The Greater Orlando GK-12 program is a partnership between the University of Central Florida (UCF), the Orlando Science Center (OSC) and Orange County Public Schools (OCPS) aimed at strengthening curriculum content and teacher knowledge in 9th grade science education. The program teams 9 graduate fellows and 3 undergraduate fellows from STEM programs at the University of Central Florida with 12 teachers from Orange County Public Schools. The GO-GK-12 Partnership builds upon many independently existing relationships between the various partners, and addresses the strategic needs for science education in the school system. The program focuses on assisting Orange County teachers with their 9th grade integrated science curriculum. OCPS is the 14th largest school district in the country serving 154,485 students in 151 schools. 52% of these students are members of underrepresented minority groups in science. An ultimate goal is to develop financial models for sustaining the GO-GK-12 Partnership so that GK-12 fellowships become an integral part of STEM graduate programs at UCF.
The intellectual merits of this program are: Strong emphasis on pedagogical training of the GK-12 fellows prior to entering the classroom; Planned matching of fellows and teachers and comprehensive interactive training and planning workshops; Use of the GK-12 fellows to introduce teachers to the Orlando Science Center's Science Suitcase equipment loaner program; A thorough and independent evaluation and assessment component; A focus on the science education needs of the school district.
The broader impacts of this program are: Creation of cohorts of outstanding STEM Doctoral and Bachelors graduates with strong communication skills and an intimate knowledge of issues facing K-12 science education; Strengthened and lasting partnerships between UCF's STEM faculty and local K-12 teachers and schools; Sustained improvement in the teaching of 9th grade science in the region; Improved student experiences of learning science; Each year, this program will impact twelve 9th grade science teachers and 2,000 9th grade students.
