X-Sieve: CMU Sieve 2.2
From: MalFraser@xxxxxxx
Date: Fri, 16 May 2008 15:55:35 EDT
Subject: FWD:MassBaP K-12 week ending May 16, 2008
To: "Massachusetts Association of Science Teachers" <mast@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
List-Unsubscribe: <mailto:leave-49451-1795R@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Reply-To: MalFraser@xxxxxxx
Content-Type: text/html;
charset="UTF-8"
Content-Language: en
***Welcome to MAST@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx***
Please do not use the reply option unless you want the entire list
serve to see your reply.
When following up on an announcement, it is best to start a new
email directly to the sender. Remember, a reply is a reply to
everyone.
Look for more information at http://www.MassScienceTeach.org
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
BODY { MARGIN-TOP: 25px; FONT-SIZE: 10pt; MARGIN-LEFT: 25px;
COLOR: #000000; FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica } P.msoNormal {
MARGIN-TOP: 0px; FONT-SIZE: 10pt; MARGIN-LEFT: 0px; COLOR: #ffffcc;
FONT-FAMILY: Helvetica, "Times New Roman" } LI.msoNormal {
MARGIN-TOP: 0px; FONT-SIZE: 10pt; MARGIN-LEFT: 0px; COLOR: #ffffcc;
FONT-FAMILY: Helvetica, "Times New Roman" }
MassBaP K-12 week ending May 16, 2008
Substitute Position: A substitute teacher is needed for a 7th
grade Life Science Teacher for approximately 12 weeks starting in
Sept. of '08. A letter and resume should be sent to Irene Wieder at
the Dover-Sherborn Middle School - e-mail is
<mailto:wiederi@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>wiederi@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx, or
mailed to Irene Wieder, Science Coordinator, Dover-Sherborn Middle
School, 155 Farm Road, Dover, MA 02030
Physics Teacher Position: Peabody High School is looking for a
certified teacher for the 2008-2009 school year. That person would
be teaching physics and maybe one chemistry. For more
information, contact: jppasquale@xxxxxxx
NASA Phoenix Mars Landing Preview Webcast for Schools:
On May 25, 2008, the NASA Phoenix spacecraft will arrive at Mars.
Phoenix will be the first vehicle intended to land on the surface
of Red Planet since the Mars Exploration Rovers "Spirit" and
"Opportunity" landed in January 2004.
Phoenix is a three-legged lander that will perform its "entry,
descent and landing" sequence and, if successful, will commence a
three-month surface science mission. Phoenix will dig down to an
ice-rich layer that scientists calculate lies within inches of the
surface. The lander will check samples of soil and ice for evidence
about whether the site was ever hospitable to life.
NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California will be conducting a
live webcast for schools on Thursday, May 22, at 9:00 a.m. PDT
(12:00 p.m. EDT). This webcast will preview the events of the
entry, descent and landing, the path to Mars so far, and the
science mission.
Appropriate for 4th- through 12th-grade classrooms, the program
will feature information and video clips for 30 minutes. Four
selected schools connected through the NASA Digital Learning
Network will engage in Q&A with JPL staff for an additional 20
minutes.
For information on how to view the webcast live, visit
<http://dln.nasa.gov/dln/content/webcast/>http://dln.nasa.gov/dln/content/webcast/.
To learn more about the Phoenix mission, visit
<http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/missions/present/phoenix.html>http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/missions/present/phoenix.html.
NSTA Awarded $3 Million Multiyear Grant from the GE Foundation:
NSTA is pleased to announce that it has been awarded a two-year, $3
million grant from the GE Foundation. The grant will be used to
support the continued development of the NSTA Learning Center (NLC)
and assist teachers in GE-supported school districts increase their
science content knowledge and strengthen their teaching skills. The
NLC is a state-of-the-art web portal that contains thousands of
standards-based learning resources for science teachers, including
SciPacks-on-demand learning experiences that engage teachers
through interactive simulations, embedded questions, and
pedagogical implications for the classroom. For more information
about the NSTA Learning Center, please visit
<http://learningcenter.nsta.org/>learningcenter.nsta.org.
NASA Loan Artifact Program Lifts Previous Restrictions:
Space.com
<<http://www.space.com/missionlaunches>http://www.space.com/missionlaunches/080513-cs-flown-tires.html>
(5/13, Pearlman) continues reporting on the NASA's new Artifact
Loan Opportunities Program. Before this program, NASA "made its
spent space-flown items available to the Smithsonian and to other
museums. Educational institutions could borrow artifacts for short
term display or in-classroom use but long-term loans were primarily
only available to credentialed museums." NASA has "waived some of
their requirements for the care of flown artifacts, permitting
outdoor display as well as the option to drill or cut, as well as
paint the tires, though whether intact or in pieces, all the
material will remain the property of NASA." Loans will be given
based on "creative and innovative merit of the proposal, past
experience, technical knowledge, outreach potential, educational
potential, both fiscal and schedule soundness, alignment with
NASA's educational goals and the attraction of 'nontraditional'
audiences."
2008's Summer Reading Initiative Launched With 850,000 Free Books:
Education Week, May 13, 2008, Vol. 27, Issue 37, Page 5
U.S. Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings announced last week
that 850,000 free books will be made available for a 2008 Summer
Reading Initiative. The books, which will be provided by Random
House, a New York City-based publishing company, will be
distributed to schools, libraries, and literacy organizations
serving disadvantaged children nationwide.
The initiative is the latest effort of the Book Donation campaign,
a nearly 2-year-old collaboration by the federal Department of
Education, major publishing companies, and First Book, a
Washington-based nonprofit organization that promotes literacy.
"Summer reading ensures reading skills are fresh when students
start a new school year," Secretary Spellings said in a statement.
"We know from the [National Assessment of Educational Progress]
that the more time students spend reading, the better they perform."
In The News:
NATIONAL ALLIANCE OF STATE SCIENCE AND MATHEMATICS COALITIONS
News Brief #4224 Category: Teacher Preparation
TITLE: "Teach for America Sees Surge in Popularity"
Teach for America, the program that recruits top college graduates
to teach for two years in public schools that are difficult to
staff, has experienced a year of 28 percent growth and will place
3,700 new teachers this fall, up from 2,900 last year.
That growth was outpaced, however, by a surge in applications from
college seniors. Some 24,700 applied this spring to be teachers, up
from 18,000 last year, a 37 percent increase, according to figures
released by the organization on Wednesday. About 11 percent of the
graduating class at
<http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/organizations/y/yale_university/index.html?inline=nyt-org>Yale
applied, 10 percent at Georgetown and 9 percent at
<http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/organizations/h/harvard_university/index.html?inline=nyt-org>Harvard,
said Amy Rabinowitz, a spokeswoman for Teach for America.
SOURCE: New York Times, 14 May 2008
WEBSITE:
<http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2008/03/05/26sciliteracy_ep.h27.html>http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/14/education/14teach.html?_r=1&ref=education&oref=slogin
CLOSING THE ACHIEVEMENT GAP IN MATH AND SCIENCE:
The latest results from the National Science Foundation's (NSF)
Math and Science Partnership (MSP) program show not only improved
proficiency among all elementary and middle school students, but
also a closing of the achievement gaps between both
African-American and Hispanic students and white students in
elementary school math, and between African-American and white
students in elementary and middle-school science. Since 2002, the
MSP program has supported institutions of higher education and K-12
school systems in partnering higher education faculty from science,
technology, engineering, and math (STEM) disciplines with K-12
teachers. Through the program, STEM faculty provide professional
development and mentoring to math and science teachers to deepen
their content knowledge in their field of expertise--all with the
goal of better preparing students in these subjects. The MSP
program currently supports 52 such partnerships around the country
that unite some 150 institutions of higher education with more than
700 school districts, including more than 5,200 schools in 30
states and Puerto Rico. More than 70 businesses, numerous state
departments of education, science museums, and community
organizations are also partners.
The current results are drawn from schools whose MSP projects
target specific improvements in their math and/or science programs.
The data used are student scores on state proficiency tests in math
and science collected over three different school years.Among
approximately 39,000 students at 160 schools, the scores of white
students performing at or above the proficient level rose 4.6
percentage points between the 2003-2004 and the 2005-2006 school
years. Meanwhile, the results for Hispanic and African-American
students went a long way towards closing an identified achievement
gap. The percentage of Hispanic students performing at or above
proficient rose by 18.3 percentage points--from 35.9 to 54.2
percent--and those of African-American students rose by 17.9
points--from 27.6 to 45.5 percent. Although small in number,
Asian-American students, special education students, and students
with limited English proficiency also showed gains. The rise in
science scores among elementary students within MSP projects
focused on science improvements was not quite as pronounced, with
the percentage of Hispanic students scoring at or above proficient
rising by 6.5 percentage points, those of African-American students
by 15.8, and those of white students by 12.2. Science testing is
not mandated in all states, and there was a smaller universe of
schools -- 96 schools, with assessments for only 7,500 students --
reporting science proficiency results. However, science testing
promises to be an area of increasing focus in the states, because
the No Child Left Behind act requires that all states must
implement science testing by 2009. More details about the Math and
Science Partnership Program are online
<<http://www.nsf.gov/funding/pgm_summ.jsp?pims_id=5756&org=DUE&from=home>http://www.nsf.gov/funding/pgm_summ.jsp?pims_id=5756&org=DUE&from=home>
.
Using Online Games to Draw More Students into Science: Education
Week reporter Katie Ash explores how science-related educational
computer games can increase students' interest in science in a
recent article she wrote entitled, "Building Gaming Into Science
Education." "Experts say science is especially well suited for
gaming because the subject stems from curiosity, inquiry, and
investigation-fundamental qualities also shared by successful
computer games." Read all about current computer games being used
in the science classroom, what those games aim to teach, and how
they affect the way students learn. To read
more:http://www.edweek.org:80/dd/articles/2008/04/30/04sciencegames_web.h01.html
Caroline Goode, Coordinator
MA Building A Presence for Science (MassBaP)
Christa Corrigan McAuliffe Center for Education and Teaching Excellence
Framingham State College
100 State Street
Framingham, MA 01701
508-626-4050
<http://www.christa.org/>www.christa.org
Wondering what's for Dinner Tonight?
<http://food.aol.com/dinner-tonight?NCID=aolfod00030000000001>Get
new twists on family favorites at AOL Food.
---
You are currently subscribed to mast as: unknown lmsubst tag argument: ''
To unsubscribe send a blank email to leave-49451-1795R@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
