State Commends UTeach Dallas for Producing STEM Teachers

UT Dallas and the UTeach Dallas program in the Department of Science and Mathematics Education in the School of Natural Sciences and Mathematics recently received commendation from the Texas Education Agency (TEA) for effectively addressing the science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) teacher shortage in the state, specifically citing the program’s production of mathematics teachers.

“The UTeach Dallas program itself was created to fill those needs. That’s our mission, that’s our goal,” said Dr. Mary Urquhart, head of the Department of Science and Mathematics Education and director of the UTeach Dallas program. 

“The commendation is the state’s way of saying that we are meeting our mission as a STEM institution and are serving the community by fulfilling this desperate need in our state for mathematics teachers,” she said.

Through the UTeach Dallas program, undergraduates can earn their STEM-related degree as well as teacher certification in four years. The Department of Science and Mathematics Education also offers graduate students Masters of Arts in Teaching (MAT) programs designed to enhance the content knowledge of STEM teachers. Two concentrations are available: an MAT program in science education and an MAT in mathematics education.

UTeach Dallas and the MAT programs work collaboratively to develop and retain the next generation of secondary math, science and computer science teachers. 

Katie Donaldson, associate director of the UTeach Dallas program, said the TEA sets the standards by which Texas educators teach. 

“The agency controls every aspect of K-12 education in the state, everything from the class size and classrooms to background checks and certifications for all employees who work with children,” she said. 

The TEA also administers licensure exams and certifies the teacher candidates UT Dallas recommends.

“This commendation matters to us because our program is designed to recruit people who’ve never considered teaching from among those STEM majors and to increase the production of high-quality STEM teachers for the state. That includes high-need areas,” Urquhart said. “Although mathematics and computer science rather than science are among the current high-need areas for Texas, physical science teachers are also always needed – always, always, always – because the nation as a whole under-produces them. 

“The commendation from TEA is based primarily on production. But another aspect is retention. A lot of programs don’t track retention of their graduates in the field. We do. That’s part of the UTeach model, and we can show a very high level of retention once people start teaching,” Urquhart said.

Donaldson said the UTeach Dallas program is successful in part because the undergraduates are actually interacting with students from their very first one-hour introductory course. 

“Students’ very first course here in the UTeach Dallas program is called Step One,” Donaldson said. “We send them out to a fourth- or fifth-grade math or science classroom for early field work. They are in the classrooms writing lesson plans and teaching lessons, not just sitting on the side and watching. 

“In their next course they are sent to a middle school, where they get to do the same thing. Then we send them out to a high school campus. In our capstone course, which is project-based instruction, we send them to a STEM magnet school, and they get to teach a whole project-based unit there as well. So before they ever student teach, they’ve been in the classroom, and they know what they’re getting into,” Donaldson said.

An induction program also helps reinforce UTeach Dallas’ high retention rate.

“We have an amazing induction program that follows our alumni in the field for three years, or really as long as they need it,” Donaldson said. “But formally for three years.

“The aim is to get them through their first year of teaching. We have supply kits, and if there’s something they need in their classroom, we’ll make visits. We run professional development programs that moved to virtual in the 2020-2021 school year. We walk with them hand-in-hand that first year of teaching and subsequent years to really establish them in the classroom.”

UTeach Dallas works collaboratively with the School of Interdisciplinary Studies Teacher Development Center, which primarily prepares the University’s non-STEM teacher candidates for certification and coordinates the overall state candidate recommendation process.“Just the fact that UT Dallas took a gamble on us 13 years ago, knowing that we were committed to being a STEM institution, that part of our commitment was going to be to give back to the community what the community needed – quality STEM teachers – and the fact that we’re being given a commendation by TEA for producing them, it just really gives wings to the University’s dream for us,” Donaldson said. 

“It’s also a gift that keeps on giving back, because when we’re putting quality teachers into the metroplex, they’re preparing quality students to send back to UT Dallas.”