A telecommunications project to empower Kansas elementary/middle level teachers as change agents for integrated science and mathematics education

School Science and Mathematics, Feb 1998 by Slater, Timothy F, Coltharp, Hazel, Scott, Steven A

Nineteen elementary and 5 middle school in-service teachers served as regional lead teachers to provide 13 two- and four-day workshops for 235 in-service teachers. The lead teachers attended 100 hours of inservice training on national science/math reform curricula, cognitive theory, pedagogical strategies for enhancing problem solving, and authentic assessment procedures. The lead teachers then selected $30,000 worth of instructional materials for use in their classrooms. Subsequently, they developed four hands-on-manipulative-based workshops through extensive use of video-teleconferencing technology. The lead teachers strongly believe that this extensive project has made a permanent positive impact on the quality and quantity of integrated science and math instruction in Kansas.

A longitudinal study by Simpson and Oliver ( 1990) strongly suggests that students' attitudes and interests in science are shaped during elementary school. Yet, rural elementary teachers have had few opportunities either to increase their science and mathematics content background or to accumulate many of the handson manipulative materials that have been shown to improve student interest and achievement in science, mathematics, and technology (Roth, 1993; Sanders, 1994; Slater, Carpenter, and Safko, 1996). Nationally, there have been literally thousands of week-long workshops funded for in-service teachers at all levels K-12. The actual long-term effectiveness of such isolated and short-duration workshops is now generally considered suspect (e.g., Cox & Carpenter, 1991; Edinger, 1992; among others). However, it is difficult to provide programs that teachers find attractive and to which they will make long-term commitments. The project described here was designed to (a) increase teachers' content background in science, mathematics, and technology; (b) improve teachers' instructional and assessment repertoire; and (c) empower teachers to make lasting and important changes in the quality and quantity of hands-on instruction in Kansas schools.

Kansas educators have invested in the technology of fiber-optic video-teleconferencing classrooms. Fourteen school districts, a community college, and a regional university have each installed such classrooms in the southeastern corner of Kansas alone. Each classroom is centrally connected through the Southeast Kansas Education Service Center. During the day, each of the rooms is scheduled heavily. However, prior to this project, the rooms were only occasionally used after formal school hours. This Interactive Distance Learning (IDL) Network of classrooms proved to be an essential component in the success of the project described here. These IDL classrooms are now being used for both formal and informal teacher enhancement activities, in addition to formal educational environments for Kansas students.

Participants

Lead Teachers

Twenty-four in-service elementary and middle school teachers (23 females and 1 male), representing five school districts, volunteered to be trained as project "lead teachers." The lead teachers ranged in teaching experience from 3 to 17 years and represented all grade levels, K-8. The incentives provided to the lead teachers to commit to the 3-year project were: (a) $450 stipend, eight graduate semester credits at 40% tuition reduction, and 100 hours of summer workshops during Year 1; (b) all-expenses-paid field trips to the Kansas Cosmosphere/Space Center Museum and Wolf-Creek Nuclear Power Station (Burlington, Kansas) during the first semester of the project; (c) stipends ranging from $190 to $550 and an opportunity to earn up to five graduate semester credits at 60% tuition reduction (depending on level of participation) during Year 2; (d) 27 hours of video-teleconferences and a total of $30,000 for classroom materials over 2 years to share ideas and experiences with other lead teachers in the region; (e) opportunities to lead regional workshops for extra- project teachers during the second summer of the project; and (f) all-expenses-paid trips to present materials and workshops developed at regional and national professional conferences during Year 3 of the project.

Workshop Participants

More than 235 in-service teachers attended at least one of four different workshops held at 13 sites provided by the lead teachers. These workshop participants represented teachers at all levels K-12. Approximately 161 (68%) of these workshop participants taught in grade levels K-6. Of the other 74 participants, 49 were secondary mathematics teachers.

Project Management

The project was overseen by a 10-member steering committee and managed by a leadership team of six individuals. This project leadership team included three university faculty members, a project accountant, a summer workshops manager, and a graduate research assistant. For each of the leadership team members, the time devoted to the project ranged significantly, depending on the semester and year of the project.

Method

Lead Teacher Empowerment