Developing a Program to Meet the Need for Prepared and Diverse STEM Teachers in Houston

该项目旨在满足国家对更多和多样化的高素质STEM教师和教育领导人员的需求。公立学校面临STEM教师短缺的问题，特别是那些拥有STEM学位并代表所服务社区多样性的教师。这种短缺可能会限制K-12学生的STEM学习，并可能降低他们在STEM继续深造的兴趣。因此，缺乏高素质的STEM教师可能会影响STEM劳动力中代表性不足的少数群体。休斯顿浸会大学是一所位于德克萨斯州休斯敦的四年制本科生拉美裔服务机构，休斯敦是美国最多元化的城市之一。该大学学生的人口结构反映了休斯顿地区K-12学生的情况。该项目包括与孤星学院系统、公共社区学院系统和休斯顿地区最大的高等教育机构的合作。通过这一合作，该项目旨在开发一个项目，通过获得STEM专业的理科学士学位和教育硕士学位，为学生成为K-12教师和领导者做好准备。这一能力建设项目还旨在确定如何在休斯顿地区留住这些准备充分和多样化的教育工作者。这一项目的发展将为STEM专业的学生提供另一条职业道路，旨在解决社区中缺乏有准备的多样化教育工作者的问题。休斯顿浸会大学的这个项目包括与孤星学院系统和休斯顿独立学区的合作。该项目的主要目标是为STEM专业的学生制定和实施为期五年的MBA/Med课程计划，让他们在五年课程中获得教师执照，并最终进入休斯顿劳动力大军，成为STEM教师和教育领导者。该项目的目标包括：1)提高学生在STEM中取得成功的能力；2)扩大休斯顿浸会大学STEM教学许可证课程的能力；3)加强STEM教育工作者的专业发展能力。该项目旨在找出导致休斯顿独立学区长期缺乏合格和多样化的STEM教育者的挑战。将评估正在攻读STEM学位的大学生、STEM教师和当地K-12学校管理人员的需求，以确定该项目持续增长的能力。如果成功，该项目的开发将有可能成为了解STEM教师短缺的模式，这些教师短缺的城市学区服务的主要是代表不足的学生。研究结果也有可能应用于其他机构，这些机构的学生群体经历了类似的挑战，使他们无法留在社区并通过教学服务。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 increased numbers and diversity of highly qualified STEM teachers and educational leaders. Public schools face a shortage of STEM teachers, especially those with a STEM degree and who represent the diversity of the community they are serving. This shortage likely limits K-12 student STEM learning and may decrease their interest in pursuing further education in STEM. As a result, the lack of highly qualified STEM teachers can affect representation of underrepresented minorities in the STEM workforce. Houston Baptist University is a four-year undergraduate Hispanic-Serving Institution in Houston, Texas, one of the most diverse cities in the nation. The demographics of students at the University mirror those of the K-12 students in the Houston area. The project includes collaboration with the Lone Star College System, a public community college system and the largest institution of higher learning in the Houston area. Through this collaboration, the project aims to develop a program to prepare students to become K-12 teachers and leaders by obtaining both a Bachelor of Science degree in a STEM major and a Master of Education degree. This capacity building project also aims to identify ways to retain these prepared and diverse educators in the Houston area. The development of this program will provide an alternate career route for STEM majors that is designed to address a shortage of prepared and diverse educators in the community. This project at Houston Baptist University includes partnerships with the Lone Star College System and Houston Independent School District. The primary goal of this project is to develop and implement plans for a five-year BS/MEd pathway for STEM majors to earn their teaching licensure in a fifth-year program and eventually enter the Houston workforce as STEM teachers and education leaders. Project aims include: 1) increasing capacity for student success in STEM; 2) expanding capacity of the Houston Baptist University curriculum for STEM teaching licensure; and 3) strengthening capacity for professional development for STEM educators. This project seeks to identify challenges that lead to the persistent shortage of qualified and diverse STEM educators in Houston Independent School District. The needs of college students pursuing a STEM degree, STEM teachers, and local K-12 school administrators will be assessed to determine capacity for continuous growth of the program. If successful, development of the program has the potential to serve as a model for understanding STEM teacher shortages in urban school districts serving predominantly underrepresented students. Findings also have potential to be applied to other institutions with student groups experiencing similar challenges preventing them from remaining in the community and serving through teaching. 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 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.