- Year 2024
- NSF Noyce Award # 1852795 (2019) and 2345114 (2024)
- First Name Reenay
- Last Name Rogers
- Registration Faculty/Administrator/Other
- Discipline STEM Education (general)
- Role Principal Investigator (PI)
- Presenters
Reenay Rogers, Jing Chen, University of West Alabama
Need
The University of West Alabama (UWA) serves a large portion of a rural region in Alabama known as the Black Belt. The Black Belt region, largely agricultural in nature, is characterized by a large population of minority citizens, high levels of poverty, few employment opportunities, and P-12 school districts with low ACT scores, high percentages of students on free and reduced lunches, and low graduation rates (Alabama State Department of Education, 2022; Barton & Coley, 2009; Kids Count for Alabama Data Book, 2022). The teacher shortage has severely impacted Alabama, but local school systems have felt the shortage the most. They have difficulty attracting and keeping highly qualified STEM teachers, with many STEM classes taught by substitutes, teachers teaching out of the field, or provisionally certified. Project INSPIRE proposes to address the shortage of STEM teachers in this rural area with innovative strategies designed to address the unique needs of rural preservice and in-service STEM teachers, providing them with the knowledge and skills needed to navigate the challenges of rural education.
Research Questions
1. What strategies are most effective for increasing the quality, number, and diversity of certified science and mathematics teachers graduating from the institution? 2. How can the institution best support graduates in developing their subject matter comprehension and pedagogical practices?
Approach
UWA has implemented a UWA-Teach program, which will allow multiple STEM majors not previously eligible for certification to earn their STEM degrees and obtain teacher certification in a shortened time frame. These students will also benefit from a stronger foundation in inquiry-based learning and increased opportunities for field experiences. Additionally, students will have access to a dedicated Master Math and Master Science teacher as part of the UWA faculty. Both are experienced STEM teachers and are highly qualified in their disciplines. The UWA-Teach program has a dedicated space for collaborative learning experiences, access to teaching materials, and added student support services, all designed to create the ultimate learning experience for future math and science teachers. The scholars and fellows will become part of the UWA-Teach program, benefitting from the resources and experiences offered through UWA-Teach. The combination of the Noyce scholarship and the UWA-Teach curriculum stands to increase the number of STEM teachers significantly. Induction support services will be provided through the offerings by UWA’s Black Belt STEM Institute and the UA/UWA Inservice Center. Both organizations will provide free professional development opportunities along with CEUs required for continued certification. A member of the project team will also provide ongoing mentoring for all program completers. UWA-Teach will offer additional induction services, including classroom observations and feedback on STEM teaching.
Outcomes
Objective 1: increase UWA STEM majors’ awareness and interest in teaching STEM disciplines in rural P12 schools. Objective 2: improve INSPIRE scholars’ self-efficacy in interacting with rural underserved P12 students in a STEM learning environment. Objective 3: recruit up to 24 scholars over 5 years with a 90% completion rate in the requirements for certification in a STEM field. Objective 4: provide up to 5 stipends to STEM professionals over 5 years with a 90% completion rate for Alternate A certification. Objective 5: develop a model of best practices based on formative and summative assessment to support the identification of experiences that influence STEM majors to enter a certification program. Objective 6: initiate an induction program for INSPIRE and future UWA STEM graduates, which will provide support in the form of collaborative experiences through the UWA Black Belt STEM Institute (BBSI).Objective 7: maintain an open access online resource for the sharing of knowledge in teaching the STEM fields and current pedagogical practices.
Broader Impacts
If successful, the project promises to support the placement of a group of highly qualified, highly motivated young STEM teachers into the struggling rural and/or high-needs school districts of West Alabama. These teachers will have a solid understanding of the importance of a strong educational background in science and mathematics and the way in which these disciplines can transform the lives of their students. The students in these schools are talented but often lack strong role models and highly qualified teachers. This is particularly true in the STEM disciplines, where all too often, instructors are teaching out of the field and not well-versed in the discipline. Skills in science and mathematics are often viewed as nonessential. Dynamic teachers produce dynamic students who are motivated to affect change. The project has the capability to produce those types of students.For decades, observers of the Black Belt region have lamented its untapped resources and pontificated the many ills that must be conquered for that potential to be realized (Rogers & Sun, 2019). Education lies at the root of those ills. The broader impacts of Project INSPIRE 2.0 will be to train and motivate the youth of the region to pursue STEM careers. It is our hope that many will choose to remain in their home counties and become leaders in the revitalization of the area. Furthermore, resulting improvements in local schools will generate a synergistic effect in which businesses and industries will favorably consider locating in the area. We can be a vital part of the long-awaited transformation of the Black Belt region.
