9729088 Purdy The Triangle Coalition manages the Albert Einstein Distinguished Educator Fellowships Program to give highly qualified K-12 mathematics and science teachers an opportunity to spend a school year in the Washington, DC metropolitan area to serve as a "teacher voice" with various federal agencies and Congress. Currently, federal agencies such as NASA, the US Department of Education, the US Department of Energy, and the National Institutes of Health host Einstein Fellows. In these settings, the teachers have worked on several initiatives of national importance. For example, the Fellows in the Department of Education have participated in the follow-up to the Third International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS). Another currently serves in Senator Jim Jeffords Office. To become an Einstein Fellow, teachers submit a written application and then undergo an interview process in Washington. The interview panel is composed of current fellows and representatives of federal agencies. Those selected as finalists are then placed. In 1997, 12 finalists were selected out of 65 applicants. Many of the Einstein Fellows are former winners of the Presidential Award for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching. This program is now administered directly by NSF, and having a K-12 classroom teacher (particularly one who is a former awardee) in the Division will be extremely helpful to us.
