IISME has conducted a variety of studies over the years to assess the impact of the Summer Fellowship Program on teachers. This page highlights four approaches:

Teacher & Mentor Evaluations	Fellowship Impact	Teacher Retention	National Board Certification

 2009 Teacher and  Mentor Evaluation

Teacher Feedback     

• 98% said it elevated their enthusiasm for teaching.                  
• 100% said it stimulated their thinking on ways to improve their teaching.                    
• 97% gained a greater understanding of the applications of science, math or technology in everyday life.                    
• 95% increased their knowledge of careers that utilize science, math or technology.                    
• 98% said it increased their confidence as teachers.                    
• 98% reported their mentor was committed to providing opportunities to learn and gain expertise in new areas.                    
• 92% rated their Fellowship experience “the best” or “in the top 10%” of professional development available.                    
• 100% would recommend the IISME Summer Fellowship Program to their peers. 

2009 Teacher Quotes

“It was amazing-- I cannot describe how excited I am to take what I learned this summer back to my classroom and use our curriculum.”

“This was hands down the best professional development I have ever received.”

“This was an extremely worthwhile experience. I made lots of great contacts both in teaching and in industry, had fun, and was totally reinvigorated with enthusiasm for my subject matter. “

“I cannot speak highly enough of the injection of enthusiasm and excitement that my IISME experience afforded me.  It is crucial to maintaining energy for my classroom that I get a personal and professional recharge like this.”

“IISME is an experience that I think every teacher will be fortunate to have.  It reinforces our fervor for teaching and thirst for math, science and technology. In turn, we go back raring to share these with our own students, because we have seen what really happens outside the four corners of the classroom.”

“Thank you for this program.  I truly enjoyed the experience, and leave ready to become a better teacher in the classroom.  I was very happy with my fellowship, as it related heavily to research in math and technology education.”

“It was very valuable to my teaching and keeps me up to date with what is going on in the working environment. I am able to tell the students what to expect in the real world and better communicate with my technical working parents because I know what they are going through every day.”

“IISME for me is the best type of experience because it is hands on and I get to develop curriculum that I will use in my classroom. It also motivates me to improve my teaching because I see the direct impact in industry!”

“It gave me opportunities to revisit my curriculum and interact with other teachers that I would never have done otherwise.  I feel ready to go back to my classroom and to view my own curriculum critically for how it fits with preparing my students for the workplace.”

“I feel privileged to work with people that are highly skilled and motivated. I value my IISME experience which put the science that I teach in perspective. It put school science in context.”

“This was one great experience. It recharged me as a teacher, making me very excited for the coming school year as I apply my ETP and share me experience with my students.”

“Thank you. I had a fabulous experience. It was an honor to work with such an amazing group of field science educators. I feel like I expanded my teaching repertoire. “

Mentor Feedback 

• 96% were pleased with the quality of work their Fellow produced.                              
• 95% would participate as an IISME mentor again in the future.                      
• 94% would recommend their teacher for another Fellowship.   

2009 Mentor Quotes

“He was a valuable asset to the team in a very short period of time.  He took on and completed assignments with minimal to no supervision, and was always responsive to questions/requests.” (Cisco Systems)

“She did a fantastic job with the three projects assigned to her.  She's a quick learner, asked good questions, had great attention to details, and produced quality deliverables ahead of schedule.”  (IBM)

“He was a good team player, always interested to learn not only how things work and how he could use it for teaching, but why it's interesting to other scientists.” (Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory)

“He immediately integrated into the group becoming a valuable member of our team from day one.”  (Life Technologies)

“He presented his project to several directors and vice presidents and received high praise from all.  He did a fabulous job working within a team environment.” (Lockheed Martin Space Systems Company)

“She was excellent.  She needed little direction and worked independently, she did not require much hands on guidance, just identified the problem and attacked.” (MiaSolé)

“She was very self-directed and did a great job getting her bearings in a complex organization and accomplishing an incredible amount of work in a short amount of time.” (NatureBridge, Sponsored by Intel Corporation)

“I was pleased, delighted and astonished at the amount of progress she made on our project despite the limited amount of time I was able to spend with her.  She produced a prodigious amount of high quality content.” (SVB Financial Group)

“He surprised me by finding a very useful tool for our IDM upgrade project.  This tool will allow us to automate the testing of many thousands of test cases and could significantly reduce the amount of time we will spend on testing after our upgrade is done in the test environment.” (Synopsys, Inc.)

2008 Teachers’ Perceived Impacts One Year Following Their Participation: 

• 96% implemented their Education Transfer Plans with their students.       
• 99% became empowered in new ways.                      
• 98% felt their teaching became more effective.                      
• 97% implemented/applied new instructional practices.                      
• 96% went back and experimented with new strategies.                      
• 98% felt their IISME Fellowship made a positive impact on student learning.       
• 99% noted positive changes in their teaching.      
• 94% rated their Fellowship experience “the best” or “in the top 10%” of professional development available.     
• 97% reported an increased commitment to teaching.     

• 98% reported that their Fellowship met the needs of their current teaching assignments.

IISME Teacher Retention  and Program Impact 1985-2000

IISME released landmark teacher retention and long-term program impact study results on October 30, 2001. Among other positive outcomes, the study revealed that IISME teachers stay in teaching at a much higher rate than their peers. For the full report, click on Teacher Retention.

 National Board Certification

IISME alumni have achieved National Board Certification at more than three times the rate of their peers in California. This certification increasingly has come to define what it means to be a master teacher in the U.S.