Creating a Grow-Your-Own Program for Recruiting and Supporting Computer Science Teacher Candidates in Rural Georgia

该项目旨在满足国家培养高素质计算机科学（CS）教师的能力建设需求。数千个CS职位仍然空缺，部分原因是缺乏CS教师来教育学生未来的CS职业。该项目旨在以奖学金为奖励，为高中学生创造成为计算机科学教师的途径，以解决这一短缺问题。该项目团队计划为未来的计算机教师开发一种“自我成长”（GYO）模式，重点是佐治亚州的农村地区。GYO模式的目标是招募有兴趣的高中学生，他们打算回到家乡教CS。美世的双招生课程（高中和大学学分）、两年制大学课程的津贴和两年的奖学金将结合在一起，为未来的CS教师提供大学教育。美世大学的这个项目包括与乔治亚州的Wiregrass技术学院和乔治亚州的八个农村高需求学区（克林奇、咖啡、都柏林、埃文斯、杰夫戴维斯、塔特纳尔、特鲁特伦和惠勒）合作。项目目标包括确定和增加新的合作伙伴，开发一种结合双招生和社区大学途径的GYO模式；制定招聘计划。与地区领导、教师和未来CS教师的非正式访谈和调查将为GYO模式的发展提供信息，以满足社区的需求。虽然这一具体项目旨在解决格鲁吉亚农村CS教师短缺的问题，但项目团队打算在州和国家会议上分享有效的战略，以促进发展进程向其他环境的转移。一名外部评估人员和一个咨询委员会也将支持该项目。该能力建设项目由罗伯特·诺伊斯教师奖学金项目（诺伊斯）支持。Noyce计划支持有才华的STEM本科专业和专业人士成为有效的K-12 STEM教师，并支持经验丰富的模范K-12教师成为高需求学区的STEM大师教师。它还支持对高需求学区K-12 STEM教师的有效性和留任率的研究。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

The project aims to serve the national need of building capacity to prepare high-quality computer science (CS) teachers. Thousands of CS positions remain unfilled, partly due to a shortage of CS teachers to educate students for future CS careers. This project intends to respond to the shortage by creating a pathway for high school students to become CS teachers, with scholarship funds as an incentive. The project team plans to develop a Grow-Your-Own (GYO) model for prospective CS teachers, focused on rural Georgia. The aim of the GYO model will be to recruit interested students from high school who intend to return to their hometown to teach CS. Dual enrollment courses (for high school and college credit), stipends for two-year college courses, and scholarship funds for two years at Mercer will combine to provide a college education for prospective CS teachers.This project at Mercer University includes partnerships with Wiregrass Georgia Technical College and eight rural Georgia high-need school districts (Clinch, Coffee, Dublin, Evans, Jeff Davis, Tattnall, Treutlen, and Wheeler). Project goals include identifying and adding new partners, developing a GYO model incorporating dual enrollment and community college pathways; and creating a recruitment plan. Informal interviews and surveys with district leaders, teachers, and prospective CS teachers will inform the development of a GYO model that meets the needs of the community. Although this specific project seeks to address the shortage of CS teachers in rural Georgia, the project team intends to share effective strategies at state and national conferences to promote transfer of the development process to other settings. An external evaluator and an advisory board will also support the project. This Capacity Building project is supported through the Robert Noyce Teacher Scholarship Program (Noyce). The Noyce program supports talented STEM undergraduate majors and professionals to become effective K-12 STEM teachers and experienced, exemplary K-12 teachers to become STEM master teachers in high-need school districts. It also supports research on the effectiveness and retention 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.