Research Experiences for Teachers
Program Purpose and Overview
The target audience is math and science teachers currently teaching at the secondary level in schools in the economically distressed communities of Appalachian Kentucky.
The RET participants will participate in all classroom, laboratory, and field activities along with the undergraduate participants in weeks 1 thru 6 , and will be encouraged to develop research projects related to issues in the communities where they teach and live. Housing will be provided in Lexington if commuting from their home community will be a hardship during this first six weeks.
In last four weeks of the summer, the RET participant teachers will return to their home communities to complete their research projects and develop a comprehensive standards-based unit of study curriculum tied to Kentucky's state-mandated science curriculum standards. They will remain in contact with Program faculty via e-mail and Blackboard, and weekly on-campus meetings. In Week 10, each teacher will present his or her research findings at the in-house conference.
Units of study curricula differ from traditional "lesson plans" in that they provide comprehensive learning opportunities for students that (a) emphasize creating an engaging learning experience; and (b) application of learning and connecting learning to students' lives. Units of study are also intended to reach across disciplines to tie together concepts of the sciences, arts, humanities, and social sciences. A faculty supervisor will oversee and assist the teachers in implementing their plans continued contact and several site visits to the teachers' classroom over the course of the school year following the program.
Participating teachers will receive a $450 per week stipend for the 10-week period. Graduate credits are also available.
Participating teachers are expected to implement their curriculum development program over the course of the subsequent school year. Each teacher will be eligible for a $2,000 budget to implement their plans in the following school year (e.g., purchase equipment, fund class field trip). The proposed plan and budget must be approved by Dr. Melinda Wilder and the teachers' supervising principal or superintendent. Upon approval of the plan, Dr. Melinda Wilder will schedule three site visits over the course of the school year to meet with the teachers and assist in the implementation of their units of study. Following implementation, teacher participants will be required to submit a report of their project which will be assessed and approved by Dr. Wilder before the teachers are given final professional development credit (graduate course credit or otherwise) for program participation.
During the 2009 summer, we seek TWO teachers willing to participate in an experimental setting, and to provide feedback that will improve the RET program for future teachers. In summers 2010 and 2011, four slots per year will be available for teachers.
