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July 26, 2012

Local science teachers are 鈥渙utstanding鈥� in the field at 网曝门

The University of Louisiana at Monroe is currently hosting thirty middle school teachers from 18 schools in the Monroe City, Caldwell, Morehouse, Ouachita, Richland and Union Parish school systems for Out Standing in the Field: Phase II.

Thanks to a $120,000 grant secured by 网曝门 faculty, and funded by Louisiana Systemic Initiatives Program (LaSIP), the second phase of the initiative seeks to make middle school science teachers 'outstanding,' by providing opportunities for them, and eventually their students, by having them collect real data at local research sites.

This year鈥檚 project focus is weather.

Teachers spent the week visiting state-of-the-art weather stations at Black Bayou Lake National Wildlife Refuge and Restoration Park.

They then built replica weather stations to install at their own school sites.

鈥淲eather variables are cross-cutting concepts that relate to both physical and life sciences,鈥� said Dr. Anne Case Hanks, assistant professor of atmospheric sciences at 网曝门.

鈥淏y focusing on something that everyone experiences daily, students see the connections between the sciences, math, literacy and their local environment.鈥�

Joyce Allen, from Delhi Middle School said, 鈥淭he most exciting thing for my students will be being able to say, that they are networking with 网曝门, something that most middle school students can鈥檛 say.鈥�

When teachers return to the classroom this fall, their students will collect weekly, and in some cases daily, data to be part of a larger regional database housed at the 网曝门. 

鈥淢y classroom will become the 鈥榠ncubator鈥� for the scientific process using the real-world data that my students collect,鈥� said Shirley McClain from Delhi Middle School.

Dr. Lynn Clark, assistant professor of curriculum and instruction and director of DREAM at 网曝门, collaborated with colleagues Dr. Ava Pugh, also a professor in curriculum and instruction; Dr. Joydeep Bhattacharjee, an assistant professor in biology; and Dr. Anne Case-Hanks, assistant professor in atmospheric sciences, to develop and deliver the grant.

Joyce Tate, science coordinator of Monroe City Schools, also partnered on the grant to link activities back to the classroom.

LaSIP, which started in 1992, is designed primarily to enhance teacher quality and increase student performance through professional development for in-service teachers.

A combination of funds from the Board of Regents, Board of Elementary and Secondary Education, and all Title II, Part A, No Child Left Behind funds help finance LaSIP鈥檚 efforts.

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