Ranked #31 in the nation for its teacher education program the College of Education at NC State prepares future educators who have a deep knowledge of the content they will be teaching, and a strong understanding of the pedagogical skills needed to teach that content. The focus of the proposed NC State STEM Education Scholars (NC S3) program is threefold: recruitment, preparation, and retention. First, we aim to increase the number of highly qualified teacher candidates in science and mathematics from underrepresented groups in secondary STEM teaching by offering scholarships and stipends to reduce the financial barriers of teacher preparation. With over 80% of the teaching population in North Carolina identifying as white and with an increasingly diverse student population, it is imperative that teacher preparation programs specifically address the need to recruit a more diversified teacher pipeline. Second, the NC S3 program will provide participants with targeted experiences to develop the teacher candidates��� pedagogical content knowledge (Shulman, 1986) with a focus on building community funds of knowledge (Moll et al., 1992) and asset-based pedagogies to engage students. This will better prepare scholars to teach in high-needs districts. Third, the NC S3 program includes a focus on increasing STEM teacher retention by providing ongoing professional development (e.g., instructional coaching, a summer institute) and supporting scholars in becoming active members in professional learning communities and professional organizations (e.g., NC Science Teachers Association, NSTA, NC Council of Teachers of Mathematics, NCTM). Membership in these kinds of organizations will be sources of support after graduation and throughout their teaching careers.

This research project aims to: 1) design and refine online modules focused on facilitating productive mathematics discussions with the use of web-based dynamic geometry tools, 2) conduct a research study on undergraduate mathematics education students��� (prospective teachers (PTs)) noticing of middle and high school students��� geometric thinking while using technology and ways they use that analysis to plan how to lead discussions, and 3) support mathematics teacher educators (MTEs) in their use of the materials with PTs at their institutions.

This ECR conference, Conversations Across Boundaries, under the Research on STEM Learning and Learning Environments research area in Mathematics, brings together experts from mathematics teacher education, cognitive science, and special education to work on a common goal via constructive conversations organized over two face-to-face days with follow-up virtual meetings. The proposed conference is designed to generate a set of principles and a collaborative research agenda among the fields, focused on existing agreement regarding PK-2 mathematics and uncovering areas of disagreement where further exchange and generation of knowledge is needed. The design uses Wenger���s community of practice concept as the organizing frame. From this perspective, the event can be defined as a boundary encounter in which boundary brokers from mathematics teacher education, special education, and cognitive science engage in dialogue to improve understanding regarding PK-2 mathematics. The resulting synthesized set of principles, which we call a living synthesis, is conceived as a combination of current knowledge and ideas brought forward, generated, and agreed upon in a shared space to form a consensus and cohesive view of PK-2 mathematics learning and teaching, that is also understood to be open to expansion or change. Additional outcomes for the conference include: three briefs, one of each targeting researchers, teachers, and policymakers; an extension of the event to other notable conference spaces through working groups; and manuscript submissions to both researcher-oriented and practitioner-oriented journals. Together, the conference and its products hold strong potential to make important contributions to general, explanatory knowledge (e.g., synthesized understandings) pertaining to STEM learning and learning environments that are carried forward, with impacts sustaining long after the event.