An Innovative Approach to Earth Science Teacher Preparation: Uniting Science, Informal Science Education, and Schools to Raise Student Achievement

美国自然历史博物馆（AMNH）与纽约大学教育和社会政策研究所合作，正在开发一种科学教师准备的创新模式。该项目利用世界一流的非正规教育机构AMNH的科学和教育资源，以及城市教师驻留计划的最佳实践。该项目的主要目标是为教师候选人创造一个替代途径，以获得董事会授予的教学艺术硕士（MAT）学位，并专门从事7-12年级的地球科学教学。拟议的15个月，36学分的学术课程将最初为50名未来的地球科学教师。教师候选人将参加严格的科学内容和教学法课程，AMNH的暑期教学和科学实习实习，以及纽约市地区高需求学校的校本实习。毕业后，教师将保持与AMNH的联系，并承诺在高需求，低表现的纽约市学校至少四年的教学。强大的教育研究和评估组件将有助于确定这种新的教师准备模式对纽约市学校学生成绩的影响。 更具体地说，这个项目将回答这样一个问题：“与AMNH计划中没有准备的一年级地球科学教师所教的学生相比，一年级AMNH MAT地球科学教师所教的学生在学术上的表现如何？”“，假设通过AMNH计划培训的教师将培养出成绩更好的学生，这是通过他们在纽约州（NYS）科学评估中的分数来衡量的。鉴于纽约州要求在高需求，低绩效学校实施试点计划，该项目有可能参与，激励和提高地球科学成就和数千名学生对STEM职业的兴趣，这些学生来自传统上代表性不足的人群，包括英语学习者，特殊教育学生和少数民族群体。此外，该项目将收集有关非正式科学教育组织在培养合格的地球科学教师方面所能发挥的作用的有意义的数据。

The American Museum of Natural History (AMNH), in collaboration with New York University's Institute for Education and Social Policy, is developing an innovative model of science teacher preparation. The project leverages the scientific and educational resources of a world class informal education institution, AMNH, with best practices from Urban Teacher Residency programs. The primary project goal is to create an alternative pathway for teacher candidates to earn a Board of Regents-awarded Masters of Arts in Teaching (MAT) degree with a specialization in Earth Science teaching for grades 7-12. The proposed 15-month, 36-credit academic program will initially serve 50 prospective Earth Science teachers. Teacher candidates will participate in rigorous coursework in science content and pedagogy, summer teaching and science practicum residencies at AMNH, and mentored school-based residencies in high-need schools in the New York City region. Following graduation, teachers will maintain their ties with AMNH and commit to a minimum of four years of teaching in high-need, low-performing New York City schools.Strong educational research and evaluation components will help to determine the impact of this new teacher preparation model on student achievement in New York City schools. More specifically, this project will answer the question "How do students taught by first year AMNH MAT Earth Science teachers perform academically in comparison with students taught by first year Earth Science teachers not prepared in the AMNH program?", with the hypothesis that teachers trained through the AMNH program will produce higher achieving students as measured by their scores on New York State (NYS) science assessments. In light of the NYS requirement that the pilot program be implemented in high-need, low-performing schools, this project has the potential to engage, motivate and improve the Earth Science achievement and interest in STEM careers of thousands of students from traditionally underrepresented populations including English language learners, special education students, and racial minority groups. In addition, this project will gather meaningful data on the role informal science education organizations can play in preparing well-qualified Earth Science teachers.