Breaking the Cycle

Preparing Future STEM Teachers for the Highest Need Urban Schools by Embracing Culturally-responsive Instruction

The Track 1 Noyce project at Florida International University (FIU), "Breaking the cycle: Preparing future STEM teachers for the highest need urban schools by embracing culturally responsive instruction", will substantially increase the number of highly qualified teachers prepared to serve in high-need school districts. The project will recruit, prepare, administer two-year scholarships and facilitate induction for 33 Scholars over the five-year project.

FIU, an urban public research university with over 54,000 students, is partnering with Miami-Dade County Public Schools, the fourth largest school district in the nation serving over 350,000 students, to establish the project testbed in highly diverse Miami, Florida. The project embraces the diversity of FIU's student body, over 78% of which are from historically underrepresented groups, and develops their culturally responsive instructional practices so they are prepared to break the cycle of persistent low achievement as future education leaders in the highest need schools. In parallel, the project will establish a dissemination model to enable adoption and adaptation across the nation

  • Focus: Pre-service teachers, Undergraduate teacher preparation
  • Funder: National Science Foundation
  • Team: Vishodana Thamotharan (Principal Investigator), Zahra Hazari (Co-Principal Investigator), Laird Kramer (Co-Principal Investigator), Maria Fernandez (Co-Principal Investigator)
  • Award Number: 1660776
  • Amount: $1,007,089.00
  • Contact: Laird Kramer, STEM Transformation Institute