Graduate Kentucky Teach (GSKyTeach): Preparing STEM Teachers for Today's Students

• In Event: Teacher Pathways: Lessons Learned and Insights for the Future

Abstract

The Graduate Kentucky Teach (GSKyTeach) program is designed to prepare new math and science teachers in high-need secondary schools by completing nine graduate-level courses and a year-long residency. A quasi-experimental design has been employed to assess the extent to which GSKyTeach participants demonstrate differential outcomes in classroom practice, student achievement, and employment retention as compared to a group of beginning teachers. This paper analyzes teacher growth over a five year period as measured by classroom observations and discusses the program’s retention rates and why graduates believe that GSKyTeach prepared them to become classroom teachers.

Authors

• Martha M. Day, Western Kentucky University

• Tara Donahue, McREL

• Lisa C. Duffin, Western Kentucky University