The ECU Noyce Scholars Program: Investigating teachers’ use of tasks, discourse, and technology in high-need schools
SHORT ABSTRACT
With funding from the NSF Robert Noyce Teacher Scholarship Program, a team at East Carolina University (ECU), partnering with the Office of Alternative Licensure, Partnership East (a network of Community Colleges) and the Latham Clinical School Network (a 43-member network of school districts, 41 of which are high-need), will recruit and prepare mathematics and science majors for careers in teaching secondary mathematics or science. The project will support 30 new mathematics and science teachers through scholarships, mentoring, and induction support with a particular focus on successfully teaching mathematics or science in rural, low-wealth, under-resourced schools. Undergraduate recipients will receive up to two years of scholarship support to complete a Bachelor of Science in education program; post-baccalaureate recipients will receive one year of scholarship support to complete a Master of Arts in Teaching program.
The project will implement best practices grounded in current research, including co-teaching/co-planning, engaging students with cognitively challenging tasks, and culturally responsive teaching. The project will also implement an induction model that includes a virtual learning community as well as face-to-face coaching in the first two years of teaching. Research questions include: (1) What factors motivate STEM majors to pursue teaching careers? What are barriers that interfere with this pursuit and factors that facilitate the success and retention of new mathematics and science teachers? (2) What are the potential and implemented cognitive demands of tasks (both technology and non-technology tasks) used by Noyce Scholars? (3) What challenges and successes do Noyce Scholars encounter when trying to implement cognitively demanding tasks, facilitate classroom discourse, and incorporate technology into their classrooms?