Induction and Mentoring in a Middle Grades Science and Mathematics Accelerated Teacher Preparation Program

本项目探讨了替代教师认证计划的入职和指导内容，并考察了这些做法在城市学校留住教师方面的有效性。中学科学（MGS）和数学（MGM）项目是伊利诺伊大学芝加哥分校（UIC）和芝加哥公立学校（CPS）之间的一项现有合作，涉及从代表性不足的人口中招募具有强大科学和数学背景的个人，在困难的城市学校任教。为了留住这些有才能的实习教师，正在重新设计入职和指导部分，将时间从1年延长到3年，并为实习生及其导师增加了一个全面的专业发展计划。专业发展部分是科学家、数学家和教育教师的共同努力。这些人教授研讨会和讲习班，旨在加深对内容的理解，展示内容和教学法的整合，并教育实习生如何最好地满足不同学生群体的不同教学需求。重要的项目改进包括：行动研究项目、与文化相关的教学实践、实习生-导师群体的联合专业发展、创建在线社区、由科学家和数学家领导的教学和学习研讨会，以及实习生和导师参与数学和科学教育的高级研究。研究部分考察了替代认证项目的初任教师在城市背景下与中年级科学或数学教学相关的身份建构，并探讨了在诱导阶段，指导实践在支持替代认证项目的科学和数学教师构建改革思想教学实践方面所起的作用。研究参与者包括在CPS教学的前三年的MGS/MGM实习生，重点关注在这个扩展的入门阶段的特定队列和实习生。通过直接听取这些初任教师的意见，我们有可能了解到城市教师身份是如何在个人经历、学校文化和更广泛的教育政策的交叉点上构建起来的，这些政策为教师的准备提供了信息。该研究对理解教师如何准备替代认证计划具有重要意义，该计划试图通过建立实践社区来抵消城市学校新科学教师50%的流失率，这些实践社区将他们维持为专业人员并培养他们的教学，并增加了对如何最好地服务于城市学校中年级学生的科学和数学教学需求的理解。

This project addresses the induction and mentoring components of an alternative teacher certification program and examines the effectiveness of these practices on teacher retention in urban schools. The Middle Grades Science (MGS) and Mathematics (MGM) program is a existing collaboration between the University of Illinois-Chicago (UIC) and the Chicago Public Schools (CPS) that involves the recruitment of individuals with strong science and mathematics backgrounds from underrepresented populations to teach in struggling urban schools. To retain these talented teacher interns, the induction and mentoring components are being redesigned to extend from one to three years, and a comprehensive professional development program is being added for both interns and their mentors. The professional development component is a joint effort of scientists, mathematicians, and education faculty. These individuals teach seminars and workshops that have been designed to deepen the understanding of content, demonstrate the integration of content and pedagogy, and educate interns on how to best address the varied instructional needs of a diverse student population. Significant program enhancements include: action-research projects, culturally relevant pedagogical practice, joint professional development for intern-mentor cohorts, creation of an on-line community, teaching and learning seminars led by scientists and mathematicians, and access by interns and mentors to advanced study in mathematics and science education. The research component examines the identities that beginning teachers in an alternative certification program construct in relation to teaching middle grades science or mathematics in an urban context, and explores the role that mentoring practices play in supporting the construction of reform-minded teaching practices among science and mathematics teachers in an alternative certification program during this induction phase. The study participants include the MGS/MGM interns during their first three years of teaching in CPS, focusing on particular cohorts and interns at targeted stages within this extended induction phase.By hearing firsthand from these beginning teachers, it is possible to learn how urban teacher identities are constructed at the intersections of personal experience, school culture, and broader educational policies that inform teacher preparation. The study has important implications for understanding how teachers prepared in an alternative certification program attempt to counteract the 50% attrition rate of new science teachers in urban schools through establishing communities of practice that sustain them as professionals and nurture their instruction and adds to the understanding of how best to service the science and mathematics instructional needs of middle grade students in urban schools.