Texas A&M University Noyce Monitoring and Evaluation

众所周知，对于K-12学生来说，要获得STEM（科学、技术、工程和数学）学科的高质量教育，他们必须有机会接触到高效、高素质的教师。如何招募和留住高素质、高效的STEM教师进入教学行业，尤其是那些STEM能力强的教师，目前还不太为人所知。美国国家科学基金会（National Science Foundation）资助的德克萨斯农工大学（Texas a&m University，简称TAMU）的罗伯特·诺伊斯奖学金项目（Robert Noyce Scholarship Program）解决了这一问题，该项目为STEM专业的优秀本科生提供有吸引力的奖学金、专业发展和其他入职支持，这些学生毕业后同意在K-12高需求学校任教。自2002年以来，TAMU的Robert Noyce项目为教学行业增加了60多名STEM教师。这些学者现在大多在高需求的中学任教，有些是有五到十年教学经验的资深教师。这些Noyce学者对教师职业的许多方面都有宝贵的见解，可能有助于揭示在教师职业中招聘、准备和留住STEM教师的关键因素。本研究将跟踪30名TAMU Noyce奖学金获得者和30名未获得Noyce奖学金的TAMU预备教师，他们都完成了相同的教师预备课程，目前在德克萨斯州的高中任教。参与罗伯特·诺伊斯教师奖学金Track I第二阶段监测和评估研究的机构是位于德克萨斯州四个地区的TAMU和学区，诺伊斯学者和TAMU准备的STEM教师受雇于这些地区：休斯顿，圣安东尼奥，达拉斯和布莱恩/大学城。通过比较这两个群体之间和内部的特点，本项目将侧重于提高对STEM教师招聘、准备和保留的最佳实践的认识和理解。研究人员将调查参与者对一般教学和高需求学校教学的看法是如何随着时间的推移而演变的，以及这些看法在群体内部和群体之间是如何不同的。这项为期三年的研究将采用准实验、匹配的时间序列设计，强调定量和定性结果。60名参与者将被招募成两组，实验组由30名诺伊斯奖学金获得者组成，对照组由同样准备的没有获得诺伊斯奖学金的教师组成。定量数据将通过课堂观察（每年两次，为期三年）、三次年度调查和学生调查来收集。标准化考试成绩（假设考试是针对所教科目和年级进行的）。定性数据将通过年度半结构化访谈和对年度调查的可选开放式回答来收集。这些数据将被分析组内的相似性，以及组间的差异。将使用重复测量、方差分析（ANOVA）、多变量方差分析（MANOVA）和其他推断统计来分析定量数据。在分析过程中，将对半结构化访谈中的定性数据进行转录、编码和三角测量。这些多种形式的数据收集将允许更完整和彻底地了解组之间的差异（如果有的话）。该项目的目的是捕捉随着时间的推移TAMU Noyce学者的特点，因为他们与坚持作为一名教师，不断发展的职业观念和K-12学生的表现有关。本研究将以以下研究问题为指导：(1)TAMU Noyce学者对高需求学校教学和教学的看法如何随着时间的推移而演变，这些看法与对照组有何不同？(2)在高需求学校保留TAMU Noyce学者涉及哪些因素，这些因素与对照组有何不同？(3) TAMU Noyce学者在教学行为、学生成果和整体课堂环境方面的共同特征是什么？与对照组相比，这些特征如何？

It is widely known that for K-12 students to obtain a high quality education in the STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) disciplines, they must have access to highly effective and highly qualified teachers. It is less known how to recruit and retain highly qualified and highly effective STEM teachers into the teaching profession, especially those individuals with strong STEM. The Robert Noyce Scholarship Program at Texas A&M University (TAMU), funded by the National Science Foundation, has addressed this issue by offering attractive scholarships, professional development, and other induction support to high achieving undergraduate students majoring in STEM fields who agree to teach in K-12 high-need schools after graduation. Since 2002, the Robert Noyce Program at TAMU has added over 60 STEM teachers to the teaching profession. Most of these Scholars are now teaching in high-need secondary schools and some are experienced teachers with five to ten years of teaching experience. These Noyce Scholars have valuable insight on many aspects of the teaching profession that may help uncover key components to recruiting, preparing, and retaining STEM teachers in the teaching profession. This study will follow 30 TAMU Noyce Scholars and 30 TAMU prepared teachers that did not receive Noyce Scholarships, all of whom completed the same teacher preparation program and are currently teaching in Texas high schools. The institutions involved in this Robert Noyce Teacher Scholarship Track I Phase II Monitoring and Evaluation study are TAMU and school districts located in four regions of Texas where Noyce Scholars and TAMU prepared STEM teachers are employed: Houston, San Antonio, Dallas, and Bryan/College Station. By comparing characteristics among and within these two groups, this project will focus on advancing the knowledge and understanding of best practices in STEM teacher recruitment, preparation, and retention. Researchers will investigate how participants' perceptions regarding teaching in general and teaching in high-need schools evolve over time and how these perceptions differ within and between groups. This three-year research study will use a quasi-experimental, matched time series design that emphasizes both quantitative and qualitative results. Sixty participants will be recruited to form two groups, an experimental group consisting of 30 Noyce Scholars and a control group of similarly prepared teachers who did not receiving Noyce Scholarships. Quantitative data will be collected through classroom observations (two per year for three years), three annual surveys, and students? standardized test scores (assuming tests are mandated for the subject and grade level being taught). Qualitative data will be collected through annual semi-structured interviews and optional open-ended responses to the annual surveys. This data will be analyzed for similarities within groups, as well as differences among groups. Repeated measures, analysis of variance (ANOVA), multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) and other inferential statistics will be used to analyze the quantitative data. Qualitative data from the semi-structured interviews will be transcribed, coded, and triangulated in the analysis process. These multiple forms of data collection will allow for a more complete and thorough understanding of the differences, if any, between groups. The purpose of the project is to capture over time the characteristics of TAMU Noyce Scholars as they relate to persistence as a teacher, evolving perceptions of the profession and the performance of their K-12 students. This study will be guided by the following research questions: (1) How do the TAMU Noyce Scholars' perceptions about teaching and teaching in high-need schools evolve over time and how do these perceptions differ from the control group? (2) What factors are involved in retaining TAMU Noyce Scholars in high-need schools and how do these factors differ from the control group? (3) What are the common characteristics in teaching behaviors, student outcomes, and overall classroom environments of the TAMU Noyce Scholars and how do these characteristics compare to the control group?