Three institutions- California State University-Fresno, California State University, Long Beach, and the University of Arizona- are planning and implementing three annual conferences for faculty and students from Robert Noyce Teacher Scholarship program sites located in the western region of the United States. The conferences are focusing on three primary goals: 1) to provide professional development to meet the specific needs of the Noyce Scholars/Teachers who will be or are working in "high need" schools and districts; 2) to provide a forum in which Noyce program leaders can congregate in order to share ideas, challenges, and successes as they relate to their respective programs; and 3) to strengthen local, state-wide, and Western Region networks through person-to-person meetings and online media such as MERLOT, MERLOT Voices, and the Noyce Commons. Noyce Scholars/Teachers attend a variety of sessions at these annual conferences that expose them to information and professional development on learning and teaching. They are able to collaborate and share experiences, expertise, and skills with their peers and colleagues through person-to-person and online networking. Results and information from the conference are disseminated at the Noyce national conferences, journals, MERLOT Noyce Voices, Noyce Commons, the MERLOT Science Education Community portal, and other websites. The Western Regional Noyce Conference series provides a powerful opportunity for Noyce Scholars/Teachers to interact, sharing their experiences, concerns, frustrations, and hopes as they begin a profession in teaching science or mathematics. The conferences help them to reinvigorate their commitment to excellence as current or future science or mathematics teachers and to serve as the role models they should be as members of the Noyce Community.
