State Looking to Boost STEM Teachers

The Dual Language Immersion Pilot Program is in its second year.

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The state is continuing its efforts to attract and retain teaching talent. The Indiana Commission for Higher Education is making $10 million in STEM Teacher Recruitment Fund grants available to organizations seeking to address the shortage of STEM teachers throughout Indiana.

The commission is accepting applications for a portion of the grant funding through June 30. Organizations applying for funding must present programs in which someone can become licensed or trained to teach STEM subjects in public K-12 schools in Indiana. 

"The need for teachers in STEM subjects is increasing along with employer demand for qualified candidates in STEM industries," said Indiana Higher Education Commissioner Teresa Lubbers. "This grant helps Indiana address this critical need and ensure more Hoosier students are prepared to succeed in high-demand STEM fields."

The commission says any individual who takes part in a program that receives grant funding must seek employment in an eligible Indiana public school. 

Some of the previous grant recipients include:

• Conexus Indiana – Certified 26 new educators to teach the Hire Tech! curriculum.
• Nextech – Trained a total of 61 teachers in Exploring Computer Science, Computer Science Principles, Computer Science in Science and Computer Science in Algebra.
• Purdue University – Graduated 10 teachers licensed to teach CTE Agriculture through their Creating a Pipeline for Agricultural Education Teachers in Indiana program.
• Teach for America – Brought 44 new STEM Teachers to Indiana in academic year 2016-17; 11 in Northwest Indiana and 33 in Indianapolis.
• University of Southern Indiana – Welcomed 20 in-service teachers into their New Experiences for Instructors of Dual Enrollment (NExIDE) program preparing them to continue teaching dual-credit STEM courses and meet HLC credentialing requirements.

You can learn more about the STEM Teacher Recruitment Fund program by clicking here.