home
 
North Central ESD
MSP Grant Highlights

The North Central ESD three-year math science project got off to a great start this past summer. Forty-one science teachers (grades 4-12) and 44 math teachers (grades 6-12) representing 13 school districts within the North Central ESD region participated in two August summer institutes held on the Wenatchee and Omak campuses of Wenatchee Valley College. Funding for this three-year program is provided through a Math Science Partnership grant awarded to NCESD by the US Department of Education and a Math 2.0: Teaching Math in a Technical World (TMTW) grant awarded to the University of Washington (Bothell) by the Higher Education Coordinating (HEC) Board. 

During the five-day workshop science teachers focused on a few fundamental scientific concepts. Each concept was explored from a biological, chemical, geological, and astronomical context. 

Math participant workshops focused on power standards selected by the Math Alliance and concentrated on learning how to use various technologies as tools to improve teaching effectiveness and increase student understanding.
Taken in whole, both groups (math and science) felt the summer workshops were of benefit to them. Several felt that the three-year program will give them a better understanding of contemporary research on how students learn and a better understanding of how current technologies can be used in the class room.

The MSP work continued this fall when principals, along with faculty members from their schools participating in the three-year Math Science Program (MSP) funded by grants awarded to NCESD and the U of WA, attended a one-day session on October 19 in Omak and October 16 in Wenatchee.  The session focused on the importance of administrators and their roles in supporting their teachers in the MSP.  In addition, principals were given an overview of the goals and topics addressed in this summer’s MSP institute with math and science teachers from across the NCESD region.

Mark Bergeson, member of the Higher Education Coordinating  Board (funding agent for the U of WA grant), is pictured above with principals receiving instruction on the use of a software program (as a math teaching tool) that was used during the summer institute.  Each math teacher participating in the MSP received this program and is using it in their classrooms. 

Jeff Bullock, Regional Science Specialist
North Central ESD