Covington, KY -
Efforts to create a more seamless and consistent stream of science and math education, from the earliest teachable age through graduate school, have received a major boost from a powerful regional employer that relies on a skilled, educated local workforce.
Toyota U.S.A. Foundation has provided a $500,000 grant to a University of Kentucky program designed to help K-12 teachers develop more effective methods of teaching math and science in 13 central and northern Kentucky urban school districts.
"The idea here is, how can universities best work with teachers to help with reducing the achievement gap we have in Kentucky, and Appalachia in general, and how can we improve the quality of teaching," said UK Associate Provost for Educational Partnerships John Yopp.
The grant was announced at a press conference today at Holmes High School in Covington.
The learning environment in most Kentucky schools has failed to keep pace with a rapid evolution of the digital technology that has moved today's students from the passive consumption of information from textbooks to the world of interactive media. The result all too often is a disconnect between what was taught in public elementary and high schools and what is demanded on college campuses - particularly in the fields of math and science.
45 percent of students being admitted to Kentucky's public universities are showing up in need of at least one remedial course and about 33 percent need remediation in two or more courses, according to the Council on Postsecondary Education.
Recent state legislation mandates the creation of teaching partnerships between elementary, middle school and high schools and the state's universities, Yopp noted.
"We can't function efficiently if higher ed doesn't know what is needed by K-12 to produce students who will be successful in higher education, and vice versa. We've got to have more of a continuum of P-20 which would be from pre-kindergarten all the way through graduate school," he said.
The Toyota grant will allow the UK Partnership Institute for Mathematics and Science Education Reform (PIMSER) to provide teacher-driven teams assisted by university and college faculty to develop locally relevant strategies for improving teaching and student learning in mathematics or science.
PIMSER's Partnership Enhancement Project (PEP) will provide planning guidelines and training to teachers to help them determine their students' specific mathematics and science needs. Math and science professors at UK and several other colleges and universities use research-based strategies to provide intervention plans for those specific needs.
The teachers also will receive training on how to write professional development plans.
Those guidelines could support a variety of proposals or plans, including improving student achievement scores for mathematics and science; implementing and improving assessment methods; improving academic subgroup scores; improving classroom instructional strategies to include problem-based learning and inquiry; improving data-driven decision making for classroom teachers and distributed leadership; and increasing collaboration between K-12 school districts faculty and university/college faculty.
Participating school districts in central Kentucky include Bourbon County, Fayette County, Scott County and the Diocese of Lexington Catholic Schools.
Northern Kentucky districts include Bellevue Independent, Boone County, Campbell County, Covington Independent, Dayton Independent, Kenton County, Newport Independent, Silver Grove Independent and the Diocese of Covington Department of Schools.
In addition to UK, Bluegrass Community and Technical College, Georgetown College, Northern Kentucky University, Thomas Moore College and Transylvania University will provide faculty mentors and technical support.
"The University of Kentucky has a deep understanding of educational needs in our community and how it impacts business and the future workforce," said Steve St. Angelo, president of Toyota Motor Manufacturing Kentucky, Inc. "This program is another positive move forward in helping improve the skill level of people - people who will be our future employees and community leaders."
Robert King, president of the Council on Postsecondary Education, called the improvement of student learning outcomes in math and science education an economic imperative - not only for Kentucky, but for the entire nation. "We are delighted with this P20 partnership because it connects Kentucky teachers to innovative strategies that will make a positive impact on student learning," said. "Through this initiative, more Kentucky students will be prepared to enter college and graduate with math and science degrees, the underpinnings of a prosperous economy."
PIMSER is an outgrowth of a National Science Foundation grant to UK that established the Appalachian Math and Science Partnership (AMSP) program to help K-12 math and science teachers develop innovative and more effective teaching methods in rural school districts. The $24 million grant has expired, but UK is continuing to expand the program through private foundation and corporate grants.
AMSP helped teachers in school districts in four Appalachian states develop localized approaches to improving students' understanding of math and science. The teachers usually designed their local programs with mentoring and guidance by UK professors of mathematics, physics, chemistry and other sciences. The result: improved test scores.
And some of the teaching methods that were developed were so successful that UK professors integrated them into their own classrooms.
"They really do learn from one another. It's a mutual benefit," said Yopp. "The universities learn how K-12 teaching occurs and the problems and issues with it. So it feeds back into helping higher education institutions like UK and others improve their own education of students who are going to become teachers. So it's like a feedback loop, a cycle."