A Systematic and Integrated Approach to Recruiting, Preparing, and Retaining Highly Qualified Secondary Teachers of Mathematics and Science in Arkansas

培养更多高素质的科学和数学教师是国家的当务之急。通过美国国家科学基金会的罗伯特·诺伊斯教师奖学金计划的资助，这笔赠款将满足阿肯色州对中学STEM学科教学的期望越来越高的时候，对优秀的数学和科学教师的需求。40名即将升入大二和大三的学生将参加一个实习项目，旨在为参与者提供在辅导和指导情况下体验教学的机会。这些学生将成为三年级和四年级学生的主要群体，他们将被选中获得该项目提供的30个诺伊斯奖学金。中阿肯色大学（UCA）诺伊斯学者将获得各自STEM学科的理学学士学位，并将具有在实验室工作的经验，并培养有效教授当今STEM内容所必需的关键探究技能。该项目旨在挖掘STEM专业学生与生俱来的激情和好奇心，并支持他们将其转化为强大的教学方法，以吸引和激励初高中学生在科学和数学方面取得优异成绩。合作学区，从城市的北小石城学区到郊区的康威学区，再到农村的维洛尼亚和五月花学区，将从UCA的诺伊斯奖学金中受益，同时为这些新生教师提供多样化的经验。诺伊斯实习生将有机会与大师老师一起参加暑期研究项目，这样他们就可以享受教学的回报，同时在男孩和女孩俱乐部和向上发展计划的课外演讲中加强教学技能。获奖者还将通过学习助理和辅导项目与1000多名STEM大学课程的学生一起工作。实习项目将作为诺伊斯学者的主要招聘渠道。诺伊斯学者将完成UCA的STEMteach准备项目，该项目是德克萨斯大学奥斯汀分校UTeach项目的复制。该计划为数学和科学专业的学生提供了获得阿肯色州教师执照的机会，通过完成26学分的辅修课程，该课程侧重于培养学生在数学、化学、物理或生物等专业学术研究背景下的教学技能。该计划的标志之一是教育学院、自然科学与数学学院以及合作学区之间的紧密合作。该计划的中心信念是，当学生既具有上下文理解又具有理论理解时，教师的准备工作就会表现出色。出于这个原因，UCA STEMteach项目从实地经验开始，这是一种不同于大多数其他教师教育项目的方法。UCA Noyce计划将通过课堂访问、与其他UCA Noyce学者计划校友的合作，以及与UCA STEM专业发展和教育研究所（UCA STEM研究所）的紧密联系，为毕业后的学者在其教学生涯的最初几年提供强有力的支持，该研究所将在最初的两年教学中持续下去。最终，这个UCA Noyce项目打算将目前的中学STEM教师数量增加两倍，达到每年30人左右，同时招聘、准备和留住越来越多的优秀的中学STEM教师，这些教师拥有深厚的内容、研究经验和教学技能。虽然UCA Noyce项目成功的基本指标是产生30名具有教师证书的优秀STEM专业学生，但该项目将使用UTeach进度评估和报告系统数据收集系统来存储数据，并将评估该项目在招聘传统上在STEM学科中代表性不足的教师候选人方面的成功程度。为学生提供了内容丰富的研究型教学法的介绍，以促进教学作为职业选择，并在课堂上的头两年改善了与诺伊斯学者的持续联系。

Developing more, highly qualified science and mathematics teachers is a national priority. Through funding from the National Science Foundation's Robert Noyce Teacher Scholarship Program, this grant will respond to the increased need for outstandingly prepared teachers of mathematics and science at a time when the State of Arkansas is increasing expectations for teaching and learning in STEM disciplines at the secondary level. Forty rising sophomores and juniors will participate in an internship program designed to provide participants with the opportunity to experience teaching in tutoring and mentoring situations. These students will serve as the primary pool of juniors and seniors who will be selected to receive the thirty Noyce Scholarships available through this project. The University of Central Arkansas (UCA) Noyce Scholars will graduate with Bachelor of Science degrees in their respective STEM disciplines and will have experiences working in a laboratory and developing the critical inquiry skills necessary to effectively teach today's STEM content. This project seeks to tap into the passions and inquisitiveness that are innate in STEM majors and support them in translating this into powerful teaching pedagogies which capture and motivate middle and high school students in excelling in science and mathematics. Partner school districts, from the urban North Little Rock School District to the suburban Conway School District to the rural Vilonia and Mayflower School Districts, will benefit from the UCA Noyce Scholars, while providing these nascent teachers diverse experiences. Noyce Interns will have the opportunity to participate in summer research projects with Master Teachers so they can enjoy the rewards of teaching while strengthening teaching skills in the context of extracurricular presentations to the Boys and Girls Club and Upward Bound Program. The recipients will also work with more than 1,000 students in STEM university classes through learning assistants and tutoring programs. The internship program will serve as a primary recruitment vehicle for Noyce Scholars. The Noyce Scholars will complete the UCA STEMteach preparation program which is a replication of the UTeach program from the University of Texas-Austin. This program provides mathematics and science majors the opportunity to earn an Arkansas teaching license by completing a 26 credit-hour minor that focuses on developing pedagogical skills within the context of the student's major program of academic study in mathematics, chemistry, physics, or biology. One of the hallmarks of the program is the strong collaboration between the College of Education, the College of Natural Sciences and Mathematics, and partner school districts. The program centers on the belief that the preparation of teachers excels when students have both a contextual and a theoretical understanding interacting in accord. For this reason, the UCA STEMteach program begins with field experience, an approach that differs from most other teacher education programs. The UCA Noyce program will provide robust support for Scholars after graduation during the earliest years of their teaching careers through classroom visits, collaboration with other UCA Noyce Scholars Program alumni, and strong connections with the UCA Institute for STEM Professional Development and Education Research (UCA STEM Institute) that will continue past the initial two years of teaching. Ultimately, this UCA Noyce project intends to triple the current output of secondary STEM teachers to approximately thirty annually, while at the same time recruiting, preparing, and retaining an increasingly diverse set of outstanding secondary STEM teachers armed with deep content, research experience, and pedagogical content skills. While the fundamental indicator of success of the UCA Noyce program will be the production of thirty outstanding STEM majors with teacher certification, the project will use the UTeach Progress Evaluation and Reporting System data collection system for storing data and will also assess the extent to which the project has been successful in recruiting teacher candidates who are traditionally underrepresented in STEM disciplines, has provided students with a content rich introduction to research based pedagogy to promote teaching as a career choice, and has improved sustained connections with Noyce Scholars during the first two years in the classroom.