The primary goal of the conference - Midwest Regional Robert Noyce Connections 2014-2015: Building Communities of Practice is to continue to strengthen a network of peer support for Noyce Teacher Scholarship project personnel and Noyce Scholars. This will improve Noyce program effectiveness throughout the 15 states of the Midwest region. The project goal will be accomplished through facilitating an annual conference in 2014 and 2015 and a suite of year-round networking opportunities for conference participants that are designed to accomplish four objectives: 1) increase the personal connections among Midwest Noyce project members; 2) utilize these new and/or strengthened connections to share expertise and knowledge across Midwest Noyce projects; 3) support the professional development of Noyce Scholars; and 4) build a community of practice among Noyce scholars. The two conferences - which will be held in Omaha, Nebraska October 2-3, 2014 and October 1-2, 2015 - will continue a 2009 to 2012 tradition of bringing together 250 Noyce investigators, pre-service and in-service Noyce Scholars, school district personnel, and project evaluation and assessment experts from the 62 active Noyce projects in Arkansas, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Dakota, and Wisconsin so that they may benefit from each others? experiences. Year-round networking and learning activities (e.g., online community, webinars, and workshops) will provide additional opportunities for Noyce personnel and Noyce Scholars to continuously learn from each other. As evidenced by the title, the theme that will unite this two-year project is Building Communities of Practice.
