9353460 Brooks This experientially based program engages undergraduates in direct interaction with schools and the real world of science teaching; they, with guidance from the program's staff, design and deliver high quality, customized science programs to elementary and middle school classes from the very beginning of their science course work. The two year program provides a rich, supportive context in which undergraduates develop and hone their teaching skills well in advance of the student teaching internship. By providing an early teaching experience, the project also provides an opportunity which can motivate science undergraduates, particularly underrepresented minorities and women, to elect the teaching of science as a career. Another expected outcome of the project is an improvement in the levels of science achievement and persistence in science and mathematics programs of students in student support programs on Long Island. Over 300 children will be tutored, mentored, and otherwise supported through a network connecting SUNY Stonybrook science undergraduates in Partnership for Progress with five federally sponsored programs covering school districts with the largest percentage of minority students in Suffolk County. ***y
