Developing a Practice-based Interdisciplinary Teacher Preparation Program at the Intersection of Science, Second Language, and Literacy Acquisition

该项目旨在为国家利益服务于高质量的STEM教育。为此，它计划改进中学科学教师教育计划的课程。除了美国中学生在国际考试中的表现一直很低外，英语学习者与以英语为母语的学生在科学成就方面存在着显著的、持续的国家差距。美国三分之一的英语学习者都在中学学习。然而，大多数中学职前教师教育计划并不包括科学方法课程中明确的英语学习者重点。因此，许多教师在向英语学习者教授科学的语言和素养要求方面缺乏经验和课程。该项目建议将重点放在科学探究、第二语言学习和科学素养上，以更好地为中学(6-12年级)和职前教师向包括英语学习者在内的所有学生教授科学做好准备。通过该项目创建的成功的新课程可以被其他科学教师培训计划改编。该项目的预期成果包括提高新教师的课程计划和教学技能，方法包括：1)让学生参与科学和工程实践；2)实施支撑英语学习者学习的技能和策略；3)整合专门的科学素养。中佛罗里达大学的教师教育工作者致力于创建一个以实践为基础的跨学科项目，目标是在两个学期的四个本科课程中为副教师做好准备。这些课程将包括大学的两门课程和当地学区塞米诺尔县公立学校的两门实习课程。职前教师将参与一系列实践，包括集中探究、定向观察和指导实践，以学习如何向所有学生教授科学。混合方法研究将被用来探索研究问题，包括对教师的教案和由这些新教师教授的学生的教学技能和学习结果的影响。职前教师的表现将与实施这一计划转型之前从该大学中学科学教育专业毕业的教师进行比较。职前教师的教学成效，亦会以学生在实习课室的学习成绩与对照组的学习成绩作比较来衡量。还将探讨该项目有助于提高职前教师技能的具体做法和条件。将在整个三个项目年进行持续的项目评价。评估将使所有利益攸关方参与评估周期，以提供反馈，并向研究小组通报实现目标的进展情况和对项目设计的潜在改进。传播活动将包括一个项目网站、同行评议出版物以及国家和国际会议情况介绍。由此产生的课程将与实践者受众分享，包括中学科学教室的科学教师和全国各地不同本科教师教育项目的科学方法课程教师。NSF IUSE：EHR计划支持研究和开发项目，以提高所有学生的STEM教育的有效性。通过参与的学生学习路径，该计划支持有前景的实践和工具的创建、探索和实施。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 interest in high quality STEM education. To this end, it plans to improve curricula in a secondary science teacher education program. In addition to the consistently low performance of U.S. secondary students on international tests, a significant and consistent national gap exists in the science achievement of English learners versus native English-speaking students. One-third of all English learners in the U.S. are in secondary school settings. However, most secondary preservice teacher education programs do not include an explicit English learner focus in science methods courses. As a result, many teachers lack experience and coursework in the language and literacy demands of teaching science to English learners. This project proposes to focus on scientific inquiry, second language learning, and science-specific literacy to better prepare secondary (Grades 6-12) and preservice teachers to teach science to all students, including English learners. A successful new curriculum created through this project could be adapted by other science teacher preparation programs. Expected outcomes of the project include an increase in new teachers’ lesson planning and teaching skills using approaches that: 1) Engage students in science and engineering practices; 2) Implement skills and strategies for scaffolding the learning of English learners; 3) Integrate science-specific literacy.Teacher educators at the University of Central Florida aim to create a practice-based, interdisciplinary program that targets preservice teacher preparation over four undergraduate courses during two semesters. These courses will include two courses at the University and two internship courses in the local school district, the Seminole County Public Schools. Pre-service teachers will be engaged in a series of practices including focused inquiry, directed observations, and guided practice to learn how to teach science to all students. Mixed methods research will be used to explore research questions that include the impact on teacher’s lesson planning and teaching skills and learning outcomes of students who are taught by these new teachers. The pre-service teachers’ performance will be compared with those who graduated from the University’s secondary science education programs before implementing this programmatic transformation. The teaching effectiveness of pre-service teachers will also be measured by comparing the learning outcomes of their students in the internship classrooms with those in the control group. Specific practices and conditions of the project that lead to improvements in the pre-service teachers’ skills will also be explored. An ongoing project evaluation will be conducted throughout the three project years. The evaluation will engage all stakeholders in the assessment cycle to provide feedback and inform the research team about progress toward the objectives and potential improvements to the project design. Dissemination activities will include a project website, peer-reviewed publications, and national and international conference presentations. The resulting curriculum will be shared with practitioner audiences, including science teachers in secondary science classrooms and science methods course instructors in diverse undergraduate teacher education programs across the nation. The NSF IUSE: EHR Program supports research and development projects to improve the effectiveness of STEM education for all students. Through the Engaged Student Learning track, the program supports the creation, exploration, and implementation of promising practices and tools.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.