Strengthening STEM Teacher Education Pathways in Kentucky with Collaborative Partnerships

在罗伯特·诺伊斯教师奖学金计划的支持下，该能力建设项目旨在通过加强肯塔基州的STEM教师教育途径，帮助解决全国K-12 STEM教师短缺的问题。该项目将使贝拉明大学能够简化该机构的艺术教学硕士(MAT)课程，以便STEM本科生只需多学习一年就可以完成它。该大学还打算与附近的社区学院发展伙伴关系，以便利社区学院的学生转到该大学，并帮助他们顺利完成STEM学士学位和MAT学位。通过简化教师认证计划并发展合作伙伴关系，以增加该机构的MAT计划的准入，该项目有可能增加肯塔基州高需求的K-12 STEM教室中高素质STEM教师的数量。该项目涉及贝拉明大学、蓝草社区和技术学院、杰斐逊社区和技术学院、杰斐逊县公立学校(美国最大的城市学区之一)和肯塔基州科学中心之间的合作。该项目旨在实现以下目标：(1)为STEM本科生制定早期启动的MAT认证；(2)通过与合作的社区学院和学区达成合作协议，在贝拉明大学的STEM教师教育计划中建立招聘渠道和支持系统；(3)与学区制定伙伴关系协议，以聘用后续项目产生的未来STEM教师；(4)与肯塔基科学中心为STEM本科生和MAT学生制定STEM夏令营和实习协议；以及(5)制定计划，在高需求学区招聘、准备和支持新的STEM教师，从而扩大和多样化新的STEM教师候选人。这个项目是在肯塔基州的一个关键时刻进行的，原因是学生人口结构的变化，STEM行业的关键需求，以及该州采用了下一代科学标准，该标准有很强的K-12 STEM课程。除了使肯塔基州的一个高需求学区受益外，该项目预计还将有助于全国STEM教师教育的努力，并为其他在STEM教育方面有类似需求的州树立榜样。Noyce计划支持有才华的STEM本科专业和专业人员成为高需求学区的有效K-12 STEM教师，并支持经验丰富、模范的K-12 STEM教师成为STEM大师教师。它还支持对高需求学区K-12教师的持久性、保留率和有效性的研究。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势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 Robert Noyce Teacher Scholarship Program, this Capacity Building project aims to help address a national shortage of K-12 STEM teachers by strengthening STEM teacher education pathways in Kentucky. This project will enable Bellarmine University to streamline the institution's Master of Arts in Teaching (MAT) program so that STEM undergraduate students can complete it with only one additional year of study. The University also intends to develop partnerships with nearby community colleges to facilitate transfer of community college students to the University and their successful completion of both a STEM bachelor's degree and a MAT degree. By streamlining the teacher certification program and developing partnerships to increase access to the institution's MAT program, this project has the potential to increase the number of highly-qualified STEM teachers in high-need K-12 STEM classrooms in Kentucky. This project involves collaborations between Bellarmine University, Bluegrass Community and Technical College, Jefferson Community and Technical College, Jefferson County Public Schools, which is one of the nation's largest urban school districts, and the Kentucky Science Center. The project aims to accomplish the following goals: (1) develop an early-start MAT certification for STEM undergraduates; (2) develop a recruitment pipeline and support system throughout Bellarmine University's STEM teacher education program via partnership agreements with the collaborating community colleges and school district; (3) develop a partnership agreement with the school district to hire future STEM teachers produced by a subsequent project; (4) develop a STEM summer camp and internship agreement with the Kentucky Science Center for STEM undergraduates and MAT students; and (5) develop a plan to recruit, prepare, and support new STEM teachers in high-need school districts, thus expanding and diversifying the pool of new STEM teacher candidates. This project comes at a critical time in Kentucky because of changing student demographics, critical industry needs in STEM, and the state's adoption of the Next Generation Science Standards, which have a strong K-12 STEM curriculum. In addition to benefitting a high-need school district in Kentucky, this project is expected to contribute to national efforts in STEM teacher education and serve as a model for other states with similar needs in STEM education. The Noyce program supports talented STEM undergraduate majors and professionals to become effective K-12 STEM teachers in high-need school districts and experienced, exemplary K-12 STEM 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.