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NASA Educator Resource Center The IDEA Place LA Tech Planetarium College of Education Home Contracted Professional Development Services SPECIAL INITIATIVES LA GEAR UP -Explorers Camp -Guidance + counseling project -La Camps -Explorers clubs La TEST EPAS K-16 Partnership for School Reform Summer Science Institute Ouachita Parish Professional Development Project Calendar of Events June, 2006 July, 2006 August, 2006 September, 2006 October, 2006 November, 2006 December, 2006 |
CONTRACTED PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT SERVICES Research clearly shows that a well-trained teacher is the greatest factor in predicting student achievement more than materials, written curriculum, and even class size. Researcher Linda Darling Hammond (1999) has found that improving the expertise of teachers, dollar for dollar, results in far greater gains in student learning than do investments in tests, materials, or programs.
Why didn't teachers learn what they needed to know in college like other professionals? Most professionals update their
knowledge and skills throughout their careers. Would you go to a
physician or dentist, for example, who had stopped learning after
they graduated from medical or dental school? Some of the most important lessons can be learned only after they have their own students. Effective professional development is an essential part of helping teachers meet the challenges of teaching mathematics and science. Science and mathematics teachers need to experience for themselves the science and mathematics learning they will want their students to do. Effective professional development happens in a community of learning. Just as students deepen their knowledge of science and mathematics through communication, so too do their teachers learn through formulating, sharing, and challenging what they and their colleagues think they know. SciTEC/IDEA Place creates hands-on, standards-based activities and curricula that are engaging, affordable, and easy-to-use. SciTEC/IDEA Place supports these activities with professional development workshops and resources. We are dedicated to improving the teaching and learning of math and science through a meaningful, integrated approach. Since 1994 SciTEC/IDEA Place has been instrumental in preparing and presenting professional development at all grade levels. The professional development workshops have earned the confidence of thousands of educators by being designed specifically to meet their needs in math or science. Your facilitator will align the workshop you choose to meet your specific needs. Your customized workshop will: 1.Provide engaging hands-on activities correlated to the state comprehensive curriculum and grade level expectations. 2.prepare teachers to implement hand-on strategies; 3.Provide related materials for every participant. SciTEC/IDEA Place has worked with Ouachita Parish Schools since The Experiment Gallery Project in 2002 when we provided physical science and math content to participating elementary school teachers in Ouachita Parish and several other school systems. The positive feed back and positive results in the classroom from this project led Ouachita Parish School system to request a similar project for middle grade teachers in their parish Physical Science for Middle Grades 2002. The projects produced a dramatic increase in physical science scores at the participating schools and the district requested a project for the teachers who did not have the opportunity to participate in this project. We developed and presented the Physical Science for Middle Grades 2003. During 2004 SciTEC/IDEA Place again worked with OPS and conducted the professional development Engineering Student Achievement in Mathematics and Science 2004. This project involved professors from the College of Engineering and Science, master teachers, and Louisiana Tech’s College of Education professors. The activities were specifically designed to meet the needs of their teachers. 2005 brought the challenge of expanding the training and science equipment for the teachers in OPS. During this year the LaTEST project was developed and implemented. Teachers had received science kits to correlate with their text books but needed lessons and activities aligned with the Comprehensive curriculum and Grade Level Expectations. We worked with their third and fourth grade teachers and taught hands on activities for the teachers to use with their students. Another project the same year was designed for the second grade teachers, Live in Louisiana 2005. The focus in this project was plants, animals, and what affects their growth and development. These two projects were such a success that the parish ask that we develop more lessons for each grade. The LaTEST 2006 professional development taught teachers how to integrate technology into their science curriculum. The participants developed technology rich lessons which they can return to their classrooms and present to their students. The Live in Louisiana 2006 continued the work begun in 2005 and addressed the needs the teachers had regarding the remaining parts of the comprehensive curriculum.
SciTEC/IDEA Place is capable of producing lessons and professional development workshops for your teachers at all grade levels. We have professionals in all areas of study whether you need science, math, language arts, special education, or any other area of professional development. You decide what your district needs are and contact us. We will meet with you and develop a professional development activity that will address your needs. We are able to do professional development from as short a time as you may need to a week or more. It is your decision based on the needs of your teachers and students. If you would like more information about the programs and services available through SciTEC, please contact us. SciTEC P. O. Box 3163 Ruston, Louisiana 71272 PHONE: (318) 257-2866 FAX: (318) 257-4307 http://www.latech.edu/scitec Glenn Beer, Director: gbeer@latech.edu © Copyright 2005 |
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