Rice University and two University of Houston campuses are joining the Houston Independent School District to create an innovative program that teams master and novice middle school teachers with SMET undergraduate and graduate students, designated as GK-12 Fellows. Seven four-member teams are working together over a fifteen month fellowship period in an exchange of content knowledge and pedagogy. The program includes the following major features: * Fellows are introduced to K-12 education by participating in teacher enhancement programs at the participating universities. After spending an entire academic year working with their teacher team-mates, GK-12 Fellows serve as instructors in these same teacher enhancement programs during the last three months of their fellowship. * Teams design a two-semester project that involves the middle school students of the participating teachers. Projects focus on one of three themes: curriculum development, learning processes, or integration of instructional technology into the K-12 science and mathematics curriculum. * In addition to their time on K-12 campuses, Fellows participate in a weekly seminar on precollege science and mathematics educational reform. * Fellows serve as role models for middle school students as they provide instructional assistance to their teacher teammates. Our universities have a long history of working closely with the local school district to meet identified needs. This program strengthens and expands the already established relationships among the participating institutions, provides K-12 teachers with an exceptional professional development opportunity and their students with enriched instruction in science and mathematics, at the same time preparing graduate and undergraduate students to support K-12 education in their future careers.
