Texas A&M University Noyce Monitoring and Evaluation

众所周知，对于K-12学生来说，要想在STEM(科学、技术、工程和数学)学科获得高质量的教育，他们必须有高效率和高素质的教师。如何招聘和留住高素质、高效率的STEM教师进入教师行业，特别是那些拥有强大STEM能力的个人，人们知之甚少。由美国国家科学基金会资助的德克萨斯农工大学罗伯特·诺伊斯奖学金项目解决了这一问题，该项目为STEM领域的优秀本科生提供有吸引力的奖学金、职业发展和其他入职支持，这些学生同意毕业后在K-12高中有需要的学校任教。自2002年以来，TAMU的罗伯特·诺伊斯项目已经为教师职业增加了60多名STEM教师。这些学者大多在高需求的中学任教，也有一些是有五到十年教学经验的有经验的教师。这些诺伊斯学者对教师职业的许多方面都有宝贵的见解，这些见解可能有助于揭示在教师职业中招聘、准备和留住STEM教师的关键因素。这项研究将跟踪30名TAMU Noyce学者和30名未获得Noyce奖学金的TAMU预备教师，他们都完成了相同的教师准备计划，目前在德克萨斯州的高中任教。参与这项罗伯特·诺伊斯教师奖学金Track I阶段II监测和评估研究的机构是TAMU和位于德克萨斯州四个地区的学区，这些地区雇用了Noyce学者和TAMU准备的STEM教师：休斯顿、圣安东尼奥、达拉斯和布赖恩/大学站。通过比较这两个群体之间和内部的特点，该项目将侧重于增进对STEM教师招聘、准备和保留方面的最佳做法的了解和理解。研究人员将调查参与者对总体教学和高需求学校教学的看法是如何随着时间的推移而演变的，以及这些看法在小组内部和小组之间有何不同。这项为期三年的研究将使用准实验、匹配的时间序列设计，既强调定量结果，也强调定性结果。将招募60名参与者分成两组，一组是由30名诺伊斯学者组成的试验组，另一组是没有接受诺伊斯奖学金的类似准备的教师的控制组。定量数据将通过课堂观察(三年内每年两次)、三次年度调查和学生？标准化考试分数(假设所教科目和年级水平的考试是强制性的)。将通过年度半结构化访谈和对年度调查的可选的开放式答复收集定性数据。将对这些数据进行分析，以确定群体内部的相似性以及群体之间的差异。将使用重复测量、方差分析(ANOVA)、多变量方差分析(MANOVA)和其他推断统计方法来分析量化数据。来自半结构化访谈的定性数据将在分析过程中被转录、编码和三角划分。这些多种形式的数据收集将使人们能够更全面和彻底地了解不同群体之间的差异。该项目的目的是随着时间的推移捕捉塔马大学诺伊斯学者的特点，因为他们与教师的坚持不懈、对这一职业的不断发展的看法以及他们的K-12学生的表现有关。本研究将在以下研究问题的指导下进行：(1)TAMU Noyce学者对高需求学校教学和教学的认知是如何随着时间的推移而演变的，这些认知与对照组有什么不同？(2)在高需求学校留住TAMU Noyce学者涉及哪些因素，这些因素与对照组有什么不同？(3)TAMU Noyce学者在教学行为、学生结果和整体课堂环境方面有哪些共同特征，这些特征与对照组相比如何？

It is widely known that for K-12 students to obtain a high quality education in the STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) disciplines, they must have access to highly effective and highly qualified teachers. It is less known how to recruit and retain highly qualified and highly effective STEM teachers into the teaching profession, especially those individuals with strong STEM. The Robert Noyce Scholarship Program at Texas A&M University (TAMU), funded by the National Science Foundation, has addressed this issue by offering attractive scholarships, professional development, and other induction support to high achieving undergraduate students majoring in STEM fields who agree to teach in K-12 high-need schools after graduation. Since 2002, the Robert Noyce Program at TAMU has added over 60 STEM teachers to the teaching profession. Most of these Scholars are now teaching in high-need secondary schools and some are experienced teachers with five to ten years of teaching experience. These Noyce Scholars have valuable insight on many aspects of the teaching profession that may help uncover key components to recruiting, preparing, and retaining STEM teachers in the teaching profession. This study will follow 30 TAMU Noyce Scholars and 30 TAMU prepared teachers that did not receive Noyce Scholarships, all of whom completed the same teacher preparation program and are currently teaching in Texas high schools. The institutions involved in this Robert Noyce Teacher Scholarship Track I Phase II Monitoring and Evaluation study are TAMU and school districts located in four regions of Texas where Noyce Scholars and TAMU prepared STEM teachers are employed: Houston, San Antonio, Dallas, and Bryan/College Station. By comparing characteristics among and within these two groups, this project will focus on advancing the knowledge and understanding of best practices in STEM teacher recruitment, preparation, and retention. Researchers will investigate how participants' perceptions regarding teaching in general and teaching in high-need schools evolve over time and how these perceptions differ within and between groups. This three-year research study will use a quasi-experimental, matched time series design that emphasizes both quantitative and qualitative results. Sixty participants will be recruited to form two groups, an experimental group consisting of 30 Noyce Scholars and a control group of similarly prepared teachers who did not receiving Noyce Scholarships. Quantitative data will be collected through classroom observations (two per year for three years), three annual surveys, and students? standardized test scores (assuming tests are mandated for the subject and grade level being taught). Qualitative data will be collected through annual semi-structured interviews and optional open-ended responses to the annual surveys. This data will be analyzed for similarities within groups, as well as differences among groups. Repeated measures, analysis of variance (ANOVA), multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) and other inferential statistics will be used to analyze the quantitative data. Qualitative data from the semi-structured interviews will be transcribed, coded, and triangulated in the analysis process. These multiple forms of data collection will allow for a more complete and thorough understanding of the differences, if any, between groups. The purpose of the project is to capture over time the characteristics of TAMU Noyce Scholars as they relate to persistence as a teacher, evolving perceptions of the profession and the performance of their K-12 students. This study will be guided by the following research questions: (1) How do the TAMU Noyce Scholars' perceptions about teaching and teaching in high-need schools evolve over time and how do these perceptions differ from the control group? (2) What factors are involved in retaining TAMU Noyce Scholars in high-need schools and how do these factors differ from the control group? (3) What are the common characteristics in teaching behaviors, student outcomes, and overall classroom environments of the TAMU Noyce Scholars and how do these characteristics compare to the control group?