With a goal of reducing the shortage of qualified math and science teachers in Houston, teachHOUSTON has opened doors for math and science majors to explore the classroom.
"Many of our students had never considered teaching, but now teaching has become their passion," said Susan Williams, College of Education associate professor and teachHOUSTON’s Math Master teacher.
Initiated in Spring 2007, teachHOUSTON allows students to teach in classrooms as early as their first semester in the program. Before the start of the teaching semester in their senior year, students have the opportunity to teach between 15 and 20 lessons at the elementary, middle and high school levels.
"Initially I was skeptical about teaching, but after teaching an elementary school class I knew that this is the career that I want to take," biology senior Jackie Ekeoba said.
Houston and much of the country has seen a decrease in qualified math and science teachers. One reason for this decline is math and science students are seeking other job opportunities, and fewer are choosing education as their career goals, Williams said.
The program typically enrolls 25 students each semester, but an additional section has been added for the coming fall semester.
"The advantage of enrolling in teachHOUSTON is that in addition to receiving their math or science degrees, students will simultaneously obtain their teaching certificates," Williams said.
The entire program contains a total of 18 credit hours. During the first two semesters, students enroll in one-hour, field-based courses, called STEP 1 and STEP 2, which introduce students to the teaching experience and assign them Mentor Teachers. In each course, students will have the opportunity to teach three lessons in their Mentor Teacher’s Classroom.
"Another advantage is that for students who obtain an A or a B in the Step 1 and Step 2 courses, the tuition and fee costs will be reimbursed to them," Williams said.
TeachHOUSTON is modeled after UTeach, a program that was implemented in 1997 and gained success and recognition at the University of Texas.
The program is co-directed by Robert Wimpelberg, dean of the College of Education, and Jeff Morgan, chairman of the department of mathematics.
Freshman and sophomore students majoring in a field that has a mathematics, science or computer science concentration and have a minimum 2.5 grade-point average are eligible for the program. Other students with at least five semesters before graduation are also eligible. Students interested in teachHOUSTON can apply online at www. teachhouston.uh.edu.