- Year 2022
- NSF Noyce Award # 1758344
- First Name Jill
- Last Name Choate
- Institution Fort Lewis College
- Role/Position Associate Professor
- Workshop Category Track 1: Scholarships and Stipends
- Workshop Disciplines Audience Biological Sciences, Chemistry, Geosciences, Mathematics, Physics
- Target Audience Co-PIs, Noyce Master Teachers, Noyce Teaching Fellows, Other Faculty/Staff, Project PIs, School District Administrators, Undergraduate and/or Graduate Noyce Scholars
- Topics Developing Teacher Leaders, Preparing STEM Teachers as School & Community Change Agents, Recruiting and Retaining Diverse Teacher Candidates
- Session Length 45 minutes minutes
- Additional Presenter(s)
Aimee Morris (ammorris@fortlewis.edu)
Goals
•Preservice experiences that may influence location of in-service teaching•Opportunities available to scholars in the field in rural districts•Retention strategies for rural districts
Evidence
•Pre/Post student assessment and/or interviews•Data analyses•Research results
Proposal
Recruiting and retaining highly qualified STEM teachers in rural settings is a challenge many districts face. This workshop will look at leadership, challenges, and opportunities that rural districts provide scholars and what we have learned from this research. We will provide insights from current Noyce Scholars and their desire to teach in rural settings along with the successes of Scholars in the field that have become early STEM leaders in their schools. The workshop will look at the demographics of Noyce Scholars working in rural districts and how that may correlate to their desire to teach in rural settings. Additionally, the workshop will present the academic and cultural proficiency opportunities Noyce scholars engaged in, preservice and in-service as part of the Four Corners Noyce Scholars Program, to continually build skills for success in smaller districts. Join us for an open discussion on retaining rural STEM educators and gain insights on how we are working to address these issues in Southwest Colorado.