Strengthening Teacher Education through Mathematics & Science Teaching Scholars in Louisiana

培养更多高素质的科学和数学教师是国家的当务之急。通过国家科学基金会的Robert Noyce教师奖学金计划的资助，路易斯安那州的“通过数学和科学教学学者加强教师教育”（STEMS2）项目关注地方、区域和国家对中学STEM教师招聘、准备、入职和保留的持续关注。在地方层面，这个项目是为了应对学生在代数和生物学期末考试中的表现挑战。该项目旨在培养25名特别合格的数学和生物教师，他们在完成项目后将获得数学或生物学士学位，并获得二级教师资格证书。除了为被招募成为教师的STEM专业学生提供奖学金支持外，该项目还将提供全面的支持系统，由精心挑选的在职中学STEM教师骨干作为这些职前候选人的导师。此外，在这些诺伊斯学者任教的头几年里，由一群最近退休的教师组成的入职专家将为新上任的教师提供直接支持，他们在教学方面非常熟练和合格。STEMS2代表了路易斯安那大学拉斐特教育学院和科学学院与当地两个学区，拉斐特教区学校系统和伊比利亚教区学校系统之间的合作伙伴关系。STEMS2项目试图进一步强调教师培训计划的价值，该计划模拟了内容、教学和实践知识之间的相互依存关系，作为教师效率的催化剂，从而验证了教育学院、科学学院和地方学区应该共同承担培训STEM教师的责任的假设。在程序上，该设计在大学教师和STEMS2 K-12合作伙伴之间分配职责，这增加了毕业生掌握与教师知识和技能有关的变量的可能性，即要教授的主题内容的知识；如何将内容教授给广泛的学习者的知识；以及管理课堂，设计和实施教学的能力。除了准备课程外，该项目还包括半年一次的利益相关者静修活动，与路易斯安那-拉斐特路易斯安那数学硕士项目的硕士教师研究员一起实习，以及向更高水平的数学和科学过渡的研讨会。STEM专业大一和大二学生的暑期实习将支持他们在STEM营中与中学生一起工作，这将成为招募诺伊斯奖学金获得者的基本策略。该项目的全包性，包括招聘、准备、导师和入职支持，将允许将非常合格的教师部署到高需求的学区，这些教师拥有丰富的STEM教学法和内容知识，能够对学生在STEM领域的学习产生直接的积极影响。虽然STEMS2项目的主要可衡量成果将是培养25名非常合格的中学STEM教师，但项目评估还将评估项目的明确意图，即促进数学、科学和教育教师之间的合作，以及路易斯安那大学拉斐特分校STEMS2参与者和合作学区之间的合作。STEMS2项目的学术发现将有可能成为其他机构的典范。

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, the Strengthening Teacher Education through Mathematics & Science Teaching Scholars (STEMS2) in Louisiana project is attentive to the local, regional and national persistent concern of secondary STEM teacher recruitment, preparation, induction, and retention. At the local level, this project is responsive to current performance challenges of students in Algebra and Biology on end-of-course tests. The project intends to produce twenty-five exceptionally qualified mathematics and biology teachers, who upon completing the project will have earned a baccalaureate degree in mathematics or biology, as well as obtained secondary teacher certification. In addition to scholarship support to STEM majors recruited to become teachers, the project will provide a comprehensive system of supports anchored by a handpicked cadre of in-service secondary STEM teachers who will serve as mentors to these pre-service candidates. Furthermore, during the first years of teaching by these Noyce Scholars, Induction Specialists, comprised of a select group of recent retirees who are remarkably skilled and qualified at teaching their subject, will provide direct support to the newly minted teachers. STEMS2 represents a collaborative partnership between the University of Louisiana at Lafayette's College of Education, College of Sciences, and two local school districts, the Lafayette Parish School System and Iberia Parish School System.The STEMS2 project attempts to further accentuate the value of teacher preparation programs that model the interdependence of content, pedagogical, and practical knowledge as catalysts for teacher effectiveness, thereby validating the supposition that Colleges of Education, Colleges of Sciences, and local school districts should share responsibility for training STEM teachers. Programmatically, the design features a distribution of duties among university faculty and the STEMS2 K-12 partners which increases the likelihood of graduates mastering variables that pertain to teachers' knowledge and skills, namely, knowledge of the subject matter content to be taught; knowledge of how to teach that content to a wide range of learners; and the ability to manage a classroom, and design and implement instruction. In addition to the preparation program, the project features include semi-annual stakeholder retreats, internships with Master Teacher Fellows from the Louisiana-Lafayette's Louisiana Mathematics Masters in the Middle project, and seminars in transitioning to higher-level mathematics and sciences. The summer internships for freshmen and sophomore STEM majors, which will support their work with middle school students in STEM camps, will serve as a fundamental strategy for recruiting Noyce Scholar recipients. The all-inclusive nature of this project, with recruitment, preparation, mentors, and induction support, will allow the deployment of exceptionally qualified teachers, armed with a robust knowledge of STEM pedagogy and content, to high-need school districts with the ability to make immediate positive impacts on student learning in STEM areas. While the major measurable outcome of the STEMS2 project will be the production of twenty-five exceptionally qualified secondary STEM teachers, the project evaluation will also assess the project's explicit intents related to fostering collaboration among mathematics, science and education faculty, as well as among the University of Louisiana at Lafayette faculty STEMS2 participants and partner school districts. The scholarly findings from the STEMS2 project will have the potential to serve as a model for other institutions.