for undergraduate students within and outside the major. Additional benefits include improving recruitment and retention initiatives within the program, increasing program graduation rates, increasing the program’s eligibility for funding opportunities, and increasing the number of careers for which students are prepared, particularly in the field of education where physics students have near-certain employment upon graduation.

Effective Practices

1. Implement a teacher preparation pathway

expand  Establish a degree track for high school teacher education within the major

  1. In programs with one track, modify the existing degree to allow certification requirements
  2. In programs with multiple tracks, design a teaching track to allow students to smoothly transition among degree options (should be perceived as on par with other career options)
  3. Collaborate with School of Education or its equivalent to accurately communicate required components for licensure (curriculum, field experiences, testing, etc.) to students
  4. Design the program (individually or with other science departments) in collaboration with the College of Education to meet licensure requirements
  5. Learn from existing models, e.g., PhysTEC and UTeach employ practices and strategies for recruiting, preparing, and supporting teachers that begin within the physics program
  6. Be mindful not to add extra expense or time to graduation

expand  Understand alternate pathways to teacher certification

  1. Learn about alternative certification or other post-bac pathways and how to prepare students to pursue these
  2. Establish partnership programs to recruit students interested in acquiring physics certification (e.g., add certification after licensure in a related field)

expand  Support recent graduates during their transition into the classroom

  1. Establish a community of practitioners to provide guidance and mentoring on the daily issues teachers face (e.g., classroom management, cultural competence, etc.)

2. Provide students opportunities to learn physics in ways teachers are expected to teach

expand  Incorporate evidence-based, active-engagement pedagogies into courses

  1. See section on research-based pedagogy

Provide opportunities for future (pre-service) teachers to participate in existing courses or workshops for practicing (in-service) teachers

3. Provide early teaching experiences for students interested in teaching as a career

expand  Provide departmental and university opportunities for students to experience and practice teaching

  1. Start a Learning Assistant (LA) program or its equivalent
  2. Ensure campus tutoring and mentoring opportunities are available for future teachers; partner with the directors of these activities to ensure students have meaningful experiences and training
  3. Promote paid early teaching experiences for those interested in exploring the career (e.g. teaching assistant, laboratory preparation, discussion leader, etc.)
  4. Promote informal teaching experiences through outreach activities with the community and visiting K-12 school groups

expand  Provide physics degree credit for students to take “introduction to teaching” courses

  1. Offer a 1-credit course on the introduction to teaching that provides an authentic exposure to teaching physics; alternatively work with the School of Education or equivalent on such a course
  2. Offer an advanced course for students to enhance their mentoring and pedagogical skills or deepen their pedagogical content knowledge, particularly if an LA program is established; ensure the course counts as a physics elective

4. Understand and communicate paths to and requirements for teacher licensure

expand  Identify and support appropriate individual(s) to advise students

  1. Identify faculty “champions” for the teacher preparation program, and task them with understanding teacher career paths and licensure requirements so they can have informed discussions with students
  2. Assign faculty champion(s) as advisor to students interested in pursuing teacher certification
  3. Ensure program champions are positively recognized in evaluations (e.g. retention, tenure, promotion, and merit) for this service load
  4. Have appropriate tenured faculty in this role to effectively argue for departmental resources and programmatic integration into department culture

expand  Cultivate active relationships with School of Education faculty responsible for science teacher licensure (individually or in collaboration with other STEM departments)

  1. Faculty champions initiate and/or maintain collaborations with members of the School of Education or its equivalent who are knowledgeable of licensure requirements
  2. Faculty champions remain knowledgeable of licensure requirements, as appropriate, through this collaboration
  3. Collaborate with the School of Education to pursue federal or state funding to enhance teacher education (e.g., NSF Noyce grants)

5. Communicate the value of teaching as a career path

Faculty should use language that is supportive of teaching as a career in their courses, department activities, and when advising or mentoring students

expand  Sponsor regular faculty discussions on promoting teacher education in the department

  1. Set aside time in department meetings and retreats to discuss the program, recruiting strategies, student interest, teacher working conditions, and impact of enthusiastic high school teachers on recruiting; assign critical readings of reports on high school teaching to structure discussion (e.g., APS POPA)
  2. Discuss the extreme shortage of high school physics teachers with faculty and the institution’s administration using local and/or national data
  3. Proactively address faculty/student misconceptions about the teaching profession
  4. Work with new faculty to ensure they communicate physics teacher career options to students
  5. Include teacher preparation in the department’s strategic and assessment plans; ensure these plans are in alignment with the institution’s strategic plan and mission statement and/or region’s economic development

expand  Share data on teacher salaries and employment opportunities with faculty and students

  1. Use PhysTEC and AIP data to promote teaching as a valued and high-demand career and profession
  2. Post these data in prominent places throughout the department
  3. Invite practicing teachers to discuss these and other topics with students, including why they find teaching physics to be exciting, enjoyable, and/or rewarding

Include practicing teachers from your program when highlighting accomplishments of graduates/alumni

6. Promote the program and actively recruit students

expand  Advertise the program through posters, flyers, and department website

  1. Discuss opportunities in and the importance of teaching in all introductory courses, advising sessions, open houses, department-wide student meetings, etc.
  2. Advertise and promote the program by placing posters in hallways and classrooms along with designing flyers for recruiters to use
  3. Place appropriate information in promotional materials and website that includes highlighting alumni in the teaching profession, salary data, job prospects, degree and licensure requirements, etc.
  4. Present a “Paths to Certification” talk/workshop that includes advertising broadly to include physics students and other STEM majors

expand  Intentionally recruit promising students to teaching

  1. Faculty identify and reach out to promising students individually and encourage them to consider teaching
  2. Recruit during freshman orientation sessions highlighting career opportunities and pathways to both students and parents
  3. Recruit students that reflect the diversity of the population they will teach
  4. Typical talking points include:
    • Salaries are higher than students typically expect and are within their window of acceptable salaries
    • Jobs are easy to get either locally or nationally as high school physics teachers are one of the most sought after employees
    • Teachers “make a difference” in the lives of their students
    • Teachers can pursue other activities during their summers
  5. Recommend to students that they try teaching through a “Learning Assistant (LA)” or other peer teaching model
  6. Pursue fundraising that targets alumni and friends of the department to obtain the necessary resources to develop scholarships or other financial aid directed to physics teaching majors or activities

expand  Bring practicing high school teachers to campus to speak with students

  1. Incorporate practicing high school teachers in career events and other programmatic activities attended by all students.
  2. Ask physics majors if they had a good high school physics teacher; make contact with this person and encourage them to come to campus
  3. Invite a teacher to the program to discuss why they chose teaching and what they enjoy about their career choice
  4. Structure one-on-one interactions between students and practicing teacher(s)
  5. Host a state or regional teacher meeting (e.g., AAPT, NSTA, regional science-teacher gathering) and spend time getting to know local teachers
  6. Offer professional development opportunities for in-service teachers that model the use of research-based pedagogy and provide pre-service teachers the opportunity to interact with them

expand  Programmatic Assessments

  1. Is your program successful in graduating practicing teachers?
    1. Track the number of physics students receiving licensure
    2. Investigate reasons for students failing to complete licensure programs
    3. Track how many of these students begin practicing teaching
    4. Contact alumni who are teachers to learn about their experience at your institution
  2. Is there a supportive culture in the department for preparing teachers?
    1. Conduct exit interviews with students on this topic, evaluating faculty support, peer attitudes, and their opinion of difficulties encountered toward receiving licensure
    2. Conduct perception surveys of both students and faculty about how they perceive the department as being supportive
  3. Do graduates have content knowledge needed for high school teaching?
    1. Track the passing rate for students taking the Praxis II (teaching content exam required for licensure in many states) or its equivalent
    2. Use elements of concept exams, traditional exams, and grades to evaluate the conceptual and mathematical understanding of physics by students, including future teachers
    3. Evaluate student ability to demonstrate use and simple repairs of (and knowledge of how to maintain) common laboratory equipment (motion sensors, multimeters, oscilloscopes, computers, etc.) used in high school classrooms
  4. Are graduates prepared to enter the teaching workforce?
    1. Bring alumni back to speak with students, and discuss this topic, touching on content preparation, pedagogical preparation, and career readiness
    2. Collect data on whether students obtain and retain positions in the school system
    3. Track feedback from supervising high school teachers

expand  Evidence & Resources

The evidence to support these practices comes from numerous sources, and there is an extensive peer-reviewed literature in pre-service teacher education. Some of the practices cited are related to general topics within teacher preparation, such as the need for extensive clinical field experiences that are closely tied to the classes on effective pedagogy taken at university [e.g., Darling-Hammond, 2006]. Other practices are grounded on the preparation of teachers that are unique to physics programs [Metzler et al., 2012; Marder et al., 2017].

  1. D. Meltzer, M. Plisch, and S. Vokos, editors, “Transforming the Preparation of Physics Teachers: A Call to Action. A Report by the Task Force on Teacher Education in Physics (T-TEP),” Task Force on Teacher Education in Physics (American Physical Society, College Park, MD, 2012). The National Task Force on Teacher Education in Physics subsequently prepared a statement “Preparing High School Physics Teachers to Build a 21st Century STEM-Capable Workforce.”
  2. M. Marder, R. C. Brown, M. Plisch, “Recruiting Teachers in High-Needs STEM Fields: A Survey of Current Majors and Recent STEM Graduates,” American Physical Society Panel on Public Affairs (American Physical Society, College Park, MD, 2017).
  3. L. Darling-Hammond, “Constructing 21st-century teacher education,” Journal of Teacher Education, 57(3), 300-314 (2006).

The practices in this section also reflect the experience of the PhysTEC and UTeach programs which have had great success in producing significant numbers of well-prepared science teachers. Both programs draw on effective practices in pre-service teacher education, upon the practical experience of those who have been running successful programs and, more importantly, the experience and knowledge that comes from replicating these programs at other institutions. A discussion of their respective programs along with information on physics teacher shortage in the United States, key elements of successful physics teacher preparation programs, and publications related to physics teacher preparation can be found on their respective websites. The AIP Statistical Research Center has a variety of reports on high school teaching.

  1. PhysTEC
  2. UTeach
  3. AIP/SRC