Finding Applicants. Each year IISME casts a
wide net for teachers. It sends out 7,000 flyers and
announcements to principals, science and math department
chairs, previous applicants, and members of NSTA and
NCTM. Approximately 200 teachers apply by the January
deadline. Teachers must be teaching K-14 full-time, have
at least 2 years' teaching experience, and be recommended
by their principal or superintendent for their
applications to be considered.
Selecting Fellows. Fellows are selected by a
free-market mechanism, i.e. a teacher's application is
sent out to at least one possible sponsor and up to 8-9
sponsors. The sponsor makes the final hiring decision.
Fellows can work for the same employer for only two
summers consecutively, although there is no limit on the
number of years a Fellow can participate. In sending out
applications, IISME gives priority to teachers who have
never held an IISME Fellowship.
Repeat Fellows. In 1996, 31 of 73 Fellows were
first-time Fellows and 42 were repeat Fellows. Of the
repeat Fellows, 15 were in their second year of IISME, 10
in their 3rd, 4 in their 4th, 3 in their 5th, 5 in their
6th, and 5 in their 7th year.
Although IISME gives priority to serving as many
first-time Fellows as possible, anecdotal evidence shows
that repeat Fellows derive a range of benefits from their
continued participation. They go on to serve as IISME
Peer Coaches, may use multiple summers in industry as a
foundation to completely re-vamp their classroom or
infuse their curriculum with industry applications, or
may go on to assume leadership roles within their schools
or districts.
