Induction and Mentoring in a Middle Grades Science and Mathematics Accelerated Teacher Preparation Program

该项目涉及替代教师认证计划的入职和指导部分，并审查这些做法在城市学校留住教师方面的有效性。中等年级科学(MGS)和数学(MGM)项目是伊利诺伊大学芝加哥分校(UIC)和芝加哥公立学校(CPS)之间的现有合作项目，涉及从代表性不足的人群中招聘具有强大科学和数学背景的个人到陷入困境的城市学校任教。为了留住这些有才华的实习生，入职和指导部分正在重新设计，从一年延长到三年，并为实习生和他们的导师增加了一个全面的专业发展计划。专业发展部分是科学家、数学家和教育人员共同努力的结果。这些人教授研讨会和研讨会，旨在加深对内容的理解，展示内容和教学方法的整合，并教育实习生如何最好地满足不同学生群体的不同教学需求。重大的计划改进包括：行动研究项目、与文化相关的教学实践、实习导师群体的联合专业发展、创建在线社区、由科学家和数学家领导的教学和学习研讨会以及实习生和导师获得数学和科学教育方面的高级学习的机会。研究部分考察了替代认证计划的初任教师与在城市环境下教授中等年级科学或数学有关的身份，并探讨了在这一上岗阶段，辅导做法在支持科学和数学教师在替代认证计划中建立具有改革意识的教学实践方面所起的作用。研究参与者包括在CPS任教的头三年的MGS/MGM实习生，重点关注特定的队列和在延长的入职阶段的特定阶段的实习生。通过听取这些初任教师的第一手资料，有可能了解城市教师身份是如何在个人经验、学校文化和更广泛的教育政策的交叉点上构建的，这些政策为教师准备工作提供了信息。这项研究对于理解准备参加替代认证计划的教师如何通过建立实践社区来支持他们成为专业人员并培养他们的教学，试图抵消城市学校新科学教师50%的流失率具有重要意义，并增加了对如何最好地服务于城市学校中学生的科学和数学教学需求的理解。

This project addresses the induction and mentoring components of an alternative teacher certification program and examines the effectiveness of these practices on teacher retention in urban schools. The Middle Grades Science (MGS) and Mathematics (MGM) program is a existing collaboration between the University of Illinois-Chicago (UIC) and the Chicago Public Schools (CPS) that involves the recruitment of individuals with strong science and mathematics backgrounds from underrepresented populations to teach in struggling urban schools. To retain these talented teacher interns, the induction and mentoring components are being redesigned to extend from one to three years, and a comprehensive professional development program is being added for both interns and their mentors. The professional development component is a joint effort of scientists, mathematicians, and education faculty. These individuals teach seminars and workshops that have been designed to deepen the understanding of content, demonstrate the integration of content and pedagogy, and educate interns on how to best address the varied instructional needs of a diverse student population. Significant program enhancements include: action-research projects, culturally relevant pedagogical practice, joint professional development for intern-mentor cohorts, creation of an on-line community, teaching and learning seminars led by scientists and mathematicians, and access by interns and mentors to advanced study in mathematics and science education. The research component examines the identities that beginning teachers in an alternative certification program construct in relation to teaching middle grades science or mathematics in an urban context, and explores the role that mentoring practices play in supporting the construction of reform-minded teaching practices among science and mathematics teachers in an alternative certification program during this induction phase. The study participants include the MGS/MGM interns during their first three years of teaching in CPS, focusing on particular cohorts and interns at targeted stages within this extended induction phase.By hearing firsthand from these beginning teachers, it is possible to learn how urban teacher identities are constructed at the intersections of personal experience, school culture, and broader educational policies that inform teacher preparation. The study has important implications for understanding how teachers prepared in an alternative certification program attempt to counteract the 50% attrition rate of new science teachers in urban schools through establishing communities of practice that sustain them as professionals and nurture their instruction and adds to the understanding of how best to service the science and mathematics instructional needs of middle grade students in urban schools.