The Teacher Professional Continuum (TPC) program at the National Science Foundation (NSF) has announced new funding opportunities to conduct research studies, as well as research and development projects for K-12 science, technology and mathematics education.
The principal mission of the TPC is to promote quality K-12 teaching of science, technology and mathematics through the production of resources, the development of infrastructure and the advancement of knowledge.
The goals of the TPC program are:
- Improve the quality and coherence of the learning experiences that prepare and enhance science, technology and mathematics (STM) teachers.
- Develop innovative curricula, materials, tools, ideas and information resources that prepare and support STM teachers and administrators.
- Research, develop and identify models, organizational structures and systems that support the teacher professional continuum.
- Research teacher learning throughout the teacher professional continuum and its impact on teaching practice using scientifically based investigations.
- Advance the knowledge base on the preparation, enhancement and retention of STM teachers, and on the strategies that strengthen and diversify the STM teaching profession.
- Disseminate this knowledge and research, as well as innovative models and resources to a national audience.
The NSF Teacher Professional Continuum includes K-12 experiences, teacher preparation programs, instructional practice, professional development, leadership development, and other life and professional experiences.
The TPC Program Solicitation (NSF 03-534) is posted on the NSF Web site at http://www.nsf.gov/pubs/2003/nsf03534/nsf03534.htm. The deadline for preliminary proposals is May 19, 2003.
For career and technical education instructors and administrators seeking an easier way to manage student records, Diploma Technologies Inc. may be the place to turn.
Although the company has been around for 10 years, it just launched some exciting new features and a newly redesigned Web site to showcase its two premiere products, Skill Manager and Attendance Manager, which are already being used in a number of career and technical education programs around the country.
Skill Manager is "a complete turnkey solution for recording, managing and reporting student competencies and skills." Teachers can record student data at a PC or using a handheld device such as a cordless bar code reader or a Palm Handheld device. The portability aspect offers usage benefits in a broad range of career and technology education environments such as the automotive shop, health career clinical environment and cosmetology classroom to name a few.
The Skill Manager software is designed to accommodate the competency objectives already in use in a classroom or school, but it also comes with a library of career and technical program competencies in more than 400 different program areas, including many national, state and industry standards.
Attendance Manager is a system for recording, managing and reporting student attendance and clock hours using one or more of three options?an electronic attendance terminal, a PC with an add-on card scanner or a PC keyboard. Attendance data is collected in the classroom then consolidated and maintained on the teacher?s PC or?in the network version?at the front office.
Students clock in and out of class, which gives them a real-world experience as well as an exercise in personal responsibility.
One of the schools using Diploma Technologies? products is the West Sound Technical Skills Center in Bremerton, Wash., where assistant director Bill Poss says they saw it as "a turnkey solution to tracking."
In career and technical education programs such as theirs, Poss notes that there may be 40 or 50 students and 800 competencies, and he has found Diploma Technologies to be, "the best thing since sliced bread for tracking competencies."
In fact, the technology is now being used school wide at West Sound Technical Skills Center, not only for competency tracking but also in their grading system.
"It has really made the lives of our teachers very simple," says Poss, "both in grading and in tracking competencies."
The immediacy of the data recording means that students can know at all times what their grades are, and because the tracking is so comprehensive, Poss says that, "When students leave, we can give them a list of their competencies along with their certificates."
For more information, visit www.diplomatech.com.
ESCO Institute has announced that it will provide exam creation software free of charge to qualified educators as part of a new program to help schools and school systems develop higher standards and aid in the creation of seamless articulation.
The software, Exam Maker, is an application that helps educators write tests, quizzes and reviews, and can categorize questions by subject, store questions and answers, and create tests from single or multiple categories. It is designed for use with Microsoft Windows operating systems and has a retail value of $99.90.
According to ESCO Institute, Exam Maker allows educators to create questions in different formats, including multiple choice, fill in the blanks, true/false, matching and essay. It can also create multiple versions to help ensure exam security and allows educators within a department, school system or field to share databases of questions using the same program.
For more information or to download the program, visit www.escoinst.com.
EE-Link, a project of the North American Association for Environmental Education and a member of the Environmental Education & Training Partnership, is a great source of environmental education resources on the Internet.
In addition to the publications and opportunities for environmental education professionals, the site also has materials and activities for K-12 classrooms organized by topic area. Student resources include K-12 and higher education student Web sites, grants and degree programs.
For more information, visit www.eelink.net.
The Internet TESL Journal has English as a second language (ESL) lessons and lesson plans that include tips and ideas for the first class, business English, conversation and culture, among others. There is also a lesson plan on "Reaching English Language Learners Through Cooperative Learning."
To find an ESL lesson plan, or to contribute one of your own, visit http://iteslj.org/Lessons.
