Optimizing the STEM Teacher Recruitment, Development and Retention Pathway: Aligning STEM and Teaching Identities

该项目旨在满足国家招聘、培养和留住科学、技术、工程和数学(STEM)领域的高素质教师的需要。STEM教师短缺是一个全国性的问题。随着对专注于STEM的专业化劳动力的需求不断增长，高素质的STEM教师可以为学生的STEM职业生涯做好准备，扩大接受STEM教育的机会，并创造一支更具包容性和公平性的劳动力队伍。为了帮助解决STEM教师短缺的问题，该项目将鼓励符合条件的数学和理科本科生和毕业生在高需求学区的高中和中学从事教学工作。该项目将通过奖学金、早期教学经验、指导和教师准备来支持30名准教师。一旦他们获得教师资格证书并开始作为新手教师执教，该项目将在他们执教的头两年继续提供专业发展机会。在此期间，STEM和教育学教授和经验丰富的教师将指导这些新教师，帮助他们提高教学技能并留在教师职业中。加州州立大学圣马科斯分校的项目包括与三所社区学院(米拉科斯塔、帕洛玛和圣地亚哥梅萨)和两个高需求学区(埃斯孔迪多联合高中学区和圣马科斯联合学区)建立合作伙伴关系。项目目标是：(1)在五年内招聘和留住30名高素质的STEM专业人员和专业人员从事教学工作；(2)在STEM招聘至少50%未被充分代表的少数族裔和妇女；(3)扩大和维持从一年级到教师上岗的招聘和保留机制；(4)扩大和维持该地区的STEM教育界。该理论框架基于温格(1998)关于实践共同体中的社会参与和身份认同的理论。该项目的一个关键特点是支持参与者发展他们的身份，包括科学家和STEM教师的特征。该项目的智力价值包括一个改进的模式，以提高跨学科和跨学院教师招聘和培养高质量STEM教师的能力，以及更深入地理解学生如何在他们的STEM和教师身份之间找到平衡。该项目的广泛影响将帮助解决教师短缺的问题，并为加州多样化的K-12学生增加榜样。支持STEM教师招聘和留用的教员团队合作和与社区学院和学区合作的模式，可以在结果传播时为其他机构提供见解。这个Track 1：奖学金和津贴项目由罗伯特·诺伊斯教师奖学金计划(Noyce)提供支持。Noyce计划支持有才华的STEM本科专业和专业人员成为有效的K-12 STEM教师，并支持经验丰富、模范的K-12教师成为高需求学区的STEM硕士教师。它还支持对高需求学区K-12 STEM教师的有效性和留住的研究。这一奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势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 recruiting, preparing, and retaining high-quality teachers in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) areas. The shortage of STEM teachers is a national concern. With a growing need for a specialized STEM-focused workforce, high-quality STEM teachers can prepare students for STEM careers, expand access to STEM education, and create a more inclusive and equitable workforce. To help address the shortfall of STEM teachers, the project will encourage qualified mathematics and science undergraduate students and graduates to pursue teaching careers at high schools and middle schools in high-need school districts. The project will support 30 prospective teachers through scholarships, early teaching experiences, mentoring, and teacher preparation. Once they have obtained a teaching credential and start teaching as novice teachers, the project continues to provide professional development opportunities in their first two years of teaching. During this time, STEM and Education professors and experienced teachers will mentor these new teachers and help them refine teaching skills and stay in the teaching profession. The project at California State University San Marcos includes partnerships with three community colleges (MiraCosta, Palomar, and San Diego Mesa) and two high-need school districts (Escondido Union High School District and San Marcos Unified School District). Project goals are to (1) recruit and retain 30 high-quality STEM majors and professionals to teaching careers over five years; (2) recruit at least 50% underrepresented racial minorities and women in STEM; (3) expand and sustain recruitment and retention mechanisms from freshman to teacher induction; and (4) expand and sustain the STEM education community in the region. The theoretical framework is based on Wenger’s (1998) theory of social participation and identity in a community of practice. A key feature of the project is to support participants as they develop their identities to include characteristics of both scientists and STEM teachers. The project’s intellectual merit includes a refined model for enhancing cross-disciplinary and cross-college faculty’s ability to recruit and produce high-quality STEM teachers and a deeper understanding of how students find balance between their STEM and teaching identities. The broader impacts of this project will aid the teacher shortage and increase role models for California’s diverse K-12 students. The models for faculty teamwork and collaboration with community colleges and school districts to support STEM teacher recruitment and retention can provide insights for other institutions as results are disseminated. This Track 1: Scholarships and Stipends 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.