Center for Math and Science Education Receives Grant to Offer Summer Teachers' Institutes

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – For the 14^th consecutive year, the Center for Mathematics and Science Education at the University of Arkansas has received federal funding to offer one or more summer institutes for 30 to 60 teachers, this time receiving the largest grant award for this particular program through the state of Arkansas.

Lynne Hehr, the center’s director, said the $130,000 award will pay for three, two-week institutes to be held at the center’s location in the university’s West Avenue Annex in Fayetteville. The funding comes through the Arkansas Department of Higher Education from the No Child Left Behind Act for teacher enhancement.

The math and science center is based in the College of Education and Health Professions.

“This is a real testament to the contribution made to education in our state by the Center for Math and Science Education and to the trust that external agencies have in the staff’s abilities,” said Michael Daugherty, head of the college’s department of curriculum and instruction.

The grant requires partnerships with high-need schools, and this year’s partner school districts – Lead Hill in Boone County and Mulberry in Crawford County – will work with the CMASE staff to ensure content and pedagogical needs of their teachers are being met during the extent of the grant. Participant slots of the 60 total, not filled by partner district teachers, will be opened to other districts around the state. The teachers will receive an $800 stipend, books and teacher guides, plus material resources for their classrooms. Graduate credit is also available for attending any of the institutes.

The institutes will cover life and earth sciences for kindergarten through fourth grade, life and physical sciences for fifth through eighth grade and algebra for fifth through ninth grade. The center polled its partner school district administrators and teachers to determine their needs before setting the curricula.

“We gather information from both teacher surveys about particular curriculum needs and anonymous student data from past Benchmark tests in order to determine the specific student learning expectations that should be addressed in each institute,” Hehr said. “This allows us to target both teacher and student needs within Arkansas frameworks. Concurrent content sessions are offered during each institute when the need arises. Once the curriculum needs are determined, partnering faculty from the College of Education and Health Professions and the J. William Fulbright College of Arts and Sciences will supplement instruction on specific topics.”

Hehr will take the lead instructor’s position on the K-4 institute, and Cathy Jones, the center’s mathematics specialist, and Lesley Merritt, science specialist, will lead the other two institutes. The grant also includes follow-up assistance that Jones and Merritt will provide for the participating teachers during the next fall and spring.

“The major goal of these institutes is to make learning fun because that takes the fear out of teaching what may be a difficult subject,” Merritt said. “When the lesson is engaging, teachers want to participate. Understanding the content provides teachers a willingness to return to their classrooms and translate what they have learned to their classes. It builds confidence in both students and teachers alike.”

“Administrators see this as high-quality professional development that specifically targets the needs of their districts,” Hehr added, “and teachers see it as a way to enjoy both learning and teaching what they have learned.