PhysTEC: Building a Solution to the National Physics Teacher Shortage

合格的STEM教师严重短缺，这是教育和激励未来技术劳动力所必需的，破坏了我们国家的经济竞争力及其科学和技术领导地位。物理学的情况尤其令人担忧：只有不到一半的高中物理教室由拥有物理学学位的教师领导，物理学是新K-12教师的头号短缺领域。物理教师教育联盟（PhysTEC）项目的愿景是，每个学生都有机会从高素质的教师那里学习物理，从而使美国能够满足对STEM专业人员的高需求。自2001年以来，由美国物理学会（APS）和美国物理教师协会（AAPT）领导的PhysTEC一直致力于让物理系建立解决全国物理教师短缺所需的教育基础设施。该项目开发了40多个示范教师准备计划，使高素质物理教师的产量增加了一倍以上，这些新教师的保留率很高。这些PhysTEC站点还在资助期后持续开展项目方面取得了相当大的成功。为了传播有效的实践和知识，该项目建立了一个由300多个成员机构组成的全国联盟;这些机构共同培养了全国一半以上的高素质物理教师。基于物理学界的广泛参与和许多成功项目的项目知识和经验，PhysTEC将追求三个相互关联的目标，以解决全国物理教师短缺的问题。该项目将：（1）直接与数十家机构合作，培养更多高素质的物理教师;（2）测试“杠杆”的有效性，以吸引物理系参与，从而实现可扩展的变革举措;（3）验证一个蓬勃发展的项目模式，为大量高素质的物理教师做好准备。PhysTEC将开发“下一代PhysTEC网站，为物理教师准备提供改进的模型，包括建立每年培养5名或更多物理教师的蓬勃发展的计划的综合网站，以及为较小机构开发适当规模模型的招聘网站。该项目还将探索创新模式，以较低成本直接吸引更多机构参与，并提供易于扩展的解决方案。改善国家基础设施，培养更多高素质的物理教师，将有助于确保每年全国成千上万的K-12学生获得卓越的物理教育，包括未来教师在内的数千名大学生将受益于PhysTEC网站的转型课程。此外，PhysTEC还将通过会议、研讨会、出版物、在线交流和网站，向全国广大受众传播有关教师准备的知识，包括APS和AAPT的60，000名成员。此外，该项目还将与学科专业协会和其他组织合作，将PhysTEC作为解决其他STEM领域教师短缺问题的范例。该项目将以往工作中获得的知识与制度变革理论相结合，为变革举措提供复杂的系统方法。一个全面的评估计划将调查物理技术倡议的有效性，以吸引物理部门，发展能力的变化，并提高物理教师的准备;形成性评估将指导改进物理技术倡议。参与机构将采用以研究为基础的做法，包括教学实践，以提高学生的学习和发展知识和技能的物理教学。同行评审的出版物将增加STEM教师准备的知识基础。该奖项由NSF数学和物理科学理事会物理部和NSF的Robert Noyce教师奖学金计划资助。

A severe shortage of qualified STEM teachers, necessary to educate and inspire the future technical workforce, undermines our nation's economic competitiveness and its scientific and technological leadership. The situation in physics is particularly alarming: fewer than half of all high school physics classrooms are led by a teacher with a degree in physics, and physics is the number one shortage area for new K-12 teachers. The Physics Teacher Education Coalition (PhysTEC) project vision is that every student will have the opportunity to learn physics from a highly qualified teacher, thus enabling the U.S. to meet the high demand for STEM professionals. Since 2001, PhysTEC, led by the American Physical Society (APS) and the American Association of Physics Teachers (AAPT), has been working to engage physics departments in establishing the educational infrastructure needed to address the national physics teacher shortage. The project developed over 40 model teacher preparation programs that more than doubled their production of highly qualified physics teachers, and these new teachers have high retention rates. These PhysTEC Sites also demonstrated considerable success in sustaining their programs beyond their funded period. To disseminate effective practices and knowledge, the project established a national coalition of more than 300 Member Institutions; these institutions collectively prepare over half of the nation's highly qualified physics teachers. Building on this widespread engagement of the physics community and project knowledge and experience from many successful programs, PhysTEC will pursue three interrelated goals toward building a solution to the national physics teacher shortage. The project will: (1) directly engage dozens of institutions to prepare greater numbers of highly qualified physics teachers, (2) test the effectiveness of "levers" for engaging physics departments to enable the development of scalable change initiatives, and (3) validate a model for thriving programs that prepare large numbers of highly qualified physics teachers. PhysTEC will develop "next generation PhysTEC Sites that offer improved models for physics teacher preparation, including Comprehensive Sites that establish thriving programs to prepare 5 or more physics teachers per year, and Recruiting Sites to develop an appropriately scaled model for smaller institutions. The project will also explore innovative modalities for directly engaging larger numbers of institutions at lower cost and offer readily scalable solutions. Improving the national infrastructure for preparing greater numbers of highly qualified physics teachers will help ensure excellence in physics education for tens of thousands of K-12 students across the nation each year, and thousands of college students including future teachers will benefit from transformed courses at PhysTEC Sites. In addition, PhysTEC will disseminate knowledge on teacher preparation to a broad national audience, including the 60,000 combined members of APS and AAPT, through conferences, workshops, publications, online communications, and a website. Further, the project will engage with disciplinary professional societies and other organizations to offer PhysTEC as a paradigm to address teacher shortages in other STEM fields.This project integrates knowledge gained from previous efforts with theories of institutional change to inform a complex, systems approach to change initiatives. A comprehensive evaluation plan will investigate the effectiveness of PhysTEC initiatives to engage physics departments, develop capacity for change, and improve physics teacher preparation; formative evaluation will guide improvements to PhysTEC initiatives. Participating institutions will adopt research-based practices, including instructional practices shown to increase student learning and develop knowledge and skills for teaching physics. Peer-reviewed publications will add to the knowledge base for STEM teacher preparation. This award is funded by the Division of Physics within the NSF Mathematics and Physical Sciences Directorate and by NSF's Robert Noyce Teacher Scholarship program.