T C E B TRIANGLE COALITION ELECTRONIC BULLETIN FEBRUARY 15, 2001 VOL. 7, NO. 7 _____________________________________________________ Published by the TRIANGLE COALITION FOR SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY EDUCATION _____________________________________________________ THIS WEEK'S TOPICS: CHILDREN'S COMPUTER SKILLS TRIANGLE COALITION BOARD MEMBER PROFILE: TOM GADSDEN, JR. NEW TOOL MAPPING THE GROWTH OF K-12 SCIENCE UNDERSTANDING RELEASED BY AAAS'S PROJECT 2061 AND NSTA TRIANGLE COALITION MEMBER PROFILE: STARK EDUCATION PARTNERSHIP, INC. PHILANTHROPIC SUPPORT FOR PUBLIC EDUCATION IN THE SOUTHWEST EDUCATION A TOP HIGH-TECH PRIORITY FOR AEA TEXAS INSTRUMENTS UNVEILS WIRELESSLY NETWORKED CLASSROOM ____________________________________________________ CHILDREN'S COMPUTER SKILLS (Source: Education Week Report Roundup, February 7, 2001) Too many youngsters are not getting the opportunities they need to become skilled users of technology, and many teachers do not have the necessary skills to fill the void, concludes an analysis by the David and Lucile Packard Foundation. The report includes papers by prominent educational technology researchers, such as Henry Jay Becker of the University of California, Irvine. Among Mr. Becker's findings are that most schools are providing greater access to computers, but that schools in wealthier communities generally use computers in more creative and sophisticated ways than schools in less affluent areas. At schools in relatively well-off communities, teachers focused more on helping students master computer skills to solve real problems and gain a deeper understanding of a topic, the Packard Foundation analysis says. But at schools in poor communities, teachers tended to emphasize mostly word processing skills and other basic computer tasks. The report was published last month in The Future of Children, a journal of the Packard Foundation, which is based in Los Altos, CA. For more information, read the special issue of the journal The Future of Children, "Children and Computer Technology," at www.futureofchildren.org/cct/index.htm. ************************************ TRIANGLE COALITION BOARD MEMBER PROFILE: TOM GADSDEN, JR. Thomas Gadsden, Jr., Ed.D. is presently Associate Director for Collaboration at the Eisenhower National Clearinghouse for Mathematics and Science Education (ENC) at The Ohio State University. He serves as liaison with the Eisenhower Regional Mathematics and Science Consortia, ENC's nationwide Demonstration Site and Access Center network, professional organizations, federal agencies, and major mathematics and science education projects. ENC is supported by the U.S. Department of Education to provide access to information, professional development, and instructional resources for K-12 mathematics and science teaching, online (www.enc.org), on CD-ROM, in person, and in print. A science educator since 1967, Dr. Gadsden's mission has been to serve teachers and students as an advocate, support, and stimulus for continuing improvement of learning in science. His professional experience includes positions as Head of the Office of Education for the Superconducting Super Collider Laboratory (SSC) in Dallas, TX; Director of Science for the Richardson (TX) Independent School District; and Science Teacher and Associate Professor of Education at the P.K. Yonge Laboratory School and College of Education, University of Florida. Dr. Gadsden has authored over 50 professional publications and given over 200 presentations and workshops at international, national, regional, and state conferences. He has served as both President and Executive Secretary of the Science Teachers Association of Texas (STAT) and as chair and program chair for National Science Teachers Association (NSTA) regional and national conventions. He currently serves on eight advisory committees and boards for organizations in addition to the Triangle Coalition, including the National Science Teachers Association, National Staff Development Council, Council of State Science Supervisors, National Institute for Science Education, Biological Sciences Curriculum Study, and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. Triangle Coalition members who wish to contact Dr. Gadsden may send e-mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] ************************************ NEW TOOL MAPPING THE GROWTH OF K-12 SCIENCE UNDERSTANDING RELEASED BY AAAS'S PROJECT 2061 AND NSTA Taking account of student learning from grade to grade is essential, especially in science, where key concepts, like the structure of matter, become more complex as students progress. Unfortunately, few tools exist to help educators visualize and plan for the growth of student understanding. In a first-ever joint publishing arrangement, Project 2061 of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) and the National Science Teachers Association (NSTA) provide educators with an innovative tool that graphically depicts connections among key learning goals for students in kindergarten through 12th grade. The "Atlas of Science Literacy" presents a series of strand maps that illustrate how student understanding of key science, mathematics, and technology topics builds and grows from grade to grade. Each map displays the ideas, skills, and the connections among them that are part of achieving literacy in a particular topic, showing where each step along the way comes from and where it leads. In addition, each map is accompanied by a summary of the relevant research on student learning. Topics mapped include gravity, plate tectonics, flow of matter in ecosystems, natural selection, maintaining good health, communication technology, and statistical reasoning. Atlas is one of a coordinated set of tools developed by Project 2061 to help educators understand and use specific goals for student learning. The nearly 50 maps in Atlas show connections among the learning goals established in Project 2061's publication Benchmarks for Science Literacy (1993). Content standards from the National Science Education Standards (National Research Council, 1996) drew substantially on the goals in Benchmarks and overlap with them nearly completely. The maps also continue the work of Project 2061 's landmark document, Science for All Americans (1989), which provides a narrative account of the concepts and skills necessary for basic adult science literacy. Atlas complements these earlier efforts by making explicit the connections among learning goals that were only implied before. Draft maps and more information are available at www.project2061.org/tools/atlas/default.htm. ************************************ TRIANGLE COALITION MEMBER PROFILE: STARK EDUCATION PARTNERSHIP, INC. In 1989, a group of business and philanthropic leaders from Stark County, Ohio founded the Partnership to mobilize and coordinate private sector resources in support of the community's 150 schools. Since then, the group has raised more than $13 million from private sources to expand learning opportunities for the children of Stark County and the professionals who teach them. They have provided financial resources and technical assistance for education projects identified by 10 councils of educators and other citizens. A few examples of the group's achievements over the years include collaborating with Western Galilee College and the Ghetto Fighters' House Museum in Israel to provide distance learning opportunities on topics of living in a multi-cultural society, and improving elementary science instruction in collaboration with 16 school districts and the Stark County Educational Service Center through a project known as Science Education Enhancing the Development of Skills (SEEDS). It's the largest local effort to strengthen science education in Ohio's history. Most recently, the Partnership is providing technical support for schools and districts interested in pursuing school restructuring and reform. For the last four years, the Partnership has been fiscal agent and program advisor to the Canton City Schools on a $10 million grant to restructure Timken High School. That restructuring will include a Technology Academy. The Partnership is also serving as fiscal agent for $500,000 in local matching foundation funds for a new $1 million NSF middle school science initiative, SATURN, awarded to the Stark County Education Service Center. For more information on the Stark Education Partnership, call 330-452-0829 or visit www.edpartner.org. ************************************ PHILANTHROPIC SUPPORT FOR PUBLIC EDUCATION IN THE SOUTHWEST A new report is available at www.sedl.org/pubs/catalog/items/cha98.html from the Southwest Educational Development Laboratory (SEDL) that examines the relationship between philanthropy and public schools in five states -- Arkansas, Louisiana, New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Texas. These states comprise the "Southwestern Region" served by SEDL under its federal contract as a Regional Educational Laboratory. While begun as a project to build their own understanding and to support institutional planning, this report speaks also to school leaders, the philanthropy community, and education policy makers. The report was developed to provide a stimulus for dialogue with each of these groups. The report defines "philanthropy" as gifts and grants provided by private foundations and business concerns. The report looks at the potential role of philanthropy in comprehensive or systemic school reform and is only available online. ************************************ EDUCATION A TOP HIGH-TECH PRIORITY FOR AEA The nation's largest high-tech trade association, AeA (formerly the American Electronics Association), today announced that education, privacy, and taxation would top its list of public policy priorities for 2001. AeA's policy agenda was delineated in a 20-page report, publicly released in early February, to the Bush Administration and the Congress. To determine its priorities, AeA employed its unique grassroots networks to hold 13 Town Hall meetings nationwide late last year with over 300 member companies, large and small. At these meetings, companies voted for their choices for the organization's top three policy priorities. The report notes that "notwithstanding the high tech industry's boom since the early 1990's, the number of US college graduates with high-tech degrees has actually been declining. More specifically, during this period, mathematics undergraduate degrees awarded declined 21 percent." "One chief reason students do not pursue careers in these fields is because they fail to do well in related subjects at the K-12 level," the report continues. To address educational challenges, AeA calls for an expanded government-industry strategy for upgrading science and math education at the K-12 level. This support should include increased funding from federal, state, and local governments; the adoption of national standards for teacher training and student performance; and the removal of statutory and regulatory barriers to online learning. The federal government should expand its efforts to assess the use and impact of information technology in K-12 schools and the quality of teacher training for math and science instruction in the same. To view a PDF version of the report, "AeA Public Policy 2001," visit www.aeanet.org/aeanet/publicpolicy/patxet_2001policypaper.pdf. ************************************ TEXAS INSTRUMENTS UNVEILS WIRELESSLY NETWORKED CLASSROOM Triangle Coalition member Texas Instruments has announced the launch of TI- Navigator, a wireless classroom system that facilitates student-focused learning and empowers real-time interaction in the classroom. "Through our longtime relationship with educators and administrators, we realized the need for a stimulating technology that would create an engaging and collaborative environment," said Tom Ferrio, vice president of Educational & Productivity Solutions for Texas Instruments. "It was designed with input from leading educators to be a dynamic tool that embraces the true promise technology has in the classroom." The TI-Navigator system has three main components and is easily implemented in schools by building on existing technology and infrastructure. The first piece is TI's handheld technology, the TI-83 Plus, found in virtually every high school in the United States. Each unit features Flash memory, a microprocessor, and data storage systems. The second part of TI-Navigator is the wireless network that allows the interactivity between the students and teachers. The third part of TI-Navigator is a web browser that enables the in- class interaction. The teacher can access lesson plans and curricular materials, view what individual students are doing on their handheld technology, and send out questions to individual students or the group as a whole. The teacher uses the computer to control the system, access lesson plans and curricular material, and store data and exercises on TI's server. Students can work at their own pace and on different exercises than their classmates, or they can work together as a group. This powerful feature allows the teacher to assign appropriate levels of exercises to different students. In future versions, students and teachers will not only experience enhanced learning in math and science, they will have the ability to use the system with additional disciplines, including language arts and social studies. More information is available at www.ti.com. _____________________________________________________ This TCEB is made possible by a grant from E. I. du Pont de Nemours and Company. Please visit their web site at www.dupont.com for more information about their educational support programs. The TCEB is a newsletter provided to members of the Triangle Coalition. Members may forward individual articles or the issue in its entirety providing that credit is given to the Triangle Coalition, and all of the following contact information is included in any republication. For TCEB subscription or membership information, contact: Triangle Coalition for Science and Technology Education 1201 New York Avenue, NW, Suite 700, Washington, DC 20005 phone: 800-582-0115 fax: 202-289-1303 e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] www.triangle-coalition.org To submit information for possible inclusion in TCEB, contact: Joanne Van Voorhis, Target Marketing, Editor [EMAIL PROTECTED] ************************************ THE MISSION OF THE TRIANGLE COALITION IS TO FOSTER COLLABORATION AMONG LEADERS IN EDUCATION, BUSINESS, AND GOVERNMENT TO IMPROVE SCIENCE, MATHEMATICS, AND TECHNOLOGY EDUCATION. The Triangle Coalition membership includes business, labor, education, science, mathematics, technology and engineering organizations, and community and state-based alliances. ************************************ -- This is the ISTA-talk mailing list. To unsubscribe: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> For more information: <http://www.ista-il.org/about/mail_list.html> To search the archives: <http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/>
