Planning and Development of the Birmingham Center for Teaching and Learning in Science, Math and Technology

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This project is to build the institutional capacity and partnerships needed to develop a full center for teaching and learning at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. A full center as it is envisioned will focus on issues of importance for teaching middle school science and mathematics in an urban setting. Included are such issues as the recruitment of second career professionals, upgrading the knowledge and skills of existing teachers through improved professional development programs, learning how to take advantage of the abundant resources of informal science institutions that tend to be located in urban settings, and improving the undergraduate preparation of science and math teachers. During this developmental project relationships will be developed with business, industry, the military and other sources of second-career teachers; a program will be developed to provide high school students with opportunities to teach science and mathematics to younger students; a leadership training program will be established to begin building the capacity to provide professional development to the teachers of Birmingham; and relationships will be developed with the McWane Science Center, existing outreach programs at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, and the Birmingham Public Schools.