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Improving Teacher Quality

Reading Plus Writing Equals Science Success

Grant Number: 09-606

Grant Award: $999,820

Duration of Project: Friday, September 25, 2009 - Monday, September 30, 2013

Project Subject Areas: English and Science

Grade Band: 6th -8th

Institutes of Higher Education:

  • University of the Pacific, School of Education
  • University of the Pacific, Physics

Local Education Agencies:

  • Marysville Joint Unified, Marysville

Partners:

  • K-12 Alliance/WestED
  • Strategic Literacy Initiative
  • Yuba College, Marysville

School Sites:

  • Anna McKenney Intermediate, Marysville
  • Foothill Intermediate, Marysville
  • Yuba Gardens Intermediate, Olivehurst

Number of teachers/principals/highly qualified paraprofessionals participating in the project:

30

Goals:

  • Enhance Teacher quality by building science content and pedagogical content knowledge that integrates science and literacy strategies.
  • Develop district teams of middle school science teachers, Language Arts and ELD teachers who will work collaboratively providing students with reading and writing strategies developed by the Strategic Literacy Initiative.
  • Change middle school teacher practice through embedded collaborative opportunities centered on inquiry-based science teaching, and infusing reading and writing strategies to increase student achievement in all curricular areas.
  • Increase student achievement and proficiency in science, reading comprehension and writing skills.

Activities:

All teachers participate in more than 80 hours of professional learning through content and pedagogical content knowledge oriented summer institutes and intensive grade-level implementation. Through a successful lesson study design called the Teaching Learning Collaborative, teachers apply their content knowledge and pedagogical skills (focusing on reading and writing).

Anticipated Outcomes:

  • Middle school science teachers using reading comprehension and writing strategies to improve student achievement in science.
  • Language Arts, ELD, and science teachers working collaboratively in teaching the Reading apprenticeship literacy strategies.
  • Student achievement will increase in science, reading and writing.

Contacts:

Project: Rachelle Hackett, Research Director, rhackett@pacific.edu
Institute of Higher Education: Jim Hetrick, Co-Director, jhetrick@pacific.edu
Institute of Higher Education: Greg Potter, Project Director, gpotter@uop.edu
Local Education Agency: David Pummill, LEA Co-Director, dpummill@mjusd.net

Questions, Comments, Corrections?

Send an e-mail to Teacher_Quality@cpec.ca.gov .