Five years. Twenty-three Scholars. One mission that keeps going.
This year marks the conclusion of RARE in STEM, an NSF-funded Robert Noyce Teacher Scholarship Program grant at George Mason University. What began in 2021 as an ambitious idea and weathered a genuinely rocky start grew into a thriving community of STEM educators headed into classrooms that need them most.
Along the way: 23 Scholars supported, a formalized partnership between our College of Science and College of Education and Human Development, national Noyce Summits, regional conferences, and countless cohort gatherings that turned a scholarship program into a community.
Why this work matters: the U.S. has a persistent, well-documented shortage of qualified math and science teachers, and it hits hardest in the high-need schools that can least afford it. Every Noyce Scholar who enters a classroom is a return on investment measured in decades, not years; one trained STEM educator can shape thousands of students’ relationship with science and math over a career. Programs like this one are among the most direct, cost-effective levers available for strengthening the STEM teacher pipeline where it’s needed most.
This also marks a milestone for our evaluation team at MN Associates: RARE in STEM is our 12th Noyce grant evaluation, following work with American University, Appalachian State, Jackson State, Alcorn State, Bowie State, Texas A&M, Norfolk State, Elizabeth City State, EDC, the University of North Texas, and the University of Houston-Clear Lake.
Watching this particular program go from a slow start to a genuine success story is exactly why we do this work.
Thank you to every Scholar, mentor, and partner who made these five years count. More to come!
