The Spring Branch Independent School District (Spring Branch) and The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UT-Houston) are collaborating on a Phase I and II SEPA initiative. The goal is to improve science instruction in grades K-12 by establishing a nidus for setting high standards and expectations and developing curricula to attain them. The project will be carried out within a construct of the district's 37 schools that are aligned into four vertical teams comprised of a high school and its feeder middle and elementary schools. Project management will be through an Executive Committee made up of Spring Branch's administrative and curriculum alignment processes and personnel, and UT-Houston's K-12 project management team. Objectives are: 1) to develop, evaluate, and disseminate an elementary school science enhancement program that impacts on classroom instruction and the professional development for teachers, a middle school interactive video wellness course featuring health scientists, and an advanced high school course (microbiology and pathophysiology) with computer-based learning modules and interactive video sessions with biomedical scientists; 2) to provide research preceptorships for the professional development for science teachers; 3) to provide high school students contextual learning experiences through science preceptorships; 4) to provide high school students with an elective opportunity, AVID, that is aimed at helping average achievers prepare for college; and 5) to support the district's quest to apply technology to change the way its diverse student population is taught. Proposed activities are driven by national and state standards for development of science curricula, for teaching science at K-12 grade levels, and for the professional development for science teachers. Also, activities are guided by principles on how children learn; and by best practices for use of technology in learning. All proposed activities have undergone preliminary development. Success will be measured in part by students' performance on the Texas Assessment of Academic Skills in science and on graduates matriculating in college and pursuing majors that can lead to scientific careers.
| Murray, Nancy G; Opuni, Kwame A; Reininger, Belinda et al. (2009) A multimedia educational program that increases science achievement among inner-city non-Asian minority middle-school students. Acad Med 84:803-11 |
