9454375 Jaeger This project is for ten years with a request for funding from NSF for five of those years. The project is a long term, collaborative commitment to the schooling of a generation of people and communities facing complex issues of human impact upon the environment: logging and forest health problems, rangeland management decisions, endangered species restoration, regional economic difficulties, and aesthetic and recreational needs of public lands. Designed to reach teachers of elementary and middle school youth in the eastern region of Oregon, the enhancement grant will provide institutes, extended studies, telecommunications, and ongoing resources for educators as they study these issues and as they provide analogous opportunities for their own students to become problem solvers. This project is designed to give 200 teachers and administrators in eastern Oregon the background, practice and ongoing support to help become classroom facilitators of Ecosystems Management problem solving. The first year will focus on Multimedia development, recruitment, organization and arrangement for field sites, creation of resources, and training of faculty and staff. After the project is in place, there will be summer institutes, year long follow-ups, mini-sessions, evaluations, and research projects. The project requested $1,249,325 from NSF with institutions/agencies and school districts providing 27% in cost sharing.
