This project, the CARE Conference, will assemble representatives of all stakeholders and leading researchers in rural SMET education to establish a comprehensive national research agenda for rural education and discuss how to make rural schools places where people want to teach, prepare pre-service teachers for rural challenges and provide an environment designed for professional growth.
The goals for the CARE Conference are:
1. Assemble representatives of governmental and non-governmental organizations, rural school systems, their university partners, and leading researchers in SMT and rural education and teacher recruitment, retention and quality. 2. Enhance the information exchange among these groups. 3. Develop a national agenda that will motivate research on rural SMET education and the rural SMET teacher professional continuum.
The CARE Conference focuses on very important issues, which are timely and difficult. Recruitment and retention of quality science and mathematics teachers in rural schools has been a long-standing problem. The conference format offers the opportunity for scholars and stakeholders to discuss current research and programs that could be useful in addressing teacher recruitment and retention within the context of the quality and stability of rural schools.
A wide array of stakeholders in SMET and rural education has been identified and is committed to the success of the project. Rural education problems exist nationally but generally have been addressed locally or regionally. The establishment of a STEM research agenda that emerges from the conference is to provide strategies for addressing STEM problems in rural schools.
Through the use of technology, e.g., Access Grid and direct streaming video, anyone interested can participate. The Virtual Laboratory will provide for learning community support to broaden the audience in the conversation.
