Preparing Science and Mathematics Teachers for Grades 7-12: A Community of Scholars at Work

为了满足对合格STEM教师的迫切需求，路易斯安那州立大学教务长、路易斯安那州立大学文理学院、基础科学学院和教育学院的院长和教职员工以及来自所有三所学院的教职员工组成的团队设计了一个新的4年制（128学分）本科学位课程，以更好地为更多STEM专业的教师认证做好准备。该课程被称为“专注于中等教育的内容专业”，已被路易斯安那州评议委员会和路易斯安那州中小学教育委员会批准为认证途径。该计划适应了UTeach计划（UT-Austin）的特点，但融入了新的元素，使其在全国范围内与众不同。这是一个为期4年的项目，学生完成STEM学科的本科学士学位和所有二级教学认证要求。它以实地为基础，包括与当地学校的广泛合作渠道。STEM教师广泛参与这些新教师的准备工作。一个亮点是协作式课程结构，在这种结构中，STEM教师、教育教师和指导教师在课程作业和现场经验的设计、交付和监督方面共同努力。这种合作的形式和程度在美国主要的研究型大学中可能是无与伦比的。目标是每年培养80名毕业生，几乎是路易斯安那州立大学最近培养STEM教师的三倍。这个项目的候选人对他们的专业有更深的理解，为满足当地学校的需求做了更好的准备，并且比在20世纪90年代占主导地位的那种项目中准备的教师拥有更广泛的支持结构的优势。

In response to the critical need for qualified STEM teachers, a team composed of the Provost of Louisiana State University and Deans and faculty members of the LSU Colleges of Arts and Sciences, Basic Sciences and Education and a team of faculty members from all three colleges designed a new 4-year (128-credit hour) undergraduate degree program to better prepare larger numbers of STEM majors for teacher certification. Called the "Content Major with Concentration in Secondary Education'', this program has been approved as a certification route by the Louisiana Board of Regents and the Louisiana Board of Elementary and Secondary Education.The program adapts features of the UTeach program (UT-Austin) but incorporates new elements that make it distinctive nationally. It is a 4-year program within which students complete both an undergraduate bachelor 's degree in a STEM discipline and all secondary teaching certification requirements. It is heavily field-based and includes extensive channels of cooperation with local schools. STEM faculty are broadly involved in the preparation of these new teachers. A highlight is a collaborative course structure in which STEM faculty, education faculty, and mentor teachers in the field work together in the design, delivery, and supervision of course work and field experience. This is a form and degree of collaboration that may be unparalleled at major research universities in the United States.The target production rate is 80 graduates annually, nearly tripling LSU 's recent production rate of certification-ready STEM teachers. Candidates in the program have a deeper understanding of their subject, are better prepared to meet the needs of local schools, and have the advantage of a much broader-based support structure than teachers prepared under the kind of programs that were dominant in the 1990s.