Dr. Shannon Navy Awarded $1,000,000 NSF Grant

Assistant Professor in Science Education, Dr. Shannon Navy was recently awarded a $1,000,000 grant from the National Science Foundation. Over the next four years, this grant will fund the research project “Resources Accessed to Cultivate and Enhance Resilience” (RACER).

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The RACER project will focus on researching the persistence and retention of newly hired secondary science and mathematics teachers in high-need school settings. In an effort to combat the teacher turnover rate, the research will involve understanding how newly hired teachers access resources to develop resilience and reduce burnout. In learning more about how newly hired teachers access resources in their work, this will better equip schools and learning institutions in offering support to their newly hired science and mathematics teachers.

“Much of the research on new teachers focuses on reasons why they leave teaching rather than on what makes them stay in the teaching profession,” said Dr. Navy, who leads the RACER project as Principal Investigator. “This project will help us understand how various resources play a role in teacher resilience in order to increase teacher retention. The resilience and resources approach will provide important insights for teacher preparation and support programs.”  

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Kent State University leads the RACER project, which features partnerships with Eastern Washington University and the University of Georgia. Co-Principal Investigators include Dr. Robert Idsardi at Eastern Washington University, Dr. Julie Luft at the University of Georgia, and Dr. Lisa Borgerding, another EHHS Professor in Science Education at Kent State. 

​​This NSF grant is through the Robert Noyce Teacher Scholarship Program (Noyce). The Noyce program supports science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) undergraduate majors and professionals to become effective K-12 STEM teachers, and also supports experienced K-12 teachers to master STEM teaching in high-need school districts.