Focusing on Professional Engagement to Increase the Number of Highly Effective Science and Mathematics Teachers

该项目旨在通过增加美国高素质和高效率的STEM教师数量来服务于国家利益，特别是在犹他州中部一个高增长、高需求的地区。为了做到这一点，它将招聘取得数学、生物、化学、物理或地球科学学士学位的高成就大三或大四学生。这些学生将获得奖学金，并通过指导、内容丰富、专业发展和应用课堂经验来支持他们成为STEM教师。该项目将支持这些未来的教师发展深厚的STEM内容知识，以及批判性思维、探究性学习技术和课堂管理方面的技能。在这些准备充分的新教师的课堂上，学生们有望更好地理解STEM的概念，为在大学取得成功做好更好的准备，并更有可能从事STEM职业。通过这种方式，该项目有望帮助满足21世纪的劳动力需求。此外，通过强调专业参与，通过该项目培养的教师可能会增加成为学校和学区、州和国家教育领导者的潜力。在该项目中，犹他州山谷大学将与两年制学院斯诺学院以及阿尔卑斯、普罗沃、内波和南桑佩特等高需求学区合作。一个基本的项目目标是通过以下方式增加犹他州急需的当地教育机构的中学STEM教师数量：(1)向50名科学和数学专业的学生颁发奖学金，并为他们提供专注于专业投入的强有力的职前教师培训和在职教师支持计划；2)加强对斯诺学院未来教师的招聘；以及(3)对招聘、培训和留住高素质教师队伍的有效方法进行纵向评估和研究。项目评估将包括一项纵向混合方法研究，以调查项目活动对教师留任和最终领导的影响。项目团队计划在学校、学区和大学网络中传播项目成果，包括关于教师身份和社区的价值的信息，以促进教师的发展和留住。这个Track 1：奖学金和津贴项目由罗伯特·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 interest by increasing the number of highly qualified and effective STEM teachers in the United States, particularly in a high-growth, high-need region of central Utah. To do so, it will recruit high-achieving juniors or seniors pursuing baccalaureate STEM degrees in Mathematics, Biology, Chemistry, Physics, or Earth Science. These students will receive scholarships and be supported to become STEM teachers through mentoring, content enrichment, professional development, and applied classroom experience. The project will support these future teachers to develop deep STEM content knowledge, as well as skills in critical thinking, inquiry learning techniques, and classroom management. Students in the classrooms of these well-prepared new teachers are expected to have a greater understanding of STEM concepts, be better prepared for success in college, and more likely to pursue STEM careers. In this way, the project expects to help meet 21st century workforce needs. Moreover, through the emphasis on professional engagement, the teachers prepared through this project may have increased potential to become leaders in their schools and districts, and in state and national education.In this project, Utah Valley University will partner with Snow College, a two-year college, as well as the high-needs school districts of Alpine, Provo, Nebo, and South Sanpete. An underlying project goal is to increase the number of secondary STEM teachers in high-need local educational agencies in Utah by: (1) awarding scholarships to 50 science and mathematics majors and providing them with a strong pre-service teacher training and in-service teacher support program focused on professional engagement; 2) strengthening recruitment of future teachers from Snow College; and (3) conducting longitudinal assessment and research about effective ways to recruit, train, and retain a high-quality teacher workforce. Project evaluation will include a longitudinal mixed methods study to investigate the impact of project activities on teacher retention and eventual leadership. The project team plans to disseminate project results, including information about the value of teacher identity and community across a network of schools, districts, and colleges for increasing teacher development and retention. This Track 1: Scholarships and Stipends 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 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.