Teacher Retention and Renewal through Bioregional Outdoor Education

科罗拉多高原的生物区是一个广阔的农村地区，需要教师留在该地区，为许多美国原住民学生和其他与这片土地有密切联系的社区提供服务。该项目采用两层指导模式和以学校为基础的科学资源中心，帮助教师留在教学岗位上，并鼓励小学教师对学生使用探究科学方法。所有的老师都要学习如何将数学和科学户外教育技能适应他们学校的当地环境。这不仅丰富了他们的工作，也激励他们的学生以一种新的方式看待他们的学校和家庭的日常环境。这种方法的一个优点是将家长志愿者与项目、学校和他们的孩子联系起来，目的是提高学生在数学和科学方面的成绩。该项目将开发具有文化敏感性的美洲原住民科学材料，这些材料将通过网络、会议和与其他地区的拓展活动共享。这些科学资源中心的开发和实施模式，以及通过教师专业发展和指导来维持教师的模式，可以成为需要加强和留住教师专业人才的农村地区的重要模式。

The bioregion of the Colorado Plateau is an expansive rural area in need of keeping teachers in the region to serve the many Native American students and other communities who have close ties to the land. This project uses a two-tiered mentoring model and school-based science resource centers to help teachers stay in teaching and encourage elementary teachers to use inquiry science approaches with their students. All teachers learn how to adapt math and science outdoor education skills to the local environments of their schools. This not only enriches their work but also inspires their students to see the everyday contexts of their school and homes in a new way. One strength to this approach is to connect parent volunteers to the program, to the school and to their children with the aim of improving student outcomes in mathematics and science. The project will develop culturally sensitive, Native American science materials that will be shared through the web, at conferences and in outreach activities with other districts. The development and implementation model for these science resource centers and for sustaining teachers through master teacher professional development and mentoring may become an important model for rural districts that need to enhance and retain their teaching professionals.