Mentors First: Building Capacity to Develop STEM Teachers who Can Include English as a Second Language Instruction in their STEM Classes

该项目旨在满足国家对有经验和有抱负的STEM教师的需求，他们准备将英语作为第二语言(ESL)的教学实践融入到他们的教学中。高质量的STEM课程很少提供给ESL学生，部分原因是STEM教育工作者不太可能得到认可，也不准备将ESL实践纳入他们的STEM课程。Mentors First伙伴关系旨在通过四种方式培养能力，以解决STEM课程中的语言障碍：1)每月举行伙伴关系发展会议，包括建立社区、分享数据、规划课程顺序和赠款；2)通过大学双语(英语/西班牙语)STEM课程发展九年级；3)传播和利用项目研究结果，以发现、审查和消除STEM课程成功的障碍；以及4)设计STEM+ESL导师教师培训。长青州立学院的这一能力建设项目包括与南普吉特湾社区学院的STEM和ESL教员以及合作学院周围113区教育服务区的44个高需求学区建立合作伙伴关系。Mentors First合作伙伴关系的目标是收集、分析和使用数据来识别、理解和消除该地区高需求学校双语学生STEM课程轨迹的障碍。该项目还旨在寻找高素质的STEM导师教师，以参与STEM+ESL导师第一研究员计划。Mentors First项目和评估旨在提高对ESL学生在STEM课程中取得成功的体制障碍的认识，使用分层线性建模来检查ESL学生在没有/没有ESL教师支持的教室和学校的嵌套影响。长期目标包括开发STEM+ESL导师优先计划，并通过雄心勃勃的STEM+ESL教师计划进行增强。如果ESL学生有高素质的STEM教师，他们的语言策略欢迎和支持他们，他们可能会想象自己的STEM职业生涯。因此，该项目有可能扩大对STEM领域的参与。该能力建设项目由罗伯特·诺伊斯教师奖学金计划(NOYCE)提供支持。Noyce计划支持有才华的STEM本科专业和专业人员成为有效的K-12 STEM教师，并支持经验丰富、模范的K-12 STEM教师成为高需求学区的STEM硕士教师。它还支持对高需求学区K-12 STEM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。

This project aims to serve the national need for experienced and aspiring STEM teachers who are prepared to integrate English as a second language (ESL) instructional practices into their teaching. High-quality STEM courses are rarely available to ESL students, in part because STEM educators are unlikely to be endorsed and prepared to integrate ESL practices in their STEM courses. Mentors First partnerships intend to build capacity to address language barriers in STEM courses in four ways: 1) monthly partnership development meetings that include building community, sharing data, planning course sequences and grants; 2) developing 9th grade through college dual language (English/Spanish) STEM courses; 3) disseminating and using project findings to identify, examine, and eliminate barriers to STEM course success for limited English proficient students; and 4) designing STEM+ESL mentor teacher training. This Capacity Building project at The Evergreen State College includes partnerships with STEM and ESL faculty at South Puget Sound Community College and the 44 high-need school districts in the Educational Service District 113 region surrounding the partner colleges. The Mentors First partnership’s goals are to collect, analyze, and use data to identify, understand, and remove barriers to STEM course trajectories for bilingual students attending high-need schools in the region. The project also aims to identify high-quality STEM mentor teachers to participate in the STEM+ESL Mentors First Fellows program. The Mentors First project and evaluation aims to advance knowledge of the institutional barriers for ESL students succeeding in STEM courses using Hierarchical Linear Modeling to examine the nested effects of ESL students in classrooms and schools with/out ESL endorsed teachers. The long-range goals include development of a STEM+ESL Mentors First program enhanced by an aspiring STEM+ESL teacher program. If ESL students have high-quality STEM teachers with language strategies that welcome and support them, it may be possible for them to imagine a STEM career for themselves. As a result, this project has the potential to broaden participation in STEM fields. This Capacity Building project is supported through the Robert Noyce Teacher Scholarship Program (Noyce). The Noyce program supports talented STEM undergraduate majors and professionals to become effective K-12 STEM teachers and experienced, exemplary K-12 STEM teachers to become STEM master teachers in high-need school districts. It also supports research on the persistence, retention, and effectiveness of K-12 STEM 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.