Foundations for Advancing STEM Teaching in Rural School Districts

在NSF Robert Noyce教师奖学金计划的支持下，该项目旨在通过调查爱荷华州农村的STEM教学需求，为高质量STEM教学的国家利益服务。 该项目涉及上爱荷华州大学、当地高需求学区和东北爱荷华州社区学院之间的合作。这种伙伴关系将确定当地教师队伍的需求，并制定新的招聘战略，以吸引STEM专业的学生参与教学。 它将为社区大学生的教学职业建立更强大的途径，并确定可以帮助STEM专业成为成功的STEM教师的支持。该项目产生的信息可以为增加能够满足农村学校需求的STEM教师数量和质量的努力提供信息。该项目的活动包括对当地学校人员的调查，以及对当前STEM和教育专业及校友的重点小组的调查。 由此产生的数据将深入了解支持或阻碍农村学校STEM教学职业的因素。这些数据还将记录STEM教师短缺的具体领域，并为制定有针对性的招聘战略提供信息。上爱荷华州大学和东北爱荷华州社区学院之间的衔接协议将通过制定学位计划来加强，这些计划使STEM专业的学生能够在四年内毕业，并获得教师证书和满足农村学区需求的技能。 将对STEM专业现有的学术支持战略进行审查，并评估每项战略在当地环境中的潜在成功。 参加会议将使项目人员能够传播项目的研究结果，并使项目了解其他地方使用的可行模式。一个强有力的内部传播计划将确保与直接参与项目的利益攸关方和项目打算服务的人分享信息。该项目可能会提供有用的启示和约束，出现在与新的所有科学教师认可领域最近开发的爱荷华州教育部。 NSF Robert Noyce教师奖学金计划支持有才华的STEM本科专业和专业人士成为高需求学区的K-12数学和科学教师，以及在职教师成为STEM硕士教师。 该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

With support from the NSF Robert Noyce Teacher Scholarship Program, this project aims to serve the national interest in high quality STEM teaching by investigating the STEM teaching needs of rural Iowa. The project involves a partnership between Upper Iowa University, local high-need school districts, and Northeast Iowa Community College. This partnership will define local teacher workforce needs and develop new recruiting strategies to interest STEM majors in teaching. It will build stronger pathways to teaching careers for community college students and identify supports that can help STEM majors become successful STEM teachers. Information produced by the project can inform efforts to increase the number and quality of STEM teachers who can meet the needs of rural schools. The activities of this project include surveys of local area school personnel, as well as focus groups with current STEM and education majors and alumni. The resulting data will provide insights into factors that support or hinder careers in STEM teaching at rural schools. The data will also document specific areas of STEM teacher shortage and inform the development of targeted recruiting strategies. Articulation agreements between Upper Iowa University and Northeast Iowa Community College will be strengthened by developing degree plans that enable STEM majors to graduate in four years with teacher certification and the skills to meet the needs of rural school districts. A review of existing academic support strategies for STEM majors will be conducted, and each strategy will be evaluated for potential success in the local context. Conference participation will enable project personnel to disseminate findings from the project and will inform the project of viable models in use elsewhere. A strong internal dissemination plan will ensure that information is shared with stakeholders directly engaged in the project and those whom the project intends to serve. The project may provide useful insights into affordances and constraints that arise in conjunction with the new All Science teacher endorsement area recently developed by the Iowa Department of Education. The NSF Robert Noyce Teacher Scholarship Program supports talented STEM undergraduate majors and professionals to become K-12 mathematics and science teachers in high-need school districts and in-service teachers to become STEM master teachers. It also supports research on the persistence, retention, and effectiveness of K-12 teachers in high-need school districts.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.