Center for Restructuring Education in
Science and Technology

New Science Teachers' Support Network

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$cience Teacher$

Funding available for provisionally licensed science teachers
to participate in research on the retention of teachers.

Fairfax County Public Schools
Prince William County Public Schools

New Science Teacher Support Network program
at George Mason University
starts with two years of support for new teachers

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Treatment Group

  • Tuition – 6 graduate credits of support for EDCI 573 and EDCI 673, Basic and Advanced Methods of Teaching Science in Secondary School (meets Virginia teacher licensing requirements)
  • Mentor – classroom teacher teaching in the same school
  • Coach – master classroom science teacher who will co-teach and help with planning

Control Group

  • Annual stipend for completing online questionnaires

Application Requirements
  • Hired with a provisional teaching license for middle school or high school science by Fairfax County Public Schools or Prince William County Public Schools
  • Contact Dr. Wendy M. Frazier at wfrazier@gmu.edu
  • Complete online questionnaires
Teachers will be randomly assigned to treatment or control groups for two years.

The New Science Teachers’ Support Network is a collaboration of George Mason University, Fairfax County Public Schools, and Prince William County Public Schools to conduct research on an integrated support system for provisionally licensed science teachers in secondary schools. The goals of the New Science Teachers’ Support Network are to help beginning teachers succeed at teaching and remain in the profession, thus helping to reduce the teacher shortage in secondary schools. The National Science Foundation provides funding for this research.

The first course, Teaching Science in Secondary School, is offered annually starting in early August prior to the start of the school year and continuing through the fall semester. The course is designed to prepare new teachers to start teaching in approximately three weeks and to provide guidance and support as they start the school year. In addition to tuition for courses, teachers in the treatment group receive the services of an in-classroom coach. According to previous participants, the coaches were “incredibly helpful.” They helped “with developing demonstrations and more interactive lessons.”

For more information, please check online at the NSTSN Webpage or contact Donna R. Sterling (dsterlin@gmu.edu) at George Mason University.

Fairfax County Public Schools
Jack Greene
jack.greene@fcps.edu

Prince William County Public Schools
Kathy Lanzafama
klanzaf@pwcs.edu