Pathway to Science Phase II

目前，缺乏合格的科学教师是造成高风险学生成绩差和期望值低的一个主要原因。这个问题在农村和城市地区都大大加剧，因为这些地区的学校通常有：科学教室人口过多，科学教师人手不足;教师在他们的认证领域之外教书;和/或没有科学，数学或工程背景的长期代课教师。在国家科学基金会罗伯特·诺伊斯教师奖学金项目的资助下，科学之路（PTS）第二阶段项目正在招募科学学科的本科专业和应届毕业生，并为他们成为初中和高中科学教师做准备。该项目在四年内资助12个奖学金。在这个项目中，南亚拉巴马大学的教育学院、艺术科学学院和工程学院正在与移动的县公立学校合作。PTS第2阶段将使最近的STEM学士学位毕业生通过密集的四学期课程完成中学科学认证，最终获得硕士学位，并将直接解决增加移动的县科学教师数量的需求。 该项目的一个显着特点是提供预居住经验，以帮助具有强大的科学背景的个人衡量他们的兴趣，在他们承诺的时间完成教育课程之前，他们在教学职业生涯。增加实地经验对诺伊斯PTS毕业生的自我效能感有什么影响？(2)关于诺伊斯毕业生在教学行业的保留，专业学习社区（PLC）的效果是什么？(3)PLC对诺伊斯毕业生和目前的PTS学者有什么影响？(4)导师计划对现有和已毕业学者的保留有什么影响？(5)如何从事专业发展（PD）作为一个学生和教师通过诺伊斯PTS计划的影响教师自我效能？(6)诺伊斯毕业生在教师领导和学生倡导方面对他们工作的学校部门有什么影响？关于前PTS毕业生对学生成绩的有效性的纵向研究的结果，沿着描述他们经历的定性数据，将有助于更好地准备科学教师，以满足学生的需要。

Currently the lack of certified science teachers is a major cause of poor achievement and low expectations for high-risk pupils. This problem is greatly intensified in both rural and urban areas because schools in these locales typically have: overpopulated science classrooms and inadequate science teacher staffing; teachers who teach outside of their field of certification; and/or long-term substitute teachers who do not have a science, mathematics, or engineering background. With funding from the National Science Foundation's Robert Noyce Teacher Scholarship program, the Pathway to Science (PTS) Phase 2 project, is recruiting undergraduate majors in science disciplines and recent graduates and preparing them to become middle grades and high school science teachers. The project is funding 12 scholarships over four years. In this project, the Colleges of Education, Arts & Sciences, and Engineering at the University of South Alabama are collaborating with Mobile County Public Schools. PTS Phase 2 will enable recent STEM bachelor degree graduates to complete secondary science certification through an intensive, four-semester program that culminates with an earned master's degree and will directly address the need to increase the number of science teachers in Mobile County. A distinguishing feature of the project is the pre-residency experiences provided to help individuals with strong science backgrounds gauge their interest in a career in teaching before they commit time to completing the education coursework.A research study will investigate the longitudinal impact of the program, by addressing questions such as, (1) With regard to preparedness, what are the effects of increased field experiences on the self-efficacy of graduating Noyce PTS scholars? (2) With regard to retention of Noyce graduates in the teaching profession, what are the effects of a Professional Learning Community (PLC)? (3) What are the effects of a PLC on Noyce graduates and current PTS scholars? (4) What effect does a mentoring program have on the retention of current and graduated scholars? (5) How does engaging in professional development (PD) both as a student and as a teacher through the Noyce PTS program effect teacher self-efficacy? (6) What impact do Noyce graduates have on the departments of the schools in which they work in terms of teacher leadership and student advocacy? The results of the longitudinal study on the effectiveness of former PTS graduates on student achievement, along with qualitative data describing their experiences, will assist in better preparation of science teachers to meet student needs.