Courtesy of the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff
The UAPB School of Education is hosting a STEM and Special Education Teacher Capacity Building Conference on Wednesday, May 15, 2024, at the UAPB STEM Conference Center from 8:30 am to 3 pm. We are privileged to have Dr. Andrea D. Jasper, Immediate Past President of the Council for Exceptional Children, as the keynote speaker. The CBC Conference is a unique opportunity for teachers, school districts, superintendents, principals, and educational cooperatives in Jefferson County and Southeast Arkansas to register and gain insights from Dr. Jasper’s expertise, as well as to contribute to addressing the critical need for STEM and Special Education Teachers in Arkansas.
The CBC Conference, held on the campus of UAPB, is a collaborative effort aimed at addressing teacher shortages. Through speaker overviews and engaging roundtable discussions, we aim to analyze the factors that may cause critical teacher attrition in these areas. We strongly encourage your conference participation as it fosters networking, collaboration, and partnerships among all of the concerned teachers, agencies, educational service cooperatives, schools, and universities. This platform promotes knowledge sharing and identifying best practices to drive teacher pipelines and improve teacher retention, especially in high-need local educational agencies (LEAs).
The Conference Agenda includes presentations from the Arkansas Department of Education (ADE), Dr. Kimberley Davis, Ph. D., UAPB School of Education Dean, a review of the Capacity Building Project and Robert Noyce Track 4 Research Proposal by UAPB Professor Dr. Sederick C. Rice, a Keynote Luncheon Address from Dr. Andrea D. Jasper, Ph.D., Immediate Past President, Council for Exceptional Children (CEC) and a Building Capacity Project Data Review by UAPB Professor, Dr. William Torrence.
The Capacity Building Project and Conference, supported through the Robert Noyce Teacher Scholarship Program (Noyce), offers significant benefits. The Noyce program is dedicated to supporting talented STEM undergraduate majors and professionals in their journey to become effective K-12 STEM teachers. It also provides a platform for experienced, exemplary K-12 teachers to enhance their skills and become STEM master teachers in high-need school districts. Additionally, the program supports research on the effectiveness and retention of K-12 STEM teachers in high-need school districts, contributing to the overall improvement of the education system.