Building Capacity to Develop Elementary STEM Teacher Leaders in Iowa

该项目旨在通过在爱荷华州发展初级STEM教师领导计划的能力建设，满足国家对提高STEM识字率的需求。许多STEM教育努力满足了中等STEM教师的需求。然而，高质量的STEM教育需要从学生的小学阶段开始。北爱荷华大学的小学教师教育项目是该州最大的。然而，大多数小学教师在获得认证之前，对综合STEM教学几乎没有经验。这是因为小学强调英语/语言艺术和数学，而对科学的关注较少，特别是在高需求的学校。此外，很少有小学教师拥有科学或STEM认证，这导致很少有高素质的小学教师能够实践和示范最佳的STEM教学实践。该项目将建设开发初级STEM教师领导方案的能力，该方案将为实习小学教师提供STEM专业发展和领导力发展。反过来，这些小学STEM教师领袖将示范有效的STEM教学，并为未来的小学教师提供高质量的STEM学生教学体验。北爱荷华大学的这一能力建设项目包括与当地高需求学校的利益相关者合作，包括霍格兰小学和沃尔特·坎宁安博士卓越学校。该项目的目标是调查爱荷华州小学STEM教育的现状，然后设计一个培养小学STEM教师带头人的计划。项目团队将向内布拉斯加州大学林肯分校的教职员工学习，他们成功地在他们所在的州创建了一个初级STEM教师领导计划，该计划与爱荷华州在教育上有相似之处。此外，项目团队将采用Horizon Research的全国科学和数学教育调查，并利用这项调查从管理人员和教师那里收集关于高需求小学小学STEM教学现状的证据。将对调查结果和后续访谈进行分析，以确定爱荷华州小学STEM教育工作者的优势和需求。来自调查数据分析的信息，结合来自内布拉斯加州项目的见解，将被用于设计大学的初级STEM教师领导计划。一个由四名成员组成的外部咨询委员会将指导和评估该项目，该委员会由STEM教育大学教职员工、州级STEM教育专业发展领导人和爱荷华州高需求小学的管理人员组成。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。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。

This project aims to serve the national need for increased STEM literacy by building capacity to develop an elementary STEM teacher leader program in Iowa. Many STEM education efforts address secondary STEM teacher needs. Yet, high-quality STEM education needs to begin for students during the elementary school years. The elementary teacher education program at the University of Northern Iowa is the largest in the state. However, most elementary school teachers have minimal experience with integrated STEM teaching prior to certification. This is due to the emphasis on English/Language Arts and Mathematics at the elementary level with less attention to science, especially in high-need schools. Further, few elementary teachers have science or STEM endorsements, which results in few high-quality elementary teachers who can practice and model best STEM teaching practices. This project will build capacity to develop an elementary STEM teacher leader program that would provide STEM professional development and leadership development for practicing elementary school teachers. In turn, these elementary STEM teacher leaders will model effective STEM teaching and support high-quality student teaching experiences in STEM for future elementary school teachers. This Capacity Building project at the University of Northern Iowa includes partnerships with stakeholders from local high-need schools, including Hoglan Elementary School and Dr. Walter Cunningham School for Excellence. The goal of the project is to investigate the current state of elementary STEM education in Iowa and then to design a program that will develop elementary STEM teacher leaders. The project team will learn from faculty at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln who have successfully created an elementary STEM teacher leader program in their state, which shares educational similarities with Iowa. Additionally, the project team will adapt Horizon Research’s National Survey of Science and Mathematics Education and use this survey to collect evidence about the current state of elementary STEM teaching in high-need elementary schools from administrators and teachers. Survey results and follow-up interviews will be analyzed to establish the strengths and needs of elementary STEM educators in Iowa. Information from survey data analyses, combined with insights from the Nebraska program, will be used to design an elementary STEM teacher leader program at UNI. A four-member external Advisory Board representing STEM education university faculty, state-level STEM education professional development leaders, and administrators from high-need elementary schools in Iowa will guide and evaluate the project. 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 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.