Creating Communities of Practice to Support NOYCE Scholars in Becoming More Adaptable Mathematics Teachers

Kansas State University, Manhattan KS

Investigators

Abstract

The project aims to serve the national need of preparing high-quality mathematics teachers to become adaptable educators capable of thinking and acting effectively in new or changing situations and to adjust their teaching as needed. The project will provide opportunities for freshmen and sophomores to work in informal math education settings both on and off campus. The project endeavors to increase the number of undergraduate mathematics majors receiving licensure and provide Scholars with an integrated enrichment program to identify skills and knowledge enabling them to be more flexible in their classroom. The project’s emphasis on recruiting and supporting students from populations underrepresented in STEM fields to become mathematics teachers, as well as addressing teacher adaptability in various contexts, is important when building a mathematics teaching profession. This project at Kansas State University (KSU) includes partnerships with the Center for Intercultural and Multilingual Advocacy, the Rural Education Center, and the Professional Development School Network (PDSN). The PDSN is a network of K-12 districts and schools who host teacher candidates from KSU in rigorous, carefully sequenced field experiences and collaborate as the University conducts and disseminates research examining critical questions facing educators today. These partnerships provide direct interaction with districts that represent urban, suburban, and rural school contexts. Over the next 5 years, the project will produce 18 new STEM Teachers and will form a community of practice that will create relationship-centered experiences to support preservice teacher preparation as well as strengthen relationships with high-need schools and math teachers. This project has a specific focus on developing adaptability among the Noyce Scholars that are supported and will investigate three research questions: what knowledge, skills, understanding, tools and/or resources enable the preservice teachers to recognize adaptability and to be more adaptable; to what extent does adaptability change over the course of a school year; and to what extent can adaptability be increased? 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 effectiveness and retention 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.