University of Illinois at Chicago Graduate Fellows in K-12 Education

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The University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC) Graduate Fellows in K-12 Education program encompasses four different components built on existing innovative science and math instruction and teacher development programs at UIC. Thus, the program features the addition of Fellows to existing or emerging teacher development initiatives. Each cohort of Fellows is trained as they, K-12 teachers, and University faculty work together during summer workshops and academic year seminars and meetings. In the classroom, UIC GK-12 Fellows support teachers by a process of (a) documenting an understanding of the schools, classrooms, students, and teachers, (b) assisting teachers in developing and implementing activities in classrooms, and (c) assessing their impact. The four components are a high school Chemistry Van project that currently offers equipment but little teacher support beyond of a summer in-service program; a K-8 mathematics curriculum with laboratory options that can be further developed to utilize computer analysis of data; state-of-the-art virtual reality platforms in support of conceptual learning in elementary science; and a whole school development project built on a partnership between UIC and an urban high school. Themes of learning processes, materials development, and technology are all present. Program benefits include increased student conceptual learning, enhanced curricula for classroom use, and increased ability for teachers to teach science and mathematics using a broad base of activities. Evaluation focuses on portfolio development by each Fellow and a separate evaluator of the teacher-Fellow, student-Fellow interactions during the interventions and then the resulting changes in teacher-student interactions.