Two Major Grants Will Enhance Math And Science Teaching, Learning

Two major grants totaling more than $3.1 million have been awarded to Cal State Fullerton to improve K-12 teaching quality, enhance mathematics learning and recruit more teachers to science education.

The two California Post- secondary Education Commission grants are the largest of 16 recently given to California institutions of higher learning, including Stanford and UC Berkeley. No other universities in Orange County received a commission grant.

Fullerton’s Secondary Education Department received $1,889,657 to provide an online development program for middle school math teachers. The project calls for utilizing technology to enhance instructors’ content knowledge, planning for classroom instruction and the use of California’s adopted textbooks and technology components.

One of the program’s major elements will be video case studies demonstrating how educators can use various math units in their classrooms. The units, aligned to the California Mathematics Standards, are relevant to the state high school exit exam, says Victoria Costa, chair and professor of secondary education, who oversees the program.

“We will partner with Fullerton’s outstanding math department and the Orange County Department of Edu-cation to produce the video presentations and support materials,” Costa says. “These presentations will allow both in-service and preservice teachers to learn more about mathematics, as well as appropriate strategies for teaching mathematics at the middle school level.”

The first online units will be ready in the fall, Costa notes. The development program will be offered to 351 teachers from 16 schools throughout the state.

Costa will be assisted by Harris Shultz and Martin Bonsangue, both professors of mathematics, along with Sandra Lapham of the Orange County Department of Education. Other partners include districts in Orange, Los Angeles, Sacramento and Monterey Bay.

A second grant of $1,220,775 was awarded to the science education program to address the need for more science education teachers. Funds will be used to develop a degree program that leads to a teaching credential, as well as other programs to improve science teaching and learning. The university will be working with Anaheim Union High School District to implement the grant.

CSUF’s science education efforts will reach more than 600 teachers and 55,000 students, notes Richard Lodyga, director of science education and grant recipient.

Work has already begun on formulating a new 135-unit degree program whereby CSUF students can earn a bachelor’s degree in science and a teaching credential in 4 1/2 years. The first students are expected to enroll in the program in fall 2005.

“We particularly want to entice students from underrepresented groups to become science teachers,” says Lodyga. “Besides entering a rewarding field, they will have the additional attraction of being role models, as well as being skilled science teachers.”

Workshops and summer programs will be used to sharpen the skills of current science teachers.

Partners in the science education grant program include Santa Ana College, Project Tomorrow, Orange County Department of Education and the Tiger Woods Foundation.