A new $1.3 million grant will help Elmhurst University continue to develop the STEM teachers of the future.
The University’s Promoting Inclusiveness and Diversity in STEM Education (PRIDE) proposal was awarded funding by the National Science Foundation’s Robert Noyce Teacher Scholarship Program. The five-year grant officially begins on Feb. 15.
The grant will provide students who want to become teachers with scholarships to earn a degree at Elmhurst in biology, chemistry, math or physics, and secondary science education.
More broadly, its goal is to increase the racial, ethnic, gender and linguistic diversity among STEM teachers in grades 5–12 in Illinois.
Theresa Robinson
“This is an important time in American public education,” said Theresa Robinson, the principal investigator for the PRIDE grant and executive director of the Carver Center for the Advancement of STEM Education (C-CASE) at Elmhurst. “We are poised to make a significant impact on STEM education and subsequently teaching and student learning.
“The faculty and staff of Elmhurst University are excited to collaborate with our community partners at College of DuPage, Harper College, Leyden School District 212, and Fenton School District 100. We thank everyone involved for their hours of hard work, commitment to STEM education, and support in this endeavor.”
The University previously received a Noyce Program capacity-building grant in 2020 that laid the groundwork for increased recruiting and deeper partnerships with area schools and community colleges. The PRIDE grant will now provide a scholarship of up to $15,000 per student per year for two years of study.
A group of Elmhurst faculty members served as co-principal investigators on the PRIDE grant: Evans Afenya, mathematics; Ayanna Brown, education; Colleen Munro-Leighton, chemistry; and Debbie Cosgrove, education.