Summer Workshop Plans

2000 Summer Workshop Overview

2000 Summer Workshop Agendas

Thanks go to the following 14 projects that submitted their summer workshop agendas: DESERT Project, Elementary Science Education Partners (ESEP) Program, Valle Imperial-Project in Science, Asset Teacher Enhancement Program, Mesa Systemic Initiative, Mathematics: Applications and ‘Reasoning Skills (MARS), Reforming Secondary Science Through Teacher Enhancement, Missouri-Iowa Science Co-op Project, Teacher Enhancement for Student Success (TESS), Chicago Secondary Mathematics Improvement Project, Academic Success for Students and Educators Together (ASSET) Restructuring K-8 Science in Southwest Virginia, Partnership for Systemic Change: A School/Business Collaboration to Enhance Science, Mathematics and Technology Teaching and Learning, Teachers As Agents Of Systemic Change (TAASC), and Guiding Education in Math & Science Network(GEMS-NET).

Content & Curricula
Of the 14 projects that submitted agendas, 8 workshops focused on science alone, 4 on math only and 2 covered both math and science. Four of the ten workshops focusing on science used FOSS, STC and Insights materials. These were Valle Imperial Project in Science, Asset Teacher Enhancement Program, Missouri-Iowa Science Co-op Project, and Partnership for Systemic Change. Two projects used FOSS and STC: ESEP, and Partnership for Systemic Change and two used only FOSS: DESERT Project and TESS. Additional science materials included Science Plus, VIPS and BSCS. We provide this information so that you may contact other systems regarding similar curricula. Hence, it is interesting to note that all eight projects that focused on science used the FOSS curriculum.
If your project is thinking of using FOSS in your next workshop you might want to get in touch with the above projects and hear their reflections on how it went.

In contrast, to the science workshops that leaned heavily of FOSS, the math curricula was different for each system. Curricula used included Box it and Bag it, Investigations in Data, Number & Space, Mathland, IMP, Math in Context, Mathematics, Core-Plus, and Connected Mathematics. No two systems listed the same curricula.

Objectives and Approaches
The goals for all workshops were to advance content and pedagogical knowledge in the context of an inquiry based curriculum. While some projects addressed pedagogy separately, some approached it through specific curricular materials. More specifically, the goal for the ASSET Leadership Conference was to support elementary teachers in use of STC, FOSS and Insights, and to go beyond these "kits" by taking subtle steps towards using the inquiry process. The Chicago Secondary Math improvement Project aimed to encourage teachers to imagine other ways of thinking about math teaching and learning. The ASSET Summer Workshop’s goal was to develop competent practitioners in the use of hands-on, inquiry based science curriculum through deepening content and pedagogical skills. Other institutes integrated content across several subject domains. For example, the TESS summer institute, in addition to content, inquiry and assessment, also focused on literacy issues as related to the science and math curriculum.

Attendance and Attendees
Attendance for these workshops varied greatly. The number of students per institute ranged from 24 to 650. Attendees were teachers of all grade levels, trainers and administrators. Several systems separated new and returning teachers into different groups.

Location, Duration and Stipends
Workshops ranged in length from 3 days to 2 weeks and were held in a wide variety of locations, some were in schools, others at universities. Most were local day-long (8am-3pm) workshops, however, one project brought their teachers and administrators to an off site hotel where participants stayed overnight for a week. Several offered university credit and/or stipends..

If you have not yet sent your summer workshop schedule it is not too late. This summary was provided in order to give you a better picture of the work going on in other LSCs. To get more specific information on individual projects click on the table provided or you can view individual workshop agendas in the Reports from the Field Section of the LSC-Net site.