The Role of Colleges and Universities in the Preparation of Future Teachers

For the past seven years the Physics Teacher Education Coalition (PhysTEC) project has been working to address the dramatic shortage of qualified teachers of physics and physical science in the United States. It has done this by experimenting with and refining models of teacher education programs, by disseminating information about innovative programs to the physics community, and by working directly with physics departments to engage them in a full spectrum of activities necessary to educate and encourage future teachers. PhysTEC sites, institutions with significant project support to develop model teacher education programs, have more than doubled the number of physics teachers produced annually. Sites have developed and refined models of recruiting, early teaching experiences, mentoring, and more. The project has developed a national coalition, PTEC, which provides information and advocacy for improving physics and physical science teacher education. PTEC now has over 100 institutional members, and conducts an annual national meeting and other conferences to support members to develop teacher education programs. PhysTEC is a project of the American Physical Society (APS), the American Association of Physics Teachers (AAPT) and the American Institute of Physics (AIP).