Investigating Relationships between STEM Teacher Preparation, Instructional Quality, and Teacher Persistence

这个Noyce Track 4项目将调查STEM教师准备计划的特点如何有助于高需求学校的STEM教师的教学质量和教师持久性。教师在学校之间的分布不公平，高需求学校的教师流动率较高，教师的学历较少，教师的经验较少。熟练的STEM教师比以往任何时候都更重要，因为科学和数学新标准的严格性越来越高，以及对准备充分的STEM劳动力的需求越来越大。尽管教师的效率随着时间的推移而提高，但由于高需求学校往往有更多缺乏经验的教师，因此新的STEM教师必须进入课堂，准备提供高质量的教学，并且随着这些学校的改善，他们必须坚持下去。这项研究的结果有可能：a）确定对生产有效，严格的STEM教师至关重要的计划功能，这些教师在高需求环境中坚持下去;和B）为学校提供特定的课程和实地经验，以寻找他们聘请新教师。该项目的目标是建立STEM教师准备和入职课程的特征与开始STEM教师在其教学生涯的前三年的教学质量和持久性之间的相关性。该研究的样本由100多名一年级教师组成，他们分布在七个地理位置分散的（CA，CO，FL，NC，NJ，NY）诺伊斯奖学金计划中，他们在高需求的学校任教。来自科学和数学的6项任务分配和相关学生作业样本的数据将用于评估教师的教学质量，特别是他们向学生提出的学术严谨性和明确的期望。同时使用线性回归和HLM，该项目将调查教师准备计划课程，实地经验，诱导支持和教学质量之间的关系。此外，使用逻辑回归，研究人员将检查这些功能的准备和诱导和教师坚持过去的诺伊斯承诺到他们的教学的第三年的可能性之间的关系。最后，也使用逻辑回归，该项目将调查教师的教学质量是否与他们坚持过去的诺伊斯承诺的可能性。关于教师准备和入职与教师教学质量之间的关系，研究文献中存在很大的空白。本研究旨在为这一问题提供基于研究的知识，并就教师准备计划可以集中改进工作的具体领域提供指导。该项目还将为未来的准实验研究奠定基础，重点是准备和诱导的重要特征。

This Noyce Track 4 project will investigate how features of STEM teacher preparation programs contribute to instructional quality and teacher persistence of beginning STEM teachers in high-need schools. Teachers are inequitably distributed across schools, where high-need schools have higher teacher turnover rates, teachers with fewer educational credentials, and teachers with less experience. Skilled STEM teachers are more important than ever because of the increased rigor of new standards in science and mathematics, and the growing need for a well-prepared STEM workforce. Although teacher effectiveness increases over time, because high-need schools tend to have more inexperienced teachers, it is imperative that new STEM teachers enter the classroom prepared to deliver quality instruction, and that they persist in those schools as they improve. Findings from this study have the potential to: a) identify program features that are essential to the production of effective, rigorous STEM teachers that persist in high-need settings; and b) provide schools with specific coursework and field experiences to look for as they hire new teachers. The goal of this project is to establish correlations between features of STEM teacher preparation and induction programs and beginning STEM teachers' instructional quality and persistence over the first three years of their teaching careers. The sample for the study consists of over 100 first year teachers prepared across seven geographically dispersed (CA, CO, FL, NC, NJ, NY) Noyce Scholarship programs who are teaching in high-need schools. Data from 6 task assignments and associated student work samples in science and mathematics will be used to assess the quality of teachers' instruction, specifically the academic rigor and clear expectations they present to their students. Using both linear regression and HLM, the project will investigate the relationships between teacher preparation program coursework, field experiences, induction supports, and quality of instruction. Additionally, using logistic regression, the investigators will examine the relationships between these features of preparation and induction and the likelihood of teachers persisting past their Noyce commitment into their third year of teaching. Finally, also using logistic regression, the project will investigate whether the quality of teachers' instruction is associated with their likelihood of persisting past their Noyce commitment. There is a substantial gap in the research literature regarding the relationships between teacher preparation and induction and the quality of teachers' instruction. This study aims to contribute research-based knowledge to this issue, as well as to provide guidance on specific areas where teacher preparation programs can focus program improvement efforts. This project will also form the foundation for future quasi-experimental research that focuses on significant features of preparation and induction.