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Indicator P.5.2. Address Diverse Community Needs Effective mathematics teacher preparation program personnel actively seek to address the diverse needs of their communities by recruiting future teachers of mathematics using a variety of strategies that include outreach in schools, community colleges, and within the institution. |
The diverse needs of communities and locales vary, but mathematics teacher preparation programs' personnel must aspire to produce new teachers whose demographics mirror those of the community they serve (Ahmad & Boser, 2014; Goldhaber & Hansen, 2010). To actively recruit to meet local diversity needs and to address the critical shortage of middle and high school mathematics teachers, the mathematics teacher preparation program should work within middle and high schools, particularly those with clubs or future-teacher groups tied to education careers to build interest in the profession of teaching mathematics through activities like peer tutoring or dual-enrollment courses. These early attempts to reach potential candidates prior to college help plant the seed of being a mathematics teacher as a member of a rewarding profession. Reaching out to community colleges as well as to current STEM majors at the program’s institution also provides a means of diversifying the candidate pool. In addition, actively recruiting paraprofessional educators already working in schools, parents or other volunteers, and camp counselors or coaches working in informal educational settings can help diversify a program’s applicant pool.