Posted on UT-Austin Website (2/28/04 -3/7/04)
Did Dinosaurs
Fly?
College of Education has winning formula for training 8,000 Texas science teachers
It's a Friday, and the class is a little bit rowdy. |
One student twists her wedding ring and pushes her reading glasses farther up
her nose as she studies a laminated card filled with information about the
Acrocanthosaurus, an enormous predator that roamed Zilker Park during the
Mesozoic Era. Her gray-haired neighbor shouts out the answer to the teacher's
question, and they exchange a high-five.
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Science teachers in the collaboratives focus
on experiential learning and implement hands-on activities in the classroom.
Photo: Lisa Anderson, Redwater ISD |
The East Texas Regional Collaborative collected comparative data on the Grade 8
Science Texas Assessment of Academic Skills (TAAS) test and found that teacher
participation in the collaborative translated into improved student performance.
Students of participating teachers had higher scores on the TAAS test than state
and Region 8 averages from 1998-2000, the most current years for which data is
available. A study by the Rice University Collaborative of TAAS scores for
1998-99 indicated similar improvement in the Aldine school district, with average
Grade 8 Science TAAS test scores for students of participating teachers being 93.1,
compared to a state average of 87.1 and district average of 85.6. |
Dr. Kamil Jbeily Photo: Marsha Miller |
"I have 30 teachers participating this year," says Haidee Williams, project director for the Region 13
collaborative. "We meet once a month, and during these meetings I get to see
just how successful and critical this networking is. The teachers express how
much more confidence they have in the classroom because of the content area training
they're getting here, and they share with one another tricks of the trade,
things that have worked well for them and other things that have not worked so
well. Best of all, they develop relationships that extend beyond these meetings.
They stay in contact with one another and end up with a big support system they
can draw upon at any time." |
In addition to the support of
corporations, policymakers and Texans across the state, another reason the
collaboratives have been so successful is due to the flexibility given to each
region in developing training. |
A region's project director, along with the region's instructional team members,
which may include master teachers, scientists, mathematicians and science
specialists, meet and develop the content that's delivered in each region," says
Dr. James Barufaldi, director of the Center for Science and Mathematics Education
and Ruben E. Hinojosa Regents Professor in Education. "Each region is required
to provide at least 105 content instruction hours to the teachers, and we have
approximately 22 universities that participate and offer some of the instruction."
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Dr. James Barufaldi
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Like the instructional team members, teachers in the regional collaboratives
meet frequently during the year as well and engage in activities that will
enhance their classroom teaching. In Region 13, where meetings occur once a month,
the teachers went to Corpus Christi last summer to study animals' adaptation to
specific habitats. On the trip from Austin, they were able to observe changes in
flora and fauna along the way and discuss the relationship between animal life
and a specific environment. Once in Corpus Christi, the teachers studied wetlands,
barrier islands and the seashore, gathering samples, going out on a boat, taking
photos and jotting down notes that could be used to give their classroom lessons
immediacy and depth. |
Through her participation in the Region 13 collaborative, Sue Simpson will receive about 105 hours of professional development training this year. |
"I don't have a science background," says Simpson. "What I know about science is
what I learned in college, and there are huge knowledge gaps. When I went to
Corpus, I was able to see what adaptation to a habitat meant and learn very
specific, creative ways to teach the concept of adaptation to my students. I
came back from the trip with pictures, anecdotes, samples and two huge tubs of
instructional literature. I'm so excited after any session with my collaborative,
and it never ceases to make the kids excited as well." |
"For their bat projects the students had to employ higher-order thinking skills
and evaluate things in terms of relationships," says Simpson. "They had to pay
close attention to how each different bat has adapted to its environment, how
the habitat shapes what the bat does and how it affects the way the bats are
physically formed. We were able to tie math skills in since the students had to
understand ratios in order to construct their bats to scale, and they were required
to work with measurements in order to depict the wingspan accurately. Since I joined
the collaborative my teaching is much more '\'hands-on,' and I'm learning great
ways to mainstream science into the rest of my lessons." |
"We're always needing great teachers and always coming up short, so, with the
collaboratives, we've developed a way to grow our own," says Chris Castillo
Comer, Director of Science at the Texas Education Agency and a former teacher
and collaborative member. "Many of the teachers who are involved in the collaboratives
become mentors, go back to their districts and train several other teachers.
The benefit of the collaboratives is greatly extended in that way. I consider
this program to be the crown jewel of professional development in Texa-it
provides sustained support and follow-up, which is crucial for teacher success."
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Fourth graders in Sue Simpson's class learned about adaptation and habitat when they researched bats for a class project. |
"SBC is a Texas-based company with employees in almost every community throughout
the Lone Star state. It is only natural to partner with a quality organization
that shares our reach and our concern for quality education. SBC is proud to
work with Dr. Jbeily and the Texas Regional Collaboratives." |
"Programs like the Texas Regional Collaboratives for science teachers are essential
to helping our teachers better prepare their students for future careers in
science and engineering," says Dennis Cuneo, Toyota Motor North America senior
vice president. "Toyota is committed to enhancing the educational experiences of
children in grades K-12." |
Science teachers in the collaboratives are recognized at honors ceremonies, which are attended by policymakers, fellow educators and businesspersons such as Robert Mosbacher Sr., former U.S. Secretary of Commerce |
"The regional collaboratives are a prime example of how The University of Texas
at Austin is reaching out to the entire state," says Gwen Grigsby, associate
vice president for governmental relations at The University of Texas at Austin
and a member of the TRC's advisory board. "As I spread the word about how much
UT does for the people of Texas, the outstanding science teachers that we're helping
and Dr. Jbeily's excellent work with the collaboratives are always first on my
list of examples." |
Kay Randall |