Midwest Noyce Regional Conference in 2010 and 2011

Indiana University, Bloomington IN

Investigators

Abstract

Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) is planning and implementing two annual conferences for faculty and students from Robert Noyce Teacher Scholarship program sites located in the Midwestern region of the United States. The conferences are focused on the following primary goals: 1) to provide professional development to meet the needs of the Noyce Scholars/Teachers who will be or are working in "high need" rural and urban schools and districts; 2) to create a forum for sharing best practices and effective strategies for such Noyce program management issues as scholar recruitment, early career mentoring, evidence-based design of program assessment, and partnership building between college and university Noyce programs and school districts; 3) to provide a network of peer support to Noyce Teacher Scholarship project personnel and Noyce Scholars/Fellows throughout the states in the Midwest; and 4) to establish post-conference mechanisms for networking, regular communication, and future conference planning. In a broader sense, by offering the Noyce Scholars the opportunity to share experiences, expertise, and skills with their peers and colleagues, the conferences and post-conference networking opportunities serve as a platform to elevate the professional identity of the Noyce Scholars, and have the potential to become an important factor in their overall satfisfaction and long-term persistence in diverse classrooms and in the teaching profession. For Noyce program personnel, the conferences offer a comfortable forum for sharing best practices in program management, and opportunities for discussion about effective pathways to prepare and develop excellent STEM teacher scholars who commit to teaching diverse students in high needs classrooms throughout the Midwest.