Turning the Tide: Teaching Mathematics in High-Need Schools

该项目旨在服务于培养高素质数学教师到农村、小城镇和城市高需求学区任教的国家需求。该项目将采取线性增长的方式，从当地高中到社区大学，再到四年制院校。招聘的重点将是通过教育高中生了解教学的好处和回报，积极影响他们加入数学教师职业。高中毕业后，学生的教育途径将从两年制大学开始。在完成社区大学学位后，参与者将转到四年制大学的数学专业和职前教师课程，在那里他们将获得教师资格证书。获得学士学位毕业后，他们将回到高需求的学校担任数学教师。为了让本科生为教师职业做好准备，该项目将采用三管齐下的浸入式模式。(1)学生将从STEM和STEM教育系获得增强的数学教育课程、指导和双重建议。(2)他们还将通过从社区大学开始的实习模式获得特殊的现场经验。(3)该计划将提供专业发展机会，培养参加者作为教师的专业认同感，为他们在有高度需要的学校取得成功作好准备。总体而言，该项目旨在增加STEM毕业生准备在高需求学校教授数学的数量，并解决宾夕法尼亚州中部和全美数学教师短缺的问题。希彭斯堡大学的这个项目包括与哈里斯堡地区社区学院和哈格斯敦社区学院的合作伙伴关系，以及五个教师流动率高的高需求当地教育机构(LEA)，即卡莱尔、钱伯斯堡、斯蒂尔顿-海斯皮尔、上多芬和韦尼斯伯勒。该项目有两个基本目标。首先是在该项目的五年期限内招聘、提供奖学金、准备和毕业三十(30)名高素质的数学教师。第二个目标是将这些新教师安置在高需求学校，主要是宾夕法尼亚州中部地区。该项目将从培养和支持有兴趣成为教师的年轻学生的教师成长模式的理论基础中获得信息。与此相配合，该项目将建立教师实习的常驻模式，在这种模式下，在一所学校停留三年的学生被证明可以提高教师的效率，并在高需求学校留住教师。混合方法的项目评估将探索方案部分的有效性，范围从招收高中生到毕业和在高需求学校的安置。关于该项目浸入式模式的调查路线将产生新的知识并通过测试方法来填补文献中的空白，以影响以下方面的有效性：自己成长的理论框架和跨组织途径；通过社区建设、内容掌握、服务学习和增加实地经验为高需求的课堂准备职前教师的有效性；以及为新手教师提供早期和持续的指导。通过出版物以及地区和国家会议，项目团队将传播收集到的证据，以告知其他寻求改善教师准备和安置计划的高等教育专业人员。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。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，通过使用基金会的智力价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

The project aims to serve the national need of preparing high-quality mathematics teachers to teach in rural, small town, and urban high-need school districts. The project will take a grow-your-own linear approach that spans from local high schools to area community colleges to a four-year institution. A recruiting focus will be on positively influencing high school students to join the mathematics teaching profession by educating them on the benefits and rewards of teaching. After high school, the education pathway for students will begin at a two-year college. After completing a community college degree, participants will transfer to a mathematics major and pre-service teacher program at a four-year college, where they will gain teacher licensure. Upon graduation with a baccalaureate degree, they will return to high-need schools as mathematics teachers. To prepare undergraduate students for the teaching profession, the project will incorporate a three-pronged immersion model. (1) Students will receive enhanced mathematics education coursework, mentoring, and dual advising from STEM and STEM education faculty. (2) They also will have special field experiences through a residency model beginning in community college. (3) The project will facilitate professional development opportunities to develop participants’ professional identities as teachers prepared to succeed in high-need schools. Overall, the project aims to increase the number of STEM graduates prepared to teach mathematics in high-need schools and address the mathematics teacher shortage in central Pennsylvania and across the United States.This project at Shippensburg University includes partnerships with Harrisburg Area Community College and Hagerstown Community College, along with five high-need local education agencies (LEAs) with high teacher turnover rates; namely, Carlisle, Chambersburg, Steelton-Highspire, Upper Dauphin, and Waynesboro. The project has two underlying goals. First is to recruit, provide scholarships, prepare, and graduate thirty (30) highly qualified mathematics teachers within the five-year duration of the project. A second goal is to place these new teachers in high-need schools, primarily in the central Pennsylvania area. The project will be informed by the theoretical basis of a grow-your-own teacher model in which young students who are interested in becoming teachers are fostered and supported. In concert with this, the project will build on residency models of teacher practicums, in which students who remain in one school for three years have been shown to improve teacher effectiveness and retention in high-need schools. Mixed-methods project evaluation will explore the effectiveness of programmatic components, ranging from recruiting high school students to graduation and placement in high-need school settings. Lines of investigation on the project's immersion model will generate new knowledge and fill gaps in the literature by testing methods to influence the effectiveness of: the grow-your-own theoretical framework and interorganizational pathway; the efficacy of preparing preservice teachers for high-need classrooms through community building, content mastery, service learning, and increased field experiences; and early and ongoing mentorship for novice teachers. Through publications and regional and national meetings, the project team will disseminate evidence collected to inform other higher education professionals seeking to improve teacher preparation and placement programs. 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 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.