The American Physical Society (APS) and the American Association of Physics Teachers (AAPT) recently commended the University of Minnesota on its outstanding contributions to the education of future physics teachers. The science education program in the Department of Curriculum and Instruction graduated five highly qualified physics teachers in the 2022-23 academic year.

Graduating more than five physics teachers in a year puts the U of M in the 99th percentile of all U.S. colleges and universities. To mark this achievement, the U of M earned membership in the 5+ Club, the highest award available for teacher preparation from the Physics Teacher Education Coalition (PhysTEC), a joint project of APS and AAPT.

In a letter, the APS and AAPT note that the U.S. has a severe shortage of qualified physics teachers. In a letter, the APS and APPT wrote that the U of M’s “…excellent physics teacher preparation program and efforts to address this critical shortage are a service to the state of Minnesota. We congratulate the University of Minnesota for serving as a national model for STEM teacher preparation.”