Clemson University Middle Grades Noyce Phase II Proposal

有一个高素质的K-12科学，技术，工程和数学（STEM）教师的需求，特别是在高需求的学校。招聘在特定STEM学科中具有强大内容背景的中年级STEM教师尤其具有挑战性。在美国国家科学基金会罗伯特·诺伊斯教师奖学金项目的资助下，“准备和指导中年级STEM教育工作者在高需求南卡罗来纳州学区任教”项目正在招募STEM领域的职业转换者，并为他们成为中年级STEM教师做好准备。该项目在四年内资助40个奖学金。在这个项目中，克莱姆森大学正在与格林维尔县公立学校合作。接受者将参加艺术在教学硕士（MAT）计划，其中包括初中教育的初始教师认证。诺伊斯奖学金将扩大STEM职业转换者完成MAT课程的机会，从而也扩大了该州中等年级STEM教师的数量。该项目将通过分析克莱姆森MAT中等年级课程16年的数据来调查诺伊斯计划的影响，该项目已经招收了250多人，其中86人已经或将要成为诺伊斯学者。研究问题包括：（1）教师效能感和其他个人特征如何影响STEM教师的教师保留和成功？(2)STEM职业转换者与直接从本科专业毕业的STEM专业学生有不同的特点吗？(3)诺伊斯学者和非诺伊斯学者的学生的表现如何比较？(4)STEM专业和非STEM专业学生的表现如何比较？目标是确定成功的STEM教师的特征，并确定STEM背景在多大程度上加强了中等年级教师的影响。

There is an established need for highly qualified K-12 science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) teachers, especially in high-need schools. It can be particularly challenging to recruit middle grades STEM teachers who have a strong content background in a specific STEM discipline. With funding from the National Science Foundation's Robert Noyce Teacher Scholarship program, the Preparing and Mentoring Middle Grades STEM Educators to Teach in High-Need South Carolina School Districts project is recruiting career changers from STEM fields and preparing them to become middle grades STEM teachers. The project is funding 40 scholarships over 4 years. In this project, Clemson University is collaborating with Greenville County Public Schools. Recipients will be enrolled in a Master of Arts in Teaching (MAT) program that includes initial teacher certification for Middle Grades Education. The Noyce Scholarships will expand opportunities for STEM career changers to complete the MAT program and hence also expand the number of middle grades STEM teachers in the state.The project will investigate the impact of the Noyce Program by analyzing 16 years of data from the Clemson MAT in middle grades program, which has enrolled more than 250 individuals, 86 of whom have been or will be Noyce Scholars. Research questions include: (1) How do teacher efficacy and other personal characteristic affect teacher retention and success among STEM instructors? (2) Do STEM career changers possess different characteristics than STEM majors who come directly out of undergraduate majors? (3) How does the performance of the students of Noyce Scholars and non-Noyce-Scholars compare? (4) How does the performance of the students of STEM majors and non-STEM majors compare? The goal is to identify characteristics of successful STEM teachers and to determine the extent to which a STEM background strengthens the impact of a middle grades teacher.