The Science House is delighted to announce partnership in the
Educational Network Venture Into Science/Math Instruction, Outreach, and North Carolina Standards
(ENVISIONS Partnership)

The Science House is partnering with elementary and middle schools in Onslow County to raise student achievement by enhancing teacher content knowledge, increasing opportunities for discussion and collaboration, and addressing science lab safety concerns.

This three-year ENVISIONS Project is serving 70 teachers from 16 elementary schools, 8 middle schools, and one alternative school.

December 2007 Update

Year two of the ENVISIONS MSP got rolling with an engaging course in physical science offered by Dr. David Haase of NC State. Participants commented about how they had been pushed to learn or re-learn science topics. Despite the struggle, through the teaching of Dr. Haase (and a little patience), several teachers have commented about how physical science makes much more sense now and they feel much more prepared to teach these topics to their students. 27 teachers completed the course in a face-to-face format this summer and 21 more are about to wrap up their on-line version of the same course.

In September, ENVISIONS invited all teachers back together to discuss designing their own professional development. Groups of middle and elementary teachers from feeder schools group together in monthly meetings. Teachers participated in models of professional development last spring and are now working to implement those models in order to increase their content knowledge and pedagogy skills. These groups have been working and are now planning to share what they have done. They will present their artifacts in January when all ENVISIONS participants gather together again.

During this fall semester, Grant Director, Ken Reddic, and Teacher-Coach, Michael Elder, have been visiting classrooms both to observe and help with instruction. Recently, in a joint venture with the Science House, Michael Elder was able to lend a hand to Melissa Wright at Sand Ridge Elementary in Swansboro. Students were exploring the heating and cooling rates of various substances using temperature probes. Other such lessons have been a big hit using the GoMotion probes in classrooms as well. All science teachers involved in ENVISIONS have also had a formal RTOP (Reformed Teaching Observation Profile) observation by Ken or Michael. This instrument allows teachers to see areas of strength and weakness in math instruction.

The future of ENVISIONS is always evolving, but the next great accomplishment will be searching for real integration points for math and science. EIGs will be working to find the math in science lessons and the science in math lessons. It is hoped that this will both connect learning between subjects and create meaningful communication between teachers. We are also looking forward to watching more of our teachers step up into leadership roles within their EIGs. Next summer will bring another content course for our participants. This time the topic will be Earth/Environmental science. We are all looking forward to that learning.

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On January 25, 2007, all participating teachers were gathered together for an exciting kick-off where they learned more about the following activities:

• Participating in monthly Educator Inquiry Groups (EIG) where they will be partnered with fellow elementary and middle school teachers. These groups will create cohorts of teachers that will facilitate communication between middle schools and their feeder elementary schools. At each session, they will learn a new method of learning and take part in self-study.
  
  
• Partnering with a Coach who will assist in planning units, discussing issues and trends, co-teaching, and locating resources.
  
  
• Implementing a comprehensive laboratory safety plan that will make labs more accessible and increase use.
  
  
• Engaging in science content courses to enhance content and pedagogy knowledge and experience inquiry-based instruction.

This foreword thinking reflective opportunity is sponsored by the statewide Mathematics and Science Partnership grant program, administered by the NC Department of Public Instruction (NC DPI).

For general information about the ENVISIONS Partnership visit the web site, contact Project Director, Ken Reddic (ken.reddic@onslow.k12.nc.us) or Coach, Michael Elder (michael.elder@onslow.k12.nc.us).

For specific information about courses offered through the ENVISIONS Partnership, contact Associate Director of The Science House, Sharon Schulze (Sharon_Schulze@ncsu.edu).

For more information about the Mathematics and Science Partnership grant program, contact Debora Sydnor (dsydnor@dpi.state.nc.us), Section Chief for Middle School Mathematics and Science at the NC DPI.