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1. Robert Noyce Teacher Scholarship Program

   O'Brien, A.; Domme, A.; Thompson, T. (November 2018, New Mexico Public Education Fall Summit)

   National Science Foundation Robert Noyce Teacher Scholarship Program seeks to encourage talented science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) majors and professionals to become K-12 mathematics and science (including engineering and computer science) teachers. The program invites creative and innovative proposals that address the critical need for recruiting and preparing highly effective elementary and secondary science and mathematics teachers in high need local educational agencies. 

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2. Establishing a Research Experience for Teachers Site to Enhance Data Analytics Curriculum in Secondary STEM Education

   https://doi.org/10.18260/1-2-1153-38350  

   Zhang, S.; Specking, E.; Alimohammadi, M.; Boykin, A.; Bell, S.; Schubert, K.; Davis, S. (September 2021, Proceedings of the ASEE Midwest Section Conference 2021)

   null (Ed.)

   This paper introduces the background and establishment of the first Research Experience for Teachers (RET) Site in Arkansas, supported by the National Science Foundation. The Arkansas Data Analytics Teacher Alliance (AR-DATA) program partners with school districts in the Northwest Arkansas region to promote research-driven high school analytics curriculum and education to reach underserved students, such as those from rural areas. At least thirty 9th-12th grade mathematics, computer science, and pre-engineering teachers will participate in AR-DATA and work with faculty mentors, graduate students, curriculum coaches, and industry experts in a six-week RET Summer Program and academic-year follow up to develop and disseminate learning modules to enhance current curriculum, attain new knowledge of data analytics and engineering applications, and benefit professionally through the RET program activities. The learning modules developed will reflect current cutting-edge analytics research, as well as the development needs of next-generation analytics workforce. 

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3. PREPARING THE NEXT GENERATION OF STEM TEACHERS: ONE HBCUs APPROACH TO THE RECRUITMENT, RETENTION, AND TRAINING OF SCIENCE AND MATHEMATICS TEACHER CANDIDATES DURING COVID-19

   Strachan, Samantha L; Khan, Salam (March 2021, Journal of the World Federation of Associations of Teacher Education)

   null (Ed.)

   The shortage of science and mathematics teachers in school districts across the United States is not a new problem. However, issues of teacher supply and demand in these academic areas may worsen as the country deals with the COVID-19 pandemic. The AAMU Noyce Teacher Scholarship Program, an initiative funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF), is focused on helping to alleviate critical teacher shortages in Alabama, USA by recruiting and preparing highly qualified science and mathematics teachers. This piece will provide an overview of how the AAMU Noyce Teacher Scholarship Program works to recruit, retain, and train science and mathematics teacher candidates, even in the face of a serious global pandemic. 

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4. Research Experiences for Teachers Summer Program in Biologically-inspired Computing Systems

   Na Gong and Shenghua Zha (January 2022, Proceedings ASEE annual conference)

   Funded by the NSF Division of Computer and Network Systems, this grant establishes a new Research Experiences for Teachers (RET) Site at the University of South Alabama (USA). In the summer of 2021, eight middle school and high school teachers from two local public-school districts spent six weeks engaged with research activities on biologically-inspired computing systems. They worked on discovery-based research projects and obtained transdisciplinary research experience on biologically-inspired computing systems spanning application (cancer detection), algorithm (Spiking Neural Networks), architecture and circuit (synaptic memory design), and device (memristor). The USA faculty mentors, curriculum development specialist from school districts, Instructional Coach from Science/Mathematics faculty at USA coached participants as they designed standards-compliant curriculum modules and conducted professional development activities. The implementation details of the summer program and the evaluation results are presented in this paper. 

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5. Poverty and Guidance: Challenges and Opportunities in Mathematics Preparation for Engineering

   https://doi.org/10.18260/1-2--35063  

   Gallagher, Eliza; Vagnozzi, Anna Marie; Lanning, Rachel; Brown, D.; Brown, Christy; Frady, Kristin; Brisbane, Julia; Matthews, Michael; Murphy, Joseph; Patel, Khushikumari; et al (June 2020, ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition Proceedings)

   null (Ed.)

   The Statewide Coalition Supporting Underrepresented Populations in Precalculus through Organizational Redesign Toward Engineering Diversity (SC:SUPPORTED), a Design and Development Launch Pilot funded under the National Science Foundation INCLUDES program, is a coalition of secondary districts and postsecondary institutions throughout South Carolina that have joined together to address the systemic issue of mathematics preparation and placement for students pursuing or intending to pursue engineering degrees. In Year One of the project, we used individual data for all 21,656 first-year STEM-intending students enrolled in a public two- or four-year postsecondary institution with ABET-accredited engineering programs in the state to identify specific pathways with high rates of placement in or above calculus, pathways with balanced rates of placement in/below calculus, pathways with high rates of placement below calculus, and “missing” pathways: ones that produced disproportionately few engineering-intending students. From the pathways analysis we identified target locations for focus groups to identify factors that do not readily appear in institutional data, such as the impact of guidance counselor recommendations in a student’s selection of their last high school math course taken. Broad themes emerging from the focus groups provided additional insight into potential interventions at multiple points along educational pathways. These themes also contributed to both the development of a survey for statewide administration and a follow-up study to develop profiles of school district decision-making with direct and indirect effects on mathematics preparation and major selection of students from that district. As we conclude Year Two of our launch pilot, in this paper we integrate a subset of results from different aspects of the project to address both quantitative impact and qualitative context of the roles that poverty and guidance play in gaining access to engineering in South Carolina. 

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