This Track I, Phase II Noyce Scholarship project will prepare twenty New York State (NYS)-certified middle and high school science teachers for the rigors of teaching in both urban and rural high-need schools. Based on longitudinal research findings from a study of the first Noyce cohort, psychometric attributes of preservice teachers that are more likely to thrive in a rural or in an urban high needs school have been identified. Identification of these attributes will be used to place the Noyce II scholars in either an urban or rural setting, a process called "data-decided" placement. The project team will research the career trajectory effects the "data-decided" clinical teaching placements have on Noyce Scholars' careers and student learning. Extending the successes of the Noyce I award, the project team will also collaborate with the SUNY-Urban Teacher Education Center in providing internship experiences in high-need New York City schools. Moreover, graduates of the Noyce I program currently teaching in either high-need urban or rural areas have been called to serve as mentor-role models for the Noyce II Scholars. Additional science teaching curriculum supports are being provided by SUNY-Oneonta's Math for America Master STEM Teachers, the Catskill Area School Study Council, and the regional STEM Leadership Council. Longitudinal qualitative/quantitative research designed to understand how participation in the varied Noyce II program opportunities shape the career trajectories of the Noyce Scholars will be conducted. In particular, the project team is systematically analyzing reflective journal entries and semi-structured interviews of Noyce II program scholars before and immediately upon completion of early field experiences in the New York City Schools as a means for tailoring their later field work and student teaching experiences towards their individual career trajectory goals. Results of this qualitative/quantitative research will be disseminated in appropriate venues such as peer reviewed journals and conferences.
