This $734,219 federal Project Grant award from the National Science Foundation (NSF) STEM Education program (CFDA 47.076) supports the "Pipeline to Purpose" project at Norfolk State University. The project aims to create an exemplar for STEM teacher recruitment and retention in high-need STEM areas and hard-to-staff schools. The key products and services include:
Providing scholarships to enable 15 high-achieving students to complete Bachelor of Science degrees in STEM fields and obtain teaching licenses over 5 years. This is intended to help position Norfolk State University as a top producer of STEM teachers in Virginia. The project will also use qualitative research techniques to assess the efficacy of integrating AI-enhanced applications for proficiency exam preparation. Formative and summative evaluations will be conducted to identify programmatic improvements, and the results will be disseminated to education stakeholders locally, regionally, and nationally.