Robert Noyce Teacher Scholarship Program Track 3 Project: Building High-Quality Computer Science Teacher Leaders

About This Grant

This Noyce Track 3 project aims to serve the national need of developing highly effective computer science teachers. Additionally, this project aims to support 15 fellows by providing graduate coursework culminating in a South Carolina add-on certification endorsement in Computer Science. The project intends to allow teachers to collaborate with other teachers and project staff to create a statewide rural computer science teacher network, a teacher-driven professional community focused on addressing the unique challenges and opportunities faced by rural computer science teachers. The proposed project components are positioned to enable high-achieving practicing teachers to become computer science teacher-leaders in their rural communities. This project at The Citadel is a collaboration between The Citadel’s Zucker Family School of Education and Swain Family School of Science and Mathematics, as well as Orangeburg County School District and the Computer Science Teachers Association. Project goals include: 1) building master teacher fellows' (MTFs) pedagogical and CS content knowledge; 2) building MTFs' teacher leadership skills; and 3) supporting MTFs to sustain the South Carolina chapter of the CSTA. CS4SC will draw on theories such as Community of Practice to achieve these goals and answer the following research questions: RQ1. Which evidence-based strategies are most effective in the creation of highly effective teacher leaders in rural districts? RQ2. How does participation in the project impact teacher self-efficacy and identity as a teacher leader? RQ3. How does a district team approach compare to the experiences and outcomes of single teachers from different districts in developing highly effective teacher leaders? This project is designed to enhance CS education in South Carolina's rural, high-needs schools by developing 15 rural teacher leaders with advanced pedagogical and leadership skills. Professional development (PD) content plans to be tailored to the specific needs of these teachers and their students, proposing to improve critical thinking, problem-solving skills, and student motivation in computer science. The project aims to create virtual PD, curriculum resources, and a statewide CS4SC Teacher Hub to support sustainable and scalable integration of these efforts. Evaluation of the project will be guided by the following evaluation questions: (a) EQ1: How have each of the project’s major activities contributed to the achievement of its goals and objectives?, (b) EQ2: What aspects of the proposed plan were implemented as planned, and what revisions to the plan or logic model were required to achieve the project's goals and objectives?, (c) EQ3: How has the implementation of this project influenced the partners' capacity for collaboration and the quality of the partnership?, (d) EQ4: What has been learned regarding the implementation of teacher leadership programs?, and (e) EQ5: What aspects of this project should be sustained beyond its funding period and what strategies for sustainability have been identified? The dissemination of the results of this project should help enhance the field. This Track 3: Master Teaching Fellowships 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.