Creating and Sustaining Noyce Mentors en la Frontera: a HSI Collaborative Capacity Building Grant

The project aims to serve the national need to build greater understanding of what it means to be an effective STEM teacher leader serving rural high-need schools, with a specific focus on the Texas-Mexico border and on students from groups historically underrepresented in STEM fields. As increasing national efforts continue to enhance STEM student-learning experiences in isolated underrepresented communities, there is a critical need to not only increase the number of STEM teacher leaders but also develop best practices for their preparation. The project seeks to pilot a mechanism for identifying and providing professional development for an initial group of STEM teachers and involving them in the delivery of STEM outreach activities. This project at Sul Ross State University aims to establish partnerships with Midland College and surrounding high need schools in Eagle Pass, Del Rio, Midland, and rural southwest Texas communities, and with the non-profit Science Mill Museum. The project also seeks to deepen relationships with existing partners Southwest Texas Junior College and high need schools located in Presidio, Marfa, Alpine, and Uvalde, Texas. The project plan includes working with an advisory board to define characteristics of a STEM teacher leader, examining existing graduate programs for alignment with these characteristics and Robert Noyce Teacher Scholarship Program Track 3 proposal requirements, and delivering a teacher professional development institute for 15 STEM teachers in collaboration with the Science Mill Museum. Each participating STEM teacher will also have an opportunity to practice skills developed via the institute while assisting with the delivery of one of three planned week-long STEM outreach camps. This project aims to produce insights regarding how collaborative networks in rural Texas can be leveraged to create a self-sustaining regional ecosystem for effective STEM teaching. This capacity project is supported through the Robert Noyce Teacher Scholarship Program (Noyce). The Noyce program supports talented STEM undergraduate majors and professionals to become effective K-12 STEM teachers and experienced, exemplary K-12 teachers to become STEM master teachers in high-need school districts. It also supports research on the effectiveness and retention of K-12 STEM teachers in high-need school districts. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.