Grant offers educators the opportunity to learn more science
GREEN BAY — The University of Wisconsin-Green Bay, in partnership with The Einstein Project, has received a $335,395 grant from the Wisconsin Improving Teacher Quality (WITQ) Program to develop summer science institutes for elementary school teachers during 2009, 2010, and 2011.
Applications are currently being accepted for a new initiative, offering 36 elementary teachers five free graduate credits and $500 in classroom supplies to improve their science teaching and understanding.
For 2009, the Einstein Science Institute, scheduled for Aug. 3–14 at UW-Green Bay, will focus on Earth science and environmental science. Subsequent years will feature botany, human biology, astronomy and meteorology/climatology.
The two-week institutes will offer in-depth, hands-on instruction, field trips and the chance to apply knowledge through the design of a science unit that will be used in the participants’ own classroom during the following school year. A five-member committee of science educators will choose the 36 participants.
“Spending two intensive weeks during the summer learning more about these science topics and thinking about how to best teach them in a classroom should enhance the science teaching practices of the participants,” said Prof. Scott Ashmann, associate professor and director of the science education program at UW-Green Bay. “It will also be a great opportunity for teachers to work with others from outside their own district.”
Licensed kindergarten through fifth-grade teachers in Wisconsin are eligible to apply. All application forms, materials and procedures can be reviewed at www.uwgb.edu/esi4est.
“We are pleased to partner in this effort as it ties directly to our mission of advancing inquiry-based science education for teachers and students,” said Julie Paavola, executive director of The Einstein Project. “As teachers complete these programs we hope to play an important role in helping them sustain and grow as science educators.”
The Einstein Science Institutes were recommended for funding by a broadly based team of reviewers representing Wisconsin’s K-12 schools, UW System institutions, private higher education institutions, the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction and Wisconsin businesses. The 15 projects funded by the WITQ Program throughout Wisconsin will be awarded $1,212,317 during 2009.
Funds for this Wisconsin Improving Teacher Quality Program are made available under Title II of the federal Elementary and Secondary Education Act.
For more information, contact Prof. Scott Ashmann at (920) 465-2052 or at ashmanns@uwgb.edu, or Julie Paavola, executive director of The Einstein Project, (920) 884-8800 or at julie@einsteinproject.org.
The Einstein Project is a nonprofit organization partnering with schools and communities to provide leadership and support for science education in Wisconsin. The organization offers 41 inquiry-based science units, developed by the Smithsonian Institution and National Academy of Sciences, to schools giving children the opportunity to learn by doing. The units allow schools to provide an exemplary hands-on science curriculum for students. The eight to twelve week units contain enough materials for an entire class and are leased to schools for a modest fee. For more see: www.einsteinproject.org/
#09-77
