PROJECT ATOMS: Accomplished Elementary Teachers of Mathematics and Science

该项目正在研究针对北卡罗莱纳州立大学小学教师的数学和科学强化职前准备项目的影响，该项目被称为“数学和科学初级教师成就”（ATOMS）。北卡州立大学基础教育系的教师、杜克大学桑福德公共政策学院教育研究数据中心和北卡州立大学职业教育办公室的研究人员参与了该项目的实施。该项目包括评估职前教师的数学和科学内容、教师表现、自我报告调查和教师访谈。研究人员还跟踪了参与者对该计划的看法，并比较了一组原子教师和一组类似的非原子教师的知识维度和教学表现。每个研究维度（知识维度、教学绩效和项目视角）将在本纵向研究的三个时间点进行评估，为小学教师发展STEM教学提供一个模型。这项研究有可能促进目前对教师准备的理解，特别是在支持小学教师在科学和数学方面的教学方面。该项目还提出了有趣和相关的问题，即教师如何影响学生的学习，从而具有创新性和潜在的变革性。除了产生新知识外，该项目还具有影响STEM教育研究的潜力。如果研究人员能够清楚地证明参与该计划在改变教师的知识、态度和技能以及学生的成绩方面的效果，那么ATOMS职前教师准备计划可能会成为全国有效的职前教师教育的典范。调查人员建议将调查结果传播给K-12的受众和高等教育机构。此外，主要调查结果将以简短报告或小册子的形式呈现给政策制定者，并发送给全国教育学院院长，重点介绍基于调查结果的建议。

The project is studying the impact of the mathematics and science intensive pre-service preparation program for elementary school teachers at North Carolina State University called the Accomplished Elementary Teachers of Mathematics and Science (ATOMS). Faculty in NCSU's Department of Elementary Education, researchers at the Duke University Sanford School of Public Policy's Education Research Data Center and the NC State College Professional Education Office are involved in conducting this project.The project includes assessments of pre-service teachers' math and science content, teacher performance, self-report surveys, and teacher interviews. Researchers are also tracking participants' perspectives on the program and comparing knowledge dimensions and teaching performance of a sub-sample of ATOMS teachers to a similar group of non-ATOMS teachers. Each of the study dimensions (Knowledge Dimension, Teaching Performance, and Perspectives on the Program) will be assessed at three time points across this longitudinal study, providing a model for elementary teacher development of STEM teaching.The study has potential to advance current understanding regarding teacher preparation, especially in terms of supporting elementary teachers' instruction in science and math. The project is also innovative and potentially transformative by asking interesting and pertinent questions of how teachers can affect the learning of their students. Besides generating new knowledge, this project also has the potential to impact STEM education research. The ATOMS pre-service teacher preparation program may serve as a model for effective pre-service teacher education across the nation if the researchers can clearly demonstrate the effect of participating in the program in changing teachers' knowledge, attitudes, and skills, as well as their students' achievement. Investigators propose the dissemination of findings to both K-12 audiences and institutions of higher education. Additionally, key findings will be bulleted for policy makers in brief reports or brochures sent to deans of Colleges of Education nationwide, highlighting recommendations based on the findings.