New Grant Supports the Arkansas Partnership for Engineering, Science and Mathematics

With the recent implementation of the Arkansas Common Core State Standards and the anticipated adoption of the Next Generation Science Standards, Arkansas students will be better prepared to pursue science and engineering degrees in college and enter a workforce where highly skilled workers are in demand.

However, these changes require an adjustment for Arkansas teachers, who need extra support to meet the requirements of these rigorous standards. Thanks to a grant from the Arkansas Department of Education, the Arkansas Partnership for Engineering, Science and Mathematics, or AESM, will be able to provide support for 86 teachers throughout Arkansas.

The grant provides $404,643 a year for three years. In the summer of 2014, AESM will provide training for 86 Arkansas teachers.  The program targets teachers at schools designated as “in improvement,” schools serving students with high levels of poverty and schools with large English language learner populations. The program will support 50 teachers in northwest Arkansas, 18 teachers in the Arkansas Delta and 18 teachers in western Arkansas. 

The teachers will spend eight days on campus over the summer, learning more about the new standards and developing projects to use in their classrooms the following year. In order to encourage a cross-disciplinary approach, the math and science teachers will participate in pairs. After the school year starts, these teachers will continue to get support from the university. Professors involved in the program will be visiting their classrooms to observe their teaching, discuss their experiences and provide feedback.

“We’re confident that this experience will increase teamwork, confidence and enthusiasm for these teachers and, consequently, for their students,” explained Bryan Hill, primary investigator and assistant dean in the College of Engineering. “This team has been successfully working together for almost a decade and has a proven track record.”

Co-principal investigators include Carol Gattis, associate dean of the Honors College; Ed Clausen, professor of chemical engineering; and Kelli Dougan, mathematics specialist at Northwest Arkansas Educational Cooperative. Wen-Juo Lo, assistant professor of educational statistics and research methods in the College of Education and Health Professions, is the external evaluator for the program.