The University of Illinois will receive a planning grant for an evaluative study of the nine NSF Middle School Teacher Preparation Projects. These five-year projects were funded in 1986 as the result of a special program solicitation targeting the preparation of teachers of mathematics and science for the middle school level. These projects have prepared a new generation of middle school teachers, have created courses and materials for middle school teacher preparation, and have greatly added to our knowledge base about the preparation of middle school mathematics and science teachers. Therefore, it is important that these projects be carefully documented and evaluated, and the results be disseminated. This planning grant will immediately begin to lay the groundwork for the evaluation activities while the projects are still active.
