- Year 2024
- NSF Noyce Award # 2151148
- First Name Katie
- Last Name McCorrison
- Registration Faculty/Administrator/Other
- Discipline Chemistry, Geosciences, Life Sciences, Physics, STEM Education (general)
- Role Principal Investigator (PI)
- Presenters
Katie McCorrison, David Forbes, Tres Stefurak, and Justin Sanders, University of South Alabama; Andre M. Green, East Carolina University
Need
STREAM will add to the body of knowledge that identifies factors that attract STEM majors to careers as science teachers. Building on the previous PTS I & II projects, STREAM will continue to measure the effectiveness of past graduates and utilize past graduates and mentors to new Noyce STREAM scholars.
Research Questions
The STREAM project is designed to continue providing better experiences for STEM professionals to move into teaching science in Alabama by following the previous structures of PTS I and PTS II. Given the prior Noyce PTS I and II projects, part of the goal of our evaluation will be to explore how this approach to training science teachers impacts the number, quality, and demographics of the students attracted into the STREAM program. Hence, the evaluation will consider both a description of newly recruited students in comparison to those in the prior Noyce PTS I and PTS II programs. We will have a variety of data sources, some of which will be summative in nature, whereas other data will be primarily used to formatively evaluate the former PTS I and PTS II projects.
Approach
Quantitative Data Collection & Analysis, Data Collection, Student data (demographic, GPA, major, test scores), Pre-residency retention rates, Internship supervising, teacher evaluation, Exit surveys of scholars, Yearly survey of graduates, Quarterly test data from MCPSS, State standardized test scores, Employer survey, Data Analysis, Independent measures t-Test, Dependent measures, t-Test, ANOVA Qualitative Data Collection & Analysis, Data Collection, Post pre-residency interview, Decision on whether to continue in the STREAM program, Student semester survey. At the end of each semester, scholars will be surveyed to obtain formative feedback about their progress, strengths, and challenges of STREAM. Data Analysis, Identify, examine, and interpret patterns and themes
Outcomes
We will reach our overall goal to add to the knowledge base for science education, through effective collaboration with STEM faculty members and extensive sharing of our project findings. Evaluation results of our evaluation will be disseminated through:Noyce STREAM website and University website, USA CEPS Sincerely South podcast. Additional dissemination will occur through At least one publication a year in a peer-reviewed journal. At least one presentation a year at a science teacher education conferences at the state, regional, and national levels, National Association for Research in Science Teaching, American Educational Research Association, Association for Science Teacher Education, National Science Teachers Association Alabama Science Teacher Association
Broader Impacts
The National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) published results from the 2019 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) science assessment. The results that drive the work of the STREAM project are that science scores are significantly declining for the lowest performing 8th graders in all three content areas (physical science, life science, earth and space science) compared to 2015. At the same time, science scores are significantly increasing for higher-performing students (NCES, 2019). The achievement gap between low-performing students, who are often enrolled in title one schools, and high-performing students is still growing (Hines et al., 2020), even though several initiatives have been made by the U.S. Department of Education to improve student achievement in low-performing schools. NAEP (2019) results show that nationally: 30% of 8th graders & 40% of 12th graders score at or below the basic level of achievement, 42% of 8th graders & 50% of 12th graders never or only once or twice a year engage in scientific-inquiry classroom activities, NAEP (2019) results show that in Alabama: Since 2009, 8th graders score significantly lower than the national public, with each year significantly increasing in difference from the national public average.45 states scored higher than AL on the 8th grade assessment (42 scored significantly higher), Only 21% of 8th graders are at or above proficient. Our goal of STREAM is to increase the supply of highly qualified science teachers for the MCPSS and other partnering school districts, primarily in southwestern AL.
