NebraskaNOYCE Phase II: Investigating the Impact in High-Need Districts

University Of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln NE

Investigators

Abstract

High quality teaching matters, especially for students "at risk." Robert Noyce Teacher Scholarship projects attempt to address this through recruiting and retaining excellent mathematics and science teachers to work in high-need settings. This Fellowship Track Phase II Monitoring and Evaluation project will examine the longitudinal impact of the NebraskaNOYCE project at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln on the participants and on the professional community of Nebraska mathematics teachers. The NebraskaNOYCE program has seen much success in its initial three and one-half years, including 100% placement and retention of Teaching Fellows (TFs) in high-need districts and excellence in the professional trajectory of Master Teaching Fellows (MTFs). This project will investigate how candidate and program factors contribute or do not contribute to TFs' and MTFs' work as professionals in high-need districts, their commitment to the teaching profession, and their commitment to placement in high-need districts. The overarching agenda of NebraskaNOYCE Phase II is: What is the longitudinal impact of NebraskaNOYCE on recruitment and retention of TFs and MTFs, and the development of their professional practice? The goals of NebraskaNOYCE Phase II are to understand the factors and resources that shaped the TFs' capacity for and commitment to teaching in high-need districts; the MTFs' development as master teachers and commitment to teaching mathematics in a high-need district; and the interactions between the TFs and MTFs that influenced these factors and resources. The project focuses on the impact of personal, social, and knowledge resources and factors on TFs' and MTFs' professional practice. Additionally, NebraskaNOYCE Phase II will evaluate the program's ability to recruit and retain teachers, the impact of the program on University of Nebraska-Lincoln Department of Mathematics and Department of Teaching, Learning, and Teacher Education, and the impact of the program on the school districts. The knowledge that will be generated by this project has the potential to impact other Noyce projects' activities and research and evaluation designs, as well as preservice teacher education and inservice teacher professional development on a scale that extends beyond the Noyce community. A comprehensive dissemination plan will ensure that research produced by NebraskaNOYCE Phase II will be shared with the NSF Noyce community, the Association of Public and Land-Grant Universities' (APLU) Mathematics Teacher Education Partnership (MTE-Partnership) and the broader mathematics and mathematics education communities. Nebraska's membership in the MTE-Partnership provides the team with a dissemination platform to reach educators who are working to improve secondary mathematics teacher preparation and their induction into the teaching profession. NebraskaNOYCE's 43 MTFs and TFs have all remained in their high-need schools; understanding the supports that have helped this to happen will allow this project to make policy recommendations related to preservice teacher preparation, novice teacher induction, teacher retention, and qualities of effective cooperating teachers and mentors. This project also will contribute to the sparse literature on mathematics teacher leaders related to the development and growth trajectories of MTFs as mathematics teacher leaders in high-need districts. Data collection will include observations of teachers through the cycle of planning, teaching and reflecting, and interviews designed to address research questions associated with either preservice or master teacher participants.