Teachers in the Orange County Department of Education’s Alternative, Community and Correctional Schools and Services program perform observational drawing as part of the College of Education’s Teachers and Students as Artists program.

Grants Expand Art Program

Student Art Exhibit Planned for January at Titan Student Union

August 6, 2008

By Debra Cano Ramos

The expansion of a program that provides visual arts training to local public school teachers and a project to improve math achievement for middle school students were made possible through grants awarded to College of Education faculty members.

Teachers and Students as Artists

The Teachers and Students as Artists program, launched in 2005-2006, was expanded to provide professional development to K-12 teachers working in Orange County's alternative schools and correctional facilities. The program is designed to provide teachers with the knowledge and skills necessary to integrate visual arts standards with units of study in language arts, social studies and science.

With support from the Butterfly Connection, a community-based organization supporting the arts in schools, Teresa Crawford, professor of elementary and bilingual education, and Ginger Geftakys, lecturer in elementary and bilingual education, received a $17,000 Orange County Department of Education grant to provide Teachers and Students as Artists to educators in the county's Alternative, Community and Correctional Schools and Services program. This program serves K-12 children in a wide variety of alternative school settings. The Butterfly Connection was instrumental in helping to secure the grant funding from the Orange County Department of Education, Crawford said.

The grant funds professional development and support provided by Crawford and Geftakys, as well as classroom materials necessary for program implementation.

More than 60 teachers and hundreds of students are gaining skills and confidence as artists as a result of the funding, Crawford said.

An art exhibit of students' work is planned for Jan. 20-April 3 in the Atrium Gallery of the Titan Student Union at the Titan Student Union.

Middle School Math Project

Seven Orange County school districts and four private schools, in collaboration with Cal State Fullerton, UC Irvine and the Orange County Department of Education, are working together to improve mathematics achievement for middle school students.

Under the "Developing Communities of Mathematical Inquiry" partnership, the objective is to close the gap between proficiency in seventh grade mathematics and eighth grade algebra I, said Andrea Guillaume, professor of elementary and bilingual education, who received a nearly $50,000 Westminster School District grant to oversee the program.

The school district is the lead education agency of the $1 million California Mathematics and Science Partnership grant administered by the California Department of Education and funded by the No Child Left Behind Act, Guillaume said.

"The goal of the partnership is addressed through a comprehensive professional development effort," she said. "Teachers engage in mathematics content activities and learning experiences that emphasize student thinking, community and a mindset of inquiry."

Additionally, through research forums, all members of the DCMI partnership explore the hindrances to student learning that have caused the gap in mathematics achievement, Guillaume added. Moreover, the 125 teachers involved in the project will affect a diverse population of about 14,000 students annually, she said.