Intra-state Partnerships for Improved, Sustainable K-12 STEM Instruction in Remote Schools

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GRADUATE TEACHING FELLOWS IN K-12 EDUCATIONABSTRACTPROPOSAL #: 0742540PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR: Dean LivelybrooksINSTITUTION: University of OregonTITLE: Intra-state Partnerships for Improved, Sustainable K-12 STEM Instruction in Remote SchoolsThe University of Oregon GK-12 project establishes state-of-the-art, inquiry-driven science curricula in rural eastern and central Oregon schools. The UO chemistry and physics PhD students chosen annually to be GK-12 Fellows will each be assigned to an elementary or middle school to serve as a ?scientist-in-residence,? hosted by their school community for three, two-week-long stays each year. They will co-teach science kits alongside classroom teachers with a goal of sustained use of kit curricula. This embedded professional development for teachers, with the GK-12 Fellows as content experts, will serve as a statewide model. GK-12 Fellows work with curricula experts at UO and teachers at their assigned schools to integrate language arts and math instruction within the science curricula. In addition, Fellows lead hands-on science kit curricula classroom activities and develop supporting curricula conceptually related to their research. The project will seed the development of regional infrastructure to restock the science kits and ensure cost-efficient use of materials via inter-classroom and inter-school sharing. Three benefits of this program stand out as uniquely important. First, it establishes articulated K-8 science curricula, allowing learning to be correlated from one grade to the next, resulting in students better prepared to study science in high school. Second, the program seeks to counter the trend of ?science instruction displacement? by Fellow-piloted integration of age-appropriate math and language arts instruction within inquiry-based science lessons. Third, the program seeks to test a ?remote model? whereby universities play significant roles in improving instruction at remote schools.