A conference to stimulate science and mathematics faculty at outstanding liberal arts colleges to become actively involved in the scientific preparation of teachers by redesigning science and mathematics courses will be planned and convened by the Consortium for Excellence in Teacher Education (CETE) and Middlebury College, the home institution of the director of CETE. Membership in CETE is comprised of the following institutions: Brandeis University, Brown University, Connecticut College, Dartsmouth College, Harvard University, Middlebury College, Mount Holyoke College, Princeton University, Smith College, Swarthmore College, University of Pennsylvania, Vassar College, Wellesley College, Wesleyan University and Yale University. The conference will seek to produce collaboration among scientists, mathematicians, and educators in modernizing course content, incorporating recent educational research results, and in the case of science courses, providing hands-on experiences at CETE and 31 other liberal arts institutions located in the eastern half of the United States. Participants will also examine other components of teacher preparation programs and define the role that liberal arts institutions have in preparing mathematics and science teachers. A major report: Undergraduate Teacher Education and the Liberal Arts: Creating Models of Excellence will be published as a result of the conference. The conference should result in strengthening and deepening science and mathematics education at liberal arts colleges. Cost sharing by CETE and Middlebury College is 12.6%
