Preparing Mathematics Teacher-Leaders for Rural Schools in Minnesota and North Dakota

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This project aims to serve the national need for highly effective mathematics education in high-need schools. It will do so by preparing mathematics teacher-leaders who will teach in rural school districts in Minnesota and North Dakota. The project’s overall goal is to produce teacher-leaders who will increase the quality of mathematics education in their individual classrooms and in their schools. The future teacher-leaders will be recruited with attention to including individuals from families with incomes below the poverty line. These Noyce scholars will earn degrees in both mathematics and secondary education. While they are in college, they will participate in teaching and administration internships in Moorhead Area Public Schools. After graduation, they will be hired as teachers in high-need middle and high schools. During the first two years of their teaching career, the new teachers will receive mentoring and other supports to help them flourish in a high-need school environment. The expectation is that the coursework, internships, and other experiences provided by the project will prepare the Noyce Scholars to be leaders locally, as well as in the field of mathematics education. This project at Concordia College at Moorhead includes a partnership with Moorhead Area Public Schools. Project goals include: producing 16 highly-qualified mathematics teacher-leaders to work in high-need schools; incorporating longitudinal case study research; increasing understanding of high-impact preservice internships, field experiences, and school district-college partnerships; and improving knowledge about strategies that increase recruitment and retention of teachers in high-need environments, especially those in rural and low-income areas. The results of the project have the potential to inform policies that can improve the quality of K-12 education in the United States. This Track 1: Scholarships and Stipends project is supported through the Robert Noyce Teacher Scholarship Program. The Noyce program supports talented STEM undergraduate majors and professionals to become effective K-12 STEM teachers and experienced, exemplary K-12 STEM teachers to become STEM master teachers in high-need school districts. It also supports research on the persistence, retention, and effectiveness of K-12 STEM teachers in high-need school districts.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.