Preparing Science and Mathematics Teachers for Grades 7-12: A Community of Scholars at Work

为了应对对合格STEM教师的迫切需求，由路易斯安那州立大学教务长和路易斯安那州立大学文理学院、基础科学学院和教育学院的院长和教职员工组成的团队，以及来自这三所学院的教职员工团队设计了一个新的4年制(128学分)本科学位课程，以更好地为更多的STEM专业学生准备教师认证。该项目被称为“专注于中学教育的内容专业”，已被路易斯安那州董事会和路易斯安那州初等和中等教育委员会批准为认证路线。该项目适应了德克萨斯大学奥斯汀分校的特点，但加入了新的元素，使其在全国范围内独具特色。这是一个为期4年的课程，学生在此期间完成STEM学科的本科学士学位S学位和所有中级教学认证要求。它在很大程度上以实地为基础，并包括与当地学校的广泛合作渠道。STEM教师广泛参与了这些新教师的准备工作。其中一个亮点是协作课程结构，在这种结构中，STEM教员、教育教员和实地指导教师在课程工作和实地经验的设计、交付和监督方面共同工作。这是美国主要研究型大学无与伦比的合作形式和程度。目标是每年生产80名毕业生，几乎是路易斯安那州立大学S最近生产准备获得认证的STEM教师的三倍。与上世纪90年代占主导地位的那种课程相比，该项目的考生对自己的学科有了更深入的理解，更好地准备好了满足当地学校的需求，并且拥有基础更广泛的支持结构的优势。

In response to the critical need for qualified STEM teachers, a team composed of the Provost of Louisiana State University and Deans and faculty members of the LSU Colleges of Arts and Sciences, Basic Sciences and Education and a team of faculty members from all three colleges designed a new 4-year (128-credit hour) undergraduate degree program to better prepare larger numbers of STEM majors for teacher certification. Called the "Content Major with Concentration in Secondary Education'', this program has been approved as a certification route by the Louisiana Board of Regents and the Louisiana Board of Elementary and Secondary Education.The program adapts features of the UTeach program (UT-Austin) but incorporates new elements that make it distinctive nationally. It is a 4-year program within which students complete both an undergraduate bachelor 's degree in a STEM discipline and all secondary teaching certification requirements. It is heavily field-based and includes extensive channels of cooperation with local schools. STEM faculty are broadly involved in the preparation of these new teachers. A highlight is a collaborative course structure in which STEM faculty, education faculty, and mentor teachers in the field work together in the design, delivery, and supervision of course work and field experience. This is a form and degree of collaboration that may be unparalleled at major research universities in the United States.The target production rate is 80 graduates annually, nearly tripling LSU 's recent production rate of certification-ready STEM teachers. Candidates in the program have a deeper understanding of their subject, are better prepared to meet the needs of local schools, and have the advantage of a much broader-based support structure than teachers prepared under the kind of programs that were dominant in the 1990s.