Abstract

The need to improve math and science education in the U.S. is a pressing concern for educators. A lack of content knowledge in math and science teachers is one of the factors that has lead to poor student performance in these subjects evidenced by the fact that more than half of high school math and science teachers are not certified in the subjects they teach. In an effort to address these concerns and expand the internationalization of the teacher education program, the Korean Education Fellows (KEF) program was created at the University of Wisconsin-Parkside. The KEF program is a teacher preparation program for math and science education based on intensive field experience concurrent with pedagogical course work. This new international teacher education program partners with local district schools and teachers, enabling candidates to acquire the knowledge, skills and dispositions that will make them effective and competent teachers of these subjects. This study provides an overview and a description of the issues involved in creating, adapting and implementing the program together with the challenges facing an international math/science teacher certification program.