Eight Universities Join the 2019-2020 PhysTEC 5+Club

Across the United States, school districts consistently rank physics as the subject with the greatest shortage of teachers. One reason for this shortage is a lack of qualified physics teachers graduating from academic institutions: many colleges and universities graduate no more than two trained physics teachers each year, if they graduate any at all. Each year, the Physics Teacher Education Coalition (PhysTEC) recognizes the institutions that prioritize physics teacher education and produce five or more qualified physics teachers in a given academic year.

For the 2019-2020 academic year, the members of the 5+ Club are:

• Brigham Young University-Idaho (10)
• Brigham Young University (7)
• Illinois State University (7)
• Rutgers The State University of New Jersey (7)
• Boston University (5)
• Stony Brook University (5)
• Texas State University (5)
• University of Texas at Austin (5)

“PhysTEC congratulates these eight winners on making significant contributions to reducing the shortage of physics teachers,” says David May, Program Manager of PhysTEC at APS. “The 5+ Club winners have all worked hard to develop or sustain innovative programs that support students' teaching skills and physics knowledge as well as a culture that values teaching as a career option.”

Graduating more than five trained physics teachers—which is defined as a teacher with a degree in physics or physics education—places an institution well above the national average. Schools producing five or more teachers in a year play a substantial role in decreasing the shortage of physics educators in the US.

PhysTEC is a partnership between APS and the American Association of Physics Teachers aimed at improving and promoting physics teacher education by transforming physics departments, creating successful models for teacher education programs, and disseminating best practices.

For more on PhysTEC and The 5+ Club visit phystec.org.