A large part of our role as mathematics teacher educators is recruiting future teachers and encouraging our colleagues to send positive messages about teaching as a career option. AMTE members identified teacher recruitment as a top priority issue that we face in our profession today, and AMTE has been involved in supporting our members in these efforts through the NSF-funded Get the Facts Out (GFO) project, housed at the Colorado School of Mines[1] (see footnote). AMTE is a partner in this project, along with three other professional societies (American Association of Physics Teachers, American Chemical Society, and American Physical Society), to build resources and empower a community of professionals reaching out to recruit STEM teachers in the PreK-12 arena.

The AMTE GFO Task Force focuses on supporting our members in recruitment and positive messaging using GFO materials. The Task Force includes Jean Lee (chair), Tim Hendrix (deceased), W. Gary Martin, Amy Roth McDuffie, and Glenn Waddell. Although the current phase of the project is coming to a close later this year, its work will carry on through the AMTE Task Force. Moreover, AMTE and its partnering organizations have applied for a second grant that allows us to continue this work. We look forward to new members joining the Task Force in February 2024. Below, we present the Task Force’s work “by the numbers”, and reflect on all that the current AMTE GFO Task Force has accomplished these past 3 years, including 61 committee meetings! We are grateful for their efforts.

3 AMTE Webinars: The Task Force has hosted a series of Get the Facts Out and teacher recruitment webinars. We shared basic information about the project for those folks who have not learned about GFO, and shared the updated materials, information, and resources for all of us to use.

• January 22, 2021
• April 8, 2021
• October 18, 2022 

2 AMTE Pre-Conferences with MTEP in 2022 and 2023: The AMTE GFO Task Force partnered with the Mathematics Teacher Education Partnership (MTEP) the past 2 years to host a pre-conference the day before the AMTE conferences that focused on both teacher recruitment and issues of equity, diversity, and inclusion in our work. Together, we explored tools that can support recruitment efforts for secondary mathematics teacher preparation and learned to tailor them to meet particular institutional needs, explored the role of equity in secondary mathematics teacher recruitment and preparation, and created a plan to strategically support and develop a teacher recruitment plan.

• February 9, 2022, Las Vegas
• February 1, 2023, New Orleans

10 National Conference Presentations: The work of recruiting teachers does not solely fall on the shoulders of mathematics teacher educators, but to all stakeholders involved in education. We presented at various conferences that convened classroom teachers, curriculum supervisors, math coaches, general teacher educators, district recruiters, and more. Below are some highlights:

• 2022 NCTM Annual Meeting, Los Angeles: We Need More Math Teachers! Changing the Narrative about Mathematics Teaching as a Career.
• 2023 UTeach STEM Educators Conference: Get the Facts Out: Research, Resources, and Strategies for Recruiting STEM Teachers
• 2023 AACTE Conference, Indianapolis: Repairing the Reputation of the Teaching Profession: Best Practices for STEM Teacher Recruitment
• 2023 AAEE Conference, Chicago: Get the Facts Out: Strategies to Recruit High School Students into the Teaching Profession
• 2023 AMTE Conference, New Orleans: A Meta-Discussion of Recruitment in Secondary Mathematics Teacher Preparation: Insights from Three Working Groups

7 Coffee Chats in 2022-2023: Each month, the Task Force hosted online coffee chats to discuss recruitment efforts and to share ideas and resources. The team identified important challenges and brainstormed solutions. 

• August 16, 2022: Recruiting Strategies for the Fall Semester
• September 20, 2022: Recent Teacher Retention Data 
• November 15, 2022: How to Personalize GFO materials to Support Teacher Recruitment efforts
• January 17, 2023: Examine the "New and Improved" Facts & Data section of the GFO Website
• February 21, 2023: Reflecting on MTEP-GFO Preconference and How to Start Using the GFO Materials
• March 21, 2023: Strategies and Lessons Learned Using GFO Materials
• April 18, 2023: How to present GFO materials to High School Students

19 Regional/Local Presentations: These regional or local conferences helped us share how to take GFO information and adapt it to local contexts to help with teacher recruitment and debunk misperceptions of the teaching profession. Below are some highlights:

1. April 6, 2021: Washington State University and University of Idaho Graduate Seminar
2. October 15, 2022: Auburn University, Presented to high school students involved in the COURSE Scholars Program
3. February 12, 2023: Indiana Council Teachers of Mathematics & Hoosier Association of Science Teachers, Inc. Conference, Get the Facts Out: Changing the Narrative of the Teaching Profession Through Data
4. August 30, 2023: University of Nevada, Reno, College of Education and Human Development, Advisors training
5. November 14, 2023: Student presentation to preservice teachers at University of Nevada, Reno, College of Education and Human Development

Updated Materials from the GFO Website: The Get the Facts Out Project hosts a robust website of resources to support us in our teacher recruitment and messaging efforts. The websites are located at:

          Get the Facts Out: https://getthefactsout.org

The website provides information about positive messaging for the teaching profession, downloadable and adaptable resources (posters, flyers, brochures, etc.) that can be personalized to your institution, template presentations for various audiences (potential teacher candidates and faculty), and data/research to support our efforts. Although a monumental task, the GFO project team strives to provide updated information and resources on an ongoing basis, so check out the website for more information.

For all of us, sending positive but accurate messages about the teaching profession and recruiting the next generation of teachers of mathematics and science are among our highest priorities and greatest challenges. We do not have all of the answers for how best to accomplish this, but there are many people across our STEM disciplines who are working on ways we can support each other in this important mission.

Ways you can become involved are to visit the website and register on the GFO website to be a Mathematics Champion. Champions are those of us who are engaged in teacher recruitment, who have seen and are considering using the GFO resources, and want to stay informed about updates from the project. Simply sign up on the GFO website: Become a GFO Champion - Get the Facts Out: https://getthefactsout.org/become-gfo-champion/

If you have any questions, ideas, or issues that you would like to discuss, please contact any member of the AMTE GFO Task Force. We welcome your input and your feedback. Visit the AMTE Get the Fact Out Website (https://amte.net/content/get-facts-out) and click on any of the team’s names to send us an email.

Jean Lee, Task Force Chair

Shari Stockero, AMTE GFO Co-Principal Investigator

Glenn Waddell, Jr

Sarah Dyess

Brian Lawler

Lisa Amick