DOCUMENT RESUME

ED 417 920 RC 021 474

TITLE Math and Science. IDRA Focus.INSTITUTION Intercultural Development Research Association, San Antonio,

TX.

ISSN ISSN-1069-5672

PUB DATE 1998-03-00

NOTE 17p.

PUB TYPE Collected Works Serials (022)

JOURNAL CIT IDRA Newsletter; v25 n3 Mar 1998

EDRS PRICE MF01/PC01 Plus Postage.

DESCRIPTORS College Preparation; *Computer Software; Computer Uses inEducation; *Educational Strategies; Elementary SecondaryEducation; *Equal Education; Females; Hands On Science;*Limited English Speaking; Mathematics Achievement;*Mathematics Education; Mexican American Education; *ScienceEducation; Teaching Methods

IDENTIFIERS Texas

ABSTRACTThis newsletter theme issue includes six articles on

improving math and science education, particularly for poor,Limited-English-Proficient (LEP), and female students. "Effective Math andScience Instruction--The Project Approach for LEP Students" (Joseph Vigil)describes how hands-on science projects can increase student motivation,drive math and science content, and foster development of English-languagemath and science vocabulary. "Power Tools for Math and Science Education,Part I" (Laura Chris Green) describes promising technology tools for math andscience education, including: software for test preparation; tutorials; gamesto teach skills, concepts, and problem solving; and applications andmodeling. "What Is the Matter with Math Scores?" (Cathy Seeley) discussesU.S. and Texas mathematics achievement scores in terms of what is working(improved teaching methods, professional development) and what is not(teaching to the test, fragmented instructional approaches). In "A CentralRole for Science Education Partnership," Eloy Rodriguez reflects on thesuccesses of a school-university partnership to provide poor Latino childrenwith a challenging university-based science "camp." "'Sugar and Spice andEverything Nice...': Gender Inequities in Mathematics" (Anita TijerinaRevilla) discusses sex bias in the classroom and useful strategies to involvegirls in mathematics. "Texas Prefreshman Engineering Program: Filling thePipeline for Workforce Diversity" (Manuel P. Berriozabal) describes anintense 8-week summer program that prepares high-achieving minority andfemale high school students to pursue college engineering and sciencestudies. A sidebar "Make No Mistake: The Goal Is Equity" (Bradley Scott)describes equity goals of the IDRA Desegregation Assistance Center. Alsoincluded are a description of WOW (IDRA's workshop on workshops) and a listof educational Web sites for math and science education. (SV)

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Inside this Issue:A

Instructionahechnology tools

4 Successful programs

4 Gender inequity, fn math

- Innovative training of trainers

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.IDRA Foct.th:MATH AND SCIENCE..

ISSN 1069-5672 Volume XXV, No. 3 MarCh 1998

EFFECTIVE MATH AND SCIENCE INSTRUCTION

THE PROJECT APPROACH FOR LEP STUDENTS

The "project approach" to instructionis becoming popular forproviding enriching,cognitively demanding experiences forlimited-Englishproficient (LEP) students.The project approach, involves any type ofgroup learning activity; that brings about asustained period of self:reliant effort bylearners to achieve a clearly defined goal.

The approach is most productive toinvite students to express themselves in the'language they use most comfortably. Whileextra time may be needed for translation sothat all students can understand each other,the benefit is that .students are learning tocommunicate, using math and sciencelanguage that can be transferred as students'English proficiency increases. Thetranslation prodeSs can produce greaterEnglish fluency. Homewbrk that takes theform of hands-on projects and :problemsolving promotes students' language andthinking skills and helps parents support thevalue of learning math and science for real-world applications.

The language needed to communicateideas in math and science classes can bedifficult for LEP students to master. Sciencevocabulary is key to most science instruction.By one estimate, students in the averagehigh school biology class are exposed tomore than 2,400 new terms in one yearmore new words than they would be asked tolearn in the typical high school French class(Vigil, 1996).

The hands-on project approach canmotivate all students to communicate usingmath and science language in order to producea final product. For example, teachers inGallup, New Mexico, are receiving trainingfrom the Intercultural Development

2.

Research Association (IDRA),.on how- toimplement the project approach to 'enhanceinstruction and motivate students to learnmath and science concepts.

"We put students first here in Gallupand will adopt strategies that-will enhancestudent learning and achievement," saidMelinda .SWain, coordinator for. languageacquisition and staff development for theGallup-McKinley 'County Schools (CS).Teachers are not throwing away- theirtextbooks. They ey are using the solar carprojectto demonstrate real-world applications ofkey concepts and to have studentscommunicate these concepts whileparticipating in social interactions with otherstudents, teachers and mentors.

The solar car project approach coversValuable real-world engineering designexperiences, math and science concepts,and other experiences including:

Engineering Design. ExperiencesDefinition of customer and needsPerformance criteria and contactsResearchSynthesisAnalysisDesignPrototype constructionTestingEvaluationPresentation

Math and Science ConceptsMetric unitsForce at a pointCircumference (radius times twotimes Tr)

Effective Math and Science continued on page

BEST COPY AVAILABLE

IN THIS ISSUE

6

9

ra

WHAT IS THE MATTER WITH

MATH SCORES?

REFLECTIONS & COMMENTARY

NEWSLETTER EDITORIAL PAGE

"SUGAR AND SPICE AND

EVERYTHING NICE..."

TEXAS PREFRESHMAN

ENGINEERING PROGRAM

The Intercultural Development Re-searchAssociation (IDRA) is a non - profitorganization with a 50I(c)(3) tax exemptstatus. The purpose of the organization isto disseminate information concerningequality of educational opportunity. TheIDRA Newsletter (ISSN 1069-5672, copy-right ©1998) serves as a vehicle for com-munication with educators, school boardmembers, decision-makers, parents, andthe general public concerning the educa-tional needs of all children in Texas andacross the United States.

Publication offices:5835 Callaghan Road, Suite 350San Antonio, Texas 78228-1190210/684-8180; Fax 210/684-5389

IDRA World Wide Web site:http://www.idra.org

IDRA E-mail Address:idra@idra.org

Maria Robledo Montecel, Ph.D.IDRA Executive Director

Newsletter Executive Editor

Christie L. Goodman, APRIDRA Communications Manager

Newsletter Production Editor

Sarah H. AlemanIDRA Data Entry Clerk

Newsletter Typesetter

Permission to reproduce material con-tained herein is granted provided the ar-ticle or item is reprinted in its entirety andproper credit is given to IDRA and theauthor. Please send a copy of the materialin its reprinted form to the IDRA Newslet-ter production offices. Editorial submis-sions, news releases, subscription re-quests, and change-of-address data shouldbe submitted in writing to the NewsletterProduction Editor. The IDRA Newsletterstaff welcomes your comments on edito-rial material.

Effective Math and Science - continued from page 1

Torque (force times lever arm; T,---FL)Gear ratioVelocity (V----D/t)Revolutions (rotations per minute orradians per second)FrictionCenter of gravityGraphingFrontal areaSpecific weight of airAcceleration of gravityAerodynamic dragSolar panel and motor

Other ExperiencesWorking as members of a teamTroubleshooting experiencesSportsmanshipPromoting an eventKnowing it is okay if something does notworkWorking with Sprint solar car softwareInternet research

Students have such a good time withthe project that they often do not see themath and science as school work, but as atool to create a product. The project drivesthe math and science content, andcommunication increases, fostering greaterEnglish fluency for LEP students as well asfor all students involved. Administratorsand parents in Gallup will assist since thesolar car project can culminate in a solar carcompetition that requires many volunteersand assistance from outside the classroom.Community and local businesses willcontribute by providing support for thepromotion of the event.

Technology is not just somethingadded to this project approach. It is trulyintegrated into every aspect of theexperience. Students will use solar carsoftware that animates key science and mathconcepts to provide them with backgroundinformation. The National RenewableEnergy Laboratory will provide on-lineresearch for students at <www.nrel.gov/>.Photovoltaic information for teachers andstudents is featured in an on-line quiz foundat < www .nrel.gov. /pv /whatispv.html >. Anexample of student work may be viewed onChris and Grant's Solar Page at<www.teleport.com/chrisdb/project/>.This student page was created for a schoolscience project and provides backgroundinformation on photovoltaic cells, homeapplications and solar car highlights.

On-line mentors will be utilized to

COMING UP!

In April, theIDRA Newsletter

focuses on young children.

assist students and teachers with the project.Engineers from the Los Alamos NationalLaboratory will provide expertise on themechanics of the solar car project and theoverall design process. Professional stafffrom IDRA and the Southwest Comprehen-sive Center Region IX will provide Gallup-McKinley CS teachers with on-line exper-tise on topics such as the following:

Bilingual education and English as asecond language (ESL),Education technology,Instruction and curriculum,Multicultural education,Family involvement and participation,Professional development, andEvaluation and assessment.

Two resources that provide educatorswith ESL strategies are Teaching Content:ESL Strategies for Classroom Teachers andStarting Today...Steps to Success forBeginning Bilingual Educators developedby Frank Gonzales, Ph.D., a senior educationassociate at IDRA. These resources pointout that the most important tenet ofbilingualeducation is that knowledge is transferable.Content area instruction early in schoolshould be done in the primary language todevelop a strong cognitive base in onelanguage, which then transfers to the secondlanguage.

The project approach can enhancestudents' learning of math and scienceconcepts. It provides a rich environment forusing math and science language that can betransferred as students' English proficiencyincreases.

ResourcesGonzales, F. Starting Today...Steps to Success for

Beginning Bilingual Educators (San Antonio.Texas: Intercultural Development ResearchAssociation, 1995).

Gonzales, F. Teaching Content: ESL Strategies forClassroom Teachers (San Antonio, Texas:Intercultural Development Research Association.1995).

Vigil, J. "What is Science Literacy?"lDRA Newsletter(San Antonio, Texas: Intercultural DevelopmectResearch Association, November - December1996).

Joe Vigil, M.S., is an education associate in the IDR4Division of Professional Development. Commer.gand questions may be sent to him via e-mailidra@idra.org.

March 1998 1E1 IDRA Newslettera

POWER TOOLS FOR MATE ANIS SCIENCE

All students deserve to experience aworld-class education in math and science.We can no longer afford to exclude girls,minority students, speakers of otherlanguages and special needs students fromthe opportunity to pursue advanced math andscience interests. Instructional technologycan help schools achieve excellence andequity in the areas of math and science.

This two-part article describestechnology tools for math and scienceeducation that are currently available andseem especially promising for enhancinginstruction. These tools are not to replaceteachers because I believe that is neitherpossible nor desirable (Green, 1995) butto give effective math and science teacherspower tools to increase their creativity,accuracy and efficiency.

The Power Tool AnalogyMy husband is a carpenter. He has

built houses from the ground up and createdbeautiful, custom-designed furniture. In hisstrong, capable hands, an ordinary piece ofpine or oak becomes a work of art that willlast for centuries. In his mastery ofwoodworking, he uses a large variety ofhandtools such as chisels, scrapers and saws. Butit is his power tools that he seems to treasure.He always wants to buy just one more drill,router, shaper or electric screwdriver. "Don'tyou already have one ofthose?" I ask. "Yes,"he replies, "but this one does X, Y and Z."

Although I suspect the pure joy ofowning a new toy is part of it, I realize thathis having a toolbox full o f up-to-date, high-

niICATION, PART I

LEARNING MATH AND SCIENCE

WITHOUT THE INTEGRATION OF

TECHNOLOGY WOULD BE LIKE

TRYING TO DO CARPENTRY

WITHOUT POWER TOOLS.

quality power tools is critical to his successin his craft. The tools do not replace hisknowledge and skills, rather they increasehis creativity, accuracy and efficiency.

Instead of being physically andmentally worn down by tedious hours ofmeasuring, sawing, sanding and polishing,he can direct his energy toward designingand re-designing apiece, perfecting the shapeof the cut, and bringing the surface to astreak-free lustrous finish. Some ofhis powertools enable him to do things that would beimpossible or impractical otherwise. Forexample, he can cut boards that are perfectlystraight and form exact 90° angles. As aresult, he can make kitchen cabinets that areaccurate to V16 of an inch.

Our own profession of teaching issimilar. As master teachers, you and I canwork miracles with a piece of chalk andchalkboard or a pencil and blank piece ofpaper. But how much more could weaccomplish if technology were used to freeus from routine tasks to enhance ourteaching? I used to spend hours every dayputting work up on the blackboard, checkingstudent work, finding and creating teachingmaterials, and writing lesson plans. Then I

DID You KNOW?

"IN 1990-91, 40 PERCENT OF HIGH SCHOOL MATHEMATICS COURSES IN HIGH POVERTY

SCHOOLS WERE TAUGHT BY TEACHERS WITH NO EXPERTISE IN MATH, WHO WERE TEACHING

`OUT OF THE FIELD.' SIMILARLY, WHILE 69 PERCENT OF MATH CLASSES IN LOW-MINORITY

SCHOOLS WERE TAUGHT BY MATHEMATICS MAJORS, ONLY 42 PERCENT OF THESE CLASSES

IN HIGH-MINORITY SCHOOLS WERE SO TAUGHT."

"FORTUNATELY, THERE ARE SOME SCHOOLS AND DISTRICTS THAT ARE RESPONDING TO

THEIR POOR AND MINORITY STUDENTS, NOT BY LOWERING STANDARDS, BUT BY

ACCELERATING LEARNING. THESE SCHOOLS ARE PROVING EVERY DAY THAT POOR AND

MINORITY YOUNGSTERS WILL ACHIEVE AT THE HIGHEST LEVELS IF THEY ARE TAUGHT AT

THE HIGHEST LEVELS."

Education Watch, The 1996 Education Trust State and National Data Book (The EducationTrust, 1997).

spent another six hours teaching students.What if I had had access to the Internet,computer applications and instructionalsoftware?

Learning math and science withoutthe integration of technology today wouldbe like trying to do carpentry without powertools. Mathematicians and scientists dependon calculators, computers, microscopes,telescopes, cyclotrons, x-ray machines, laserbeams and a host of other technologies tocollect, analyze and manipulate the data theystudy. Students who are not exposed tomathematical and scientific technology toolsin school are handicapped both in their skillsdevelopment and in their understanding ofmath and science concepts.

The best way to learn something is toexperience it. Experiencing real math andscience activities using the same kinds oftools that mathematicians and scientists useis the best way to learn math and science.

Unfortunately, another similaritybetween power tools for carpentry andinstructional technology for math and scienceinstruction is that they are both expensive.Those $50 drills and CDs and those $2,000routers and computers quickly add up to anice chunk o f change. Therefore, with limitedfinancial resources, teachers must make somehard choices about what to buy_ Myrecommendation is that teachers basedecisions on:

the curriculum, that is, what yourlearning objectives are for your students,the quality ofthe product and its potentialfor enhancing your teaching, andits appropriateness for your students'developmental and skill levels.

But begin with matching the curriculum. Aproduct can be exciting, but if it is designedto teach biology concepts and you areteaching earth science, it is worthless foryour purposes. If it is designed for highschool students and you teach kindergarten,or it is at an eighth grade reading level andyour students have trouble decoding simpletexts, it will not work either.

Instructional technology programshave come a long way from the boring drilland kill programs of the 1970s and 1980s.Software products are now the most commonmedium, but videos and laser discs continueto be popular and practical for many users.In Part I of this article I describe several

Power Tools - continued on page 4

March 1998 U IDRA Newsletter4

Power Tools - continued from page 3

kinds of instructional and applicationprograms of interest to math and scienceteachers.

Promising Instructional ProgramsI have categorized instructional

programs into six categories: testpreparation, tutorial, games, reference,problem solving, and application andmodeling tools. In general, these categoriesare sequenced from what I consider to be theleast desirable to the most desirable in termsof their potential for increasing studentlearning.

The programs that are least desirabletend to be the easiest for teachers to learn touse, whereas those that are most desirableare effective only in the hands ofknowledgeable, creative and dedicatedteachers. On the other hand, the more difficultand desirable programs tend to stimulateand maintain student interest for longerperiods of time.

Test Preparation SoftwareTestpreparation software that submit

students to hundreds and thousands of itemssimilar to ones they will experience instandardized testing situations are popular.There are several companies, for example,that market Texas Assessment of AcademicSkills (TAAS) test practice programs. Manyschools hope that test scores will rise on theacquisition of such software, and they do notbuy or use anything else.

Like the traditional worksheets andbooks that prepare students for tests non-electronically, these programs do not teachstudents new information or skills. Theymerely test or measure knowledge and skillsthat students already have.

Some exposure to these programs afew weeks before a scheduled test can helpfamiliarize students with specific test formatsand help them practice generic test-takingstrategies. But the programs should not besubstituted forprograms that can help studentslearn new skills and information.

Tutorial SoftwareThe grandchild of the first drill and

practice programs, today's tutorial software,teaches a sequence of lessons much likethose found in textbooks. Because of theirsequential nature, math tutorial programsseem to be more useful than science tutorials.I recently experienced a breakthrough in myown understanding of functions in algebraand statistics because of a well-developed

EDUCATIONAL WEB SITES

Boxer Learning, Inc. www.boxerlearning.comCarina Software www.carinasoft.comCenter for Occupational Research and Development

www.cord.orgEdulogiX Interactive www.edulogix.comEPIC Center: Decision Development Corporation www.epicent.comExceller Software Corporation www.exceller.comHandiLinks to Software Education www.ahandyguide.com/cat 1 /s/s198.htmIntercultural Development Research Association www.idra.orgThe Learning Company www.mecc.com/TLC/default.htmMath Type www.mathtype.comMathematica Documents http://store.walfram.com/catalog/mathematicaSienna Software Inc. Starry Night www.siennasoft.comSTAR Center* (Support for Texas Academic Renewal) www.starcenter.orgTeam Labs: Personal Science Laboratory www.teamlabs.comTom Snyder Productions www.teachtsp.com/index.htmlVernier Software www.vernier.comVideo Discovery www.videodiscovery.com/vdyweb/home/catalog/htm

Compiled by IDRA

*The comprehensive center funded by the U.S. Department of Education to serve Texas via acollaboration of the Intercultural Development Research Association, the Charles A. Dana Center at theUniversity of Texas at Austin, and RMC Research Corporation.

.44:67,Atnelmisbaw-Hmvow2...intrawrissiicarivamm,//017,9V.TEPLIPWOPtiv.FinISMI

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sequence of algebra lessons, BoxerIntermediate Algebra (Boxer Learning Inc.).

Be aware, however, that ifthe programmerely reproduces a math or science textbookapproach, you would be better off just buyingthe book. Look forprograms with hint systemsthat provide increasingly more specific cluesto answers and programs that use multimediacomponents well. The incorporation of full-color graphics, photographs, animation andvideo segments, high quality sound, andbuttons or hypertext that link one part of theprogram to another can increase studentinterest and comprehension if the lessonsare well designed and use the multimediacomponents for learning purposes, not justfor entertainment value.

Tutorial programs are designed forindividual students. They typically havesystems to keep track oflessons each studenthas gone through and how well he or she didon practice questions and problems. Thisfeature can be valuable to teachers who needor want to monitor the individual progressof students.

Games SoftwareA lot of instructional software use

games to teach skills and concepts. Gamessoftware can be subdivided into arcade-type games and adventure-style games.Arcade-type games are usually used to teachskills that require a lot of practice such asinstant recall of math facts.

Another common factor in these gamesis the race against time. If you have studentswho have not mastered some necessary basicskills such as addition, subtraction,multiplication and division computation,these games can be useful because theysweeten the practice pill, making it easier toswallow. However, like test preparationsoftware, games software should notconstitute the core of your instructionaltechnology materials.

Adventure-style games tend to be morecognitively complex and interject an elementof fantasy. There is often a story that servesto move the action forward. Sometimes thestory can overshadow the learning purposesof the program. Teachers should watch forthis possibility when previewing theseprograms.

Other adventure-style programs do agood job of meshing story and learningobjectives. A classic example is AmazonTrail (The Learning Company) in whichstudents travel through a rainforest andbackwards through time. They must decidewhat to take with them to increase theirchances of survival and interact with severalcharacters to gather important informationfor their quest. Along the way they acquireacademic skills in the areas of history,geography, geology, biology andanthropology. Probably the most effectiveway to use these kinds of programs is with

Power Tools - continued on page 5

March 1998 IDRA Newsletter

Power Tools continued from page 4

cooperative teams or by using whole classdiscussions for decision making.

Reference SoftwareReference software, videos and laser

discs provide students with data bases ofinformation on topics of interest. Since CD-ROM players have become more commonin homes and schools, softwaremanufacturers have developed a wealth ofprograms in the general knowledge andscience areas at reasonable prices.

Encyclopedia Britannica, NationalGeographic, Discovery Channel, NASA andthe San Diego Zoo are just a few of theinstitutions that have created or contributedto reference CDs, videos and laser discs.These programs provide extensive textinformation and include high qualityillustrations, diagrams and photographs. Notlimited by space, time or size, these graphicscan take students to otherwise impossibleplaces such as inside a human brain, to thesurface of Mars, within a DNA molecule orinside a combustion engine. Many of theseprograms now offer linking features so thatstudents can move freely from topic to topicaccording to their interest.

Reference CDs are useful to teacherswho like to build their own backgroundknowledge, who wish to explore topics withtheir students in depth, or who like to havetheir students engage in group or individualresearch activities. Reference programsshould be carefully matched to curricularcontent and student developmental level. ACD on the nine planets of our solar systemmight be spectacular, but it is not needed fora botany classroom.

The award-winning A.D.A.M. Com-prehensive Student Edition (A.D.A.M.'sWeb World) program provides fully-dissectible illustrations, pinned atlas im-ages, cadaver photographs, radiographs andthree dimensional models of the humanbody's systems and structures in four viewsand three magnifications. The program isdesigned for university and medical schoolstudents and would therefore be too sophis-ticated and complex for elementary studentswho would probably benefit more from theA.D.A.M. The Inside Story '97 School Edi-tion program.

Problem Solving SoftwareProblem solving programs can be

excellent vehicles for applying knowledgeand skills already learned or for learningnew knowledge and skills within the context

of solving a problem. The latter approach isthe more daring, innovative one and also theone that promises the most punch for yourinstructional time.

The Math at Work series (Center forOccupational Research and Development),for example, features CDs in which studentsapply pre-algebra through geometry skillsto real-life challenges. In Pooling Aroundone of the Math at Work titles students tryto complete the construction o f a swimmingpool or spa on time and under budget. Actingas the general contractor, they create a jobschedule for subcontractors, calculate thebuilding materials required, and deal withunanticipated obstacles such as equipmentbreakdowns and subcontractor mistakes anddelays. In addition to practicing decision-making skills, students learn geometricconcepts for two and three dimensionalshapes, use scale drawings, and performgeometric calculations and measurements.

Science Sleuths (Video Discovery),which has been a laser disc series, is nowalso available as a CD program. In TheVolume 2: Mysteries of the Biogene Picnic

one of the four problems in the series anumber ofpeople who attended the companypicnic are experiencing alarming symptomssuch as severe nausea and vomiting. Studentsmust figure out the cause of their medicaldistress by reading newspaper articles,exploring data bases (such as one that liststhe effects ofvarious chemicals on the humansystem), and using a variety of lab tools suchas thermometers, ph meters, scales andchemical analyses on objects found at thepicnic.

The eighth grade genetics unit ofSocial Science 2000 (Decision DevelopmentCorporation) explains the problem of the"lost children of Argentina." During thePeronista regime, many Argentines werekidnapped and killed by the dictator's secretpolice. These desaparecidos left behind themseveral hundred children who had livinggrandparents but no parents. After the regimeended, los abuelos began to locate andidentify their lost grandchildren throughapplying the principles of genetics andheredity. In the genetics unit, students usethe data base of genetic characteristics ofthe children and the grandparents and theprinciples to reproduce the matching process.

All of these programs, like theadventure-style game programs, will be mosteffective if students work cooperatiVely tosolve the problems posed to them. TomSnyder Productions markets software andvideo discs in which cooperative learning is

at the heart of the problem-solving process.The Great Solar System Rescue, The GreatOcean Rescue, Rainforest Researchers andthe Science Court series are among thescience titles it produces.

Application and Modeling SoftwareApplication and modeling tools are

the most open-ended of programs becausestudents usually enter the data themselvesfor the simulated or real-life problems theyare studying. These programs enable studentsto play "what if...?" in a safe, simulatedenvironment. There are generic tools such asspreadsheets and graphing programs that canbe applied to a wide variety of investigations.Other tools are more specific to the topicsuch as specially designed geometry andphysics tools.

Many math and science teachers usespreadsheets and graphing programs to helpstudents determine patterns in the real world.For example, students can drop a rubber ballfrom different heights and count the numberof bounces it makes before it stops. Theycan sprout beans and measure the plants'height on a daily basis. They can roll a pairof dice 100 times and see how many timesthey roll a particular number.

In all three of these cases one fromphysical sciences, one from life sciences,and one from probability studies studentscan record numerical data that they canenter into a spreadsheet or graphing program.Spreadsheets display information in tableform and can incorporate formulas thatdescribe the relationships between cells orindividual bits of data. Graphing programscan convert numerical data into a variety ofvisual displays. These displays can makeclear simple relationships (such as greater-than and less-than seen in bar graphs and piegraphs) and complex relationships (such asthose manifested by positive correlationsand normal curves). Both tools can helpstudents form the rules by which functionsare governed.

Specific tools have been designed forinvestigating principles in probability,algebra, geometry, physics, astronomy andchemistry. Some well-known softwarepackages of this kind are The GeometricSupposer: Triangles (SunburstCommunications), Interactive Physics(Knowledge Revolution) and Starry Night(Sienna Software). With a set of geometrytools, students can draw lines, rays, segmentsand angles, labeling the points with thetraditional A, B, C designations. They can

Power Tools - continued on page 7

March 1998 IDRA Newsletter

WHAT IS THE MATTER WITH MATH SCORES?

It is easy to worry about recent news-paper reports on the Third InternationalMathematics and Science Study (TIMSS)results. The performance of U.S. 12th grad-ers is abysmal compared to the rest of theworld, even for our top students. The TIMSSdata are not particularly surprising given thepattern of the TIMSS data released in priormonths showing U.S. eighth grade studentsperforming at a fairly mediocre level andU.S. fourth grade students doing somewhatbetter (TIMSS, 1998). But that is not thewhole story. During the last few years, therehas been good news about test scores aswell.

Performance of U.S. students on ourown National Assessment of EducationalProgress (NAEP) continues to show growthat every level, with Texas making majorgains, especially at the fourth grade level(NAEP, 1997; Fuller, 1998).

In terms of the Texas Assessment ofAcademic Skills (TAAS), all groups ofstudents improved ever since the TAASreplaced the TEAMS test in 1990, with evengreater gains since copies of each test werereleased beginning in 1995. Thisimprovement includes students at everygrade level. Disaggregated data show thatgains are noteworthy even within groupsbroken down by gender, ethnicity, and free-and reduced-price lunch program status(TEA, 1997).

Nevertheless, we continue to see sig-nificant disparities in performance amongthese groups on other assessments at thestate and national levels.

So, what is working and what is not?

What is WorkingIn many classrooms, teachers have

made positive changes in the mathematicsthey teach and how they teach it. Based onthe best thinking of the mathematics educa-tion community, these teachers have: tight-ened the mathematical focus at every gradelevel, provided the depth of understandingstudents desperately need, found appropri-ate ways to use powerful tools such as com-puters and calculators to elevate the level ofmathematics students address, and incorpo-rated all of this within a healthy balance ofbasic skills and more complex thinking andproblem solving.

Students in these classrooms are ac-tively engaged in learning mathematics, by

IN MANY CLASSROOMS,

TEACHERS HAVE MADE

SIGNIFICANT POSITIVE CHANGES

IN THE MATHEMATICS THEY

TEACH AND HOW THEY TEACH IT.

writing about, discussing and demonstrat-ing important mathematical ideas and prob-lems. They know how to work alone and insmall groups to extend their learning.

Even teachers who have always donea good job teaching mathematics have rec-ognized that they must continually improveand shift what they do to prepare their stu-dents for a rich and varied future.

Most of these teachers did not startout teaching this way. In their teacher prepa-ration programs, they like most otherteachers learned that a well-preparedteacher of elementary or secondary math-ematics was one who could clearly explainmathematical procedures and manage largegroup instruction. They learned about thetraditional redundant mathematics curricu-lum that does little to extend what studentsknow and focuses instead on fragmentingmathematics instruction digit by digit toincreasingly larger numbers with essentiallythe same computational rules as the yearbefore. Even though this traditional curricu-lum has included some non-arithmeticstrands of mathematics, most teachers havehad too much to teach and, many of these

other topics were never addressed in depthor at all.

Several factors contribute to teach-ers' ability to improve their teaching andtheir students' learning. Certainly, effectiveprofessional development is critical to im-proving what happens in mathematics class-rooms. In Texas, a statewide network ofprofessional development in mathematicsand science makes such quality professionaldevelopment available and cost-effectivefor educators throughout the state (TexasSSI, 1997a). This program provides a seriesof modules and institutes focused on theTexas Essential Knowledge and Skills(TEKS).

The TEKS themselves can provide apowerful positive influence on what hap-pens in classrooms. They represent a strongconsensus-based mathematics curriculumthat has somewhat sharpened the focus ofmathematics instruction at every grade level.They are comprehensive yet forward-think-ing. The TAAS will reflect these TEKS as ofspring 1999, thus providing a positive driv-ing influence on classroom instruction.

What is Not WorkingIn some schools, concern about stu-

dent performance on measures such as theTAAS have led to less than constructiveapproaches, to say the least. It is useful forteachers to know what will be assessed, butit is not useful to overemphasize exercisesthat look like sample test items. It is both

What is the Matter - continued on page 7

AATIONAL ASSESSMENT OF EDUCATION PROGRESS

'1996 MATHEMATICS TEST

Students

Fourth GradeNational TexasAverage Average

Eighth GradeNational TexasAverage Average

All.. ,

222 229 271 270

African American 200 212 242 249

Anglo 231 242 281 285

Hispanic 205 216 250 256

Students in -Tit10 Programs 200 213 244 249

Students in Free- or Reduced- 207 215 252 252

Price Lunch Programs

...,,Source: 1996 - Mathematics: Report Card for the Nation and the Stn es, National Assessment ofEducational:progresS'(Washington, D.C.: Office of Educational Research and Iniprovement, U.S.

Government Printing, Offiee, February 1997).

March 1998 6 IDRA Newsletter

What is the Matter - continued from page 6

dangerous and inadequate to so stronglystress the TAAS that teachers are told tohave their students practice TAAS-like itemsto the exclusion of all other instruction.Even if short-term gains may appear (whichis not always the case), these gains cannotpossibly serve students as they progressthrough the mathematics curriculum.

Trying to build a brick house on afoundation of shaky twig supports can onlylead to trouble. As students attempt to learnthe mathematics that come in the next gradeor the one after that, they are forced eachtime to memorize fragmented rules and pro-cedures since they do not have the deepunderstanding that would enable them toanchor their learning and make their memo-rization more efficient. Not only will theylearn only a shallow level of mathematics,but their future test scores may also be injeopardy as their misconceptions and for-gotten facts multiply.

In some schools, teachers work pri-marily in isolation from each other, eachtrying his or her own strategies and ap-proaches, sometimes with different programsand materials. This piecemeal approach toteaching may provide a high degree ofteacher autonomy, but it accomplishes littlefor students who progress from one philoso-phy to the next, from one program to thenext, or from one set of standards to the next.There is little opportunity to build on whatstudents have previously learned. Teachers

are likely to become frustrated and give uptheir efforts when they operate without theinteractions with and support from eachother.

Furthermore, some teachers, admin-istrators, parents and students continue tooperate with a belief system about who isable to do what in mathematics. We havebelieved the myth that only certain studentscan think at a high level and only certainstudents can think mathematically. We havebought into the idea that every student needsto be proficient in arithmetic before he orshe can do anything else more challengingand interesting in mathematics, in spite ofmounting evidence to the contrary.

For example, a middle-aged man Imet recently who I will call "Robert"confessed to me that he did not yet know hismultiplication facts. He thought he mighthave a learning disability since he nevercould figure out how he was supposed tomemorize them. In spite of this lack ofcomputational facility, Robert had earned abachelor's degree in physics, a master'sdegree in economics, and a doctorate inelectrical engineering. He travels aroundthe world designing computer chip manu-facturing plants, without knowing his multi-plication facts.

We simply know better than to with-hold the best part of mathematics from stu-dents just because they cannot yet recitetheir facts or do long division with three-digit divisors. And we surely know better

than to assume that only certain students cando well in mathematics.

With varied instructional approaches(especially emphasizing mathematical com-munication, connections, reasoning andproblem solving), there is no reason anystudent cannot learn far more mathematicsthan we have ever thought possible. Wecannot let our inadequacies handcuff stu-dents. For every student we might judge asunable to learn mathematics, some teachersomewhere can disprove that judgment.Thank goodness.

What is NextHow can educators do what is best for

every student? Educators must deeplyexamine beliefs about students andmathematics. When teachers andadministrators say "All students can learn,"how is this statement implemented for theleast successful students without holdingback the most successful?

Teachers must be armed to makeprofessional decisions by participating inongoing high quality professionaldevelopment.

Teachers should be supported in se-lecting quality instructional materials thatsupport their philosophy and the standardsthey are implementing, such as the TEKS(Texas SSI, 1997b).

Teachers should learn the mosteffective teaching approaches possible to

What is the Matter - continued on page 12

Power Tools - continued from page 5

then bisect the lines and angles or createparallel and perpendicular lines. Theprogram also measures angle degrees andlengths of selected segments. Usingformulas, students can calculate areas andperimeters. Now the fun begins. Studentscan create triangles and see how the lengthsof sides and angles vary and see therelationships between sides and angles. Theycan work with parallelograms and see howbase and height affect area and perimeter.

Through experimentation, guided bythe teacher, students can discover a host ofbasic geometric principles. As with usingmath manipulatives, students understandconcepts more profoundly and thereforeretain them better than through the usualtextbook, paper and pencil-only approaches.

A probability example may help us seethis better. I have taught elementary andmiddle school students some basicprobability concepts by having them rolldice or spin spinners and record their

answers. We then notice patterns, such aswhen rolling two dice, the numbers two,three, 11 and 12 are less probable than six,seven and eight. It usually takes many rolls,however, to establish such a pattern.

With a set ofcomputerized probabilitytools, I can have the computer roll two dice1,000 times and record the results in lessthan a minute. I can import that data into aspreadsheet and then link it into a bar graphand see the pattern clearly in five minutes. Inmost cases, these computer tools should notreplace work with math manipulatives, ratherthey should serve as an extension ofmanipulative-based lessons.

A final example is drawn frommodeling tools used for chemistry. Studentscan simulate acid-base combinations,discovering how atomic number and electroncomposition correspond to chemicalcombinations. In the process, they may mixtwo elements that in a real lab would resultin an explosion or a toxic gas. In the computersimulation example, they learn about the

consequences without risking life and limb.Again, the computer simulations should notreplace actual lab work, but can make someotherwise impossible lab experiencespossible and accelerate learning aboutpatterns in the real world of science.

In an upcoming issue of the IDRANewsletter, look for Part II of this articlewhere I will address various portabletechnologies and telecommunicationstechnologies, including the Internet.

ResourcesGreen, L.C. "Teachers and Instructional Technology.:

Wise or Foolish Choices,- IDRA Newsletter (SanAntonio, Texas: Intercultural DevelopmentResearch Association, November-December1995).

Laura Chris Green, Ph.D., is a senior educationassociate in the IDRA Division of ProfessionalDevelopment. Comments and questions may besent to her via e-mail at idra@idra.org.

March 1998 IDRA Newslettert3

Fifth Annual IDRA

1-4 Sew N°44.4xThe Week of the Young Child

Early Childhood Educator's Institute'

Meet nationally-known facilitators!Interact with other early childhood educators!Visit schools showcasing innovative programs!Take home lots of ideas for your classroom!

Enjoy San Antonio during Fiesta!Meet Latina author Dr. Carmen Tafolla!

April 20 through April 23, 1998Radisson Downtown Market Square San Antonio

Presented by: Intercultural Development Research Association

Pre-institute on LiteracyMonday, April 20, I998

Critical Issues in Reading DevelopmentThis pre-institute on literaCy is designed to provide early child-hood educators with a whole day of training and preparationfocused on early childhood reading. The pre-institute will giveteachers and administrators an in-depth view of how readingdevelops in young learners: Hands-on activities, panel discus-sions and reflections will fie part of this one-day event. Par-ticipants will analyze the following critical issues:

tkh Reading development in pre-kindergarten andkindergarten

Emergent literacy

4Z2t, Oral language development related to readingdevelopment

Concepts, strategies and skills needed to becomeeffective readers

4:1 Appropriate literature for young readers

Shared reading

How young children become readers and writers

gzt The role of the native language

Biliteracy as an attainable goal

School VisitsTake this opportunity to visitmodel early childhood centers.Institute participants will travelto high-performing, high-minor-ity sites in the San Antonio areathat are effectively working withdiverse learners. These includeHead Start classrooms, a bilin-gual cluster school, a dual lan-guage bilingual program andtechnology-integrated class-rooms.

Concurrent SessionsConcurrent sessions will be heldthroughout the institute to pro-vide participants with the lateston language and literacy devel-opment. The sessions will be ledby practitioners who have testedstrategies in the classroom. Par-ticipants will select sessions ineach of the "key" areas: class-room organization, oral languagedevelopment, motor develop-ment (play and dance), parentalinvolvement, core curriculum,and assessment.

Visit IDRA's web site:www.idra.org!

Institute: $75 each (includes reception, institute sessions, school visits, and Thursday luncheon)Pre-institute on Literacy: $45 each (includes pre-institute sessions and reception)

Reception only: $15

Sponsored by the Intercultural Development Research Association (IDRA). Supporting IDRA projects include theDesegregation Assistance Center South Central Collaborative for Equity and the STAR Center (the compre-hensive regional assistance center that serves Texas via a collaboration of IDRA, the Dana Center at UT Austinand RMC Research Corporation). Hotel reservations can be made directly by calling 210/224-7155.

MondayPre-institute seminarfeaturing early reading andthe preschool child. Booksigning and wine and cheesereception in the eveningwith Dr. Carmen Tafolla.

TuesdayMorning session led by Dr.Maria "Cuca" RobledoMontecel, IDRA executivedirector. Carmen Tafollawill be the keynote speaker.She will also present acreative workshop on howto read to children. The firstseries of concurrentsessions will be held in theafternoon. At anotherlocation, hundreds of earlychildhood educators fromacross the state will focuson working with families ina distance learning sessionvia video conference.

WednesdaySchool visits all morning.The second series ofconcurrent sessions in theafternoon will be presentedby administrators andteachers from successfulearly childhood programs.

ThursdaySchool visits all morning.The conference will closewith a luncheon featuringkeynote speaker Ezekial"Zeke" Perez, the 1 997National Bilingual Teacherof the Year (awarded byNordstrom and HispanicMagazine). There will alsobe a folk dancing group toentertain participants duringthe banquet.

For more information or a registration brochure contact Hilaria Bauer or Carol Chavez at IDRA, 210/684-8180; e-mail: idra@idra.org.

March 1998 8 IDRA Newsletter

REFLECTIONS

A CENTRAL ROLE FOR SCIENCE EDUCATION PARTNERSHIP

I have drawn a number of conclusions about effective science education partnerships based on myrewarding experience establishing the Kids Investigating and Discovering Science (KIDS) program at theUniversity of California, Irvine (UCI).

I targeted the Santa Ana Unified School District (USD), which has an enrollment o f more than 49,000students, of whom 92 percent are minority and 64 percent are limited-English-proficient (LEP) thegreatest concentration of such students in California.

With colleagues at UCI, I began the KIDS program five years ago to provide Latino children from low-income families with an engaging and challenging university-based science "camp." The focus of the

Eloy Rodriguez, PhD. program is project-based learning on topics at the forefront of biology, especially field biology. We wantthe children to actually envision themselves as young scientists. They wear white laboratory coats and work

side-by-side with teachers, research faculty, undergraduate students and graduate students. In this respect, the program is truly anintergenerational model of teaching and learning.

We made our laboratories and field research sites places where children from kindergarten through middle school can discover andinvestigate the mysteries of science. The university campus has become a place in which low-income children can pose, investigate andanswer fundamental questions on such topics as function, adaptation, evolution, gravity, sound, inertia, force, velocity and accelerationin an environmental framework with enthusiastic parents, compassionate student assistants and gifted bilingual teachers from the schooldistrict. Bilingualism is crucial for the success of this program since the majority of KIDS students and parents speak Spanish only.

The true partnership is that of the KIDS program and the parents. This sprung from my own experience. My educational successin a poor south Texas school was largely due to my mother's active involvement in PTA and teacher-parent conferences. Therefore, theprogram insists that parents be made participatory partners in this unique endeavor.

University faculty, graduate and undergraduate students, parents, teachers and principals all consider the KIDSprogram to be a greatsuccess. Evaluation data show this to be true. We have seen that a partnership between the university campus and public schools can enableminority children to experience the joy and excitement of science and can have an enormous impact on the children's learning and interestin science. A clear indicator of success is the students' improvement in their grades at their "normal" school (a term students used toseparate KIDS-UCI from their school) and comments from parents indicating that their children are more involved in their studies.

Our basic goal for the KIDS program is to develop a generation of children who learn to think and understand the importance ofeducation in order to go to college and pursue a career in the sciences. The KIDS program is a year-round science partnership betweenUCI and the Santa Ana USD. In the summer, children from Santa Ana USD schools come to the university campus where they becomepart of a research university. The effects of this approach have been profound. Outstanding Santa Ana USD teachers who have workedwith us in designing and carrying out the program are the children's teachers during the academic year. They tell us: "The KIDS students...value learning about science and see it as very important, fun and challenging," "Both boys and girls have begun to see themselves asscientists," and "I am constantly confronted by the KIDS students with their question of 'whencan we go to UCI to study more science?'"

Distinguished minority faculty serve as role models and mentors to the school children and to minority graduate and undergraduatestudents who work alongside public school teachers in the program. The KIDS students typically have their first minority scientist rolemodels in the university faculty and students. Faculty members visit the children's schools during the academic year, and undergraduatesserve as tutors at KIDS schools, continuing to serve as significant role models.

I want to re-emphasize the critical importance o f parents as partners. Parents serve as volunteer homework mentors and some are paidto assist in teaching, mentoring and serving as staff. Parent programs are offered at school sites in the community daily after the summercamp ends. The activities strengthen parents' skills in supporting their children's learning. Principals at the children's schools tell us,"These have become some of our most active parents at school. They are eager to share their hopes and their plans for their students toattend college...Most of our KIDS parents are participating in our Parent Institute for Quality Education."

Finally, I want to underscore the value ofbuilding on an existing regional infrastructure that has solid community support, if one exists.An important factor contributing to the rapid and continuing success of the KIDS program is that it has been implemented in conjunctionwith the Student-Teacher Education Partnership (STEP). This is a collaborative effort involving the predominantly minority Santa AnaUSD the largest school district in Orange County and institutions of higher education and other school districts in the region. STEPhas been in existence for nearly 15 years and is nationally recognized as a model of school-college collaboration. It has had support atthe highest levels, including UCI' s Chancellor and Santa Ana USD's superintendent.

Notable effects of the KIDS science partnership have occurred in the children's' school-year experiences. Teachers tell us, "Manyof the KIDS students have become the 'leaders' in their classrooms in the area of science and problem solving." Principals tell us, "Due tothe fact that four of our teachers have been KIDS teachers, we've been 'infected' with KIDS philosophy and focus on inquiry." It can anddoes work schoolwide across all areas of the curriculum.

A Central Role - continued on page 10

March 1998 9 IDRA Newsletter

MAKE NO MISTAKE THE GOAL IS EQUITY

The IDRA DesegregationAssistance Center South CentralCollaborative has expanded its nameby adding the word "equity." The centeris now the Desegregation AssistanceCenter South Central Collaborativefor Equity (SCCE). The change isintended to capture one of the goals ofschool desegregation that is moredifficult to achieve than merely creatingracially balanced schools. Educationalequity speaks to the need to createquality, effective learning experiencesand to provide access to thoseexperiences for all students regardlessof their race, sex or national origin.The learning experiences mustempower students with knowledge,skills and competencies to expand theirlife options.

This focus and the range ofactivities that the center has undertakenin school districts throughout Arkansas,Louisiana, New Mexico, Oklahomaand Texas (federal region VI) is notnew for the center or for the InterculturalDevelopment Research Association(IDRA).

Several articles in the IDRANewsletter have described educationalequity as one of the goals of schooldesegregation' (Johnson, 1997; Scott,1997; Scott, 1996; Scott, 1995; Scott1990). The Desegregation AssistanceCenter SCCE assists school districtsin implementing equity plans that openaccess to curriculum for all students.An example is the work the center hasdone to implement the Playtime IsScience curriculum at the earlychildhood and early elementary levelsin schools (see Scott, 1994). Thisequity-based curriculum in hands-onscience is undergirded by thephilosophy that, according to

Educational Equity Concepts (thedevelopers of the curriculum), "Science isfor everyone, not just a chosen few." Thisphilosophical position is shared by IDRA.

IDRA's work in making math andscience more accessible to girls,particularly to minority girls, has beenwell documented in several articles(Yanez-Perez, 1996; Bauer, 1996;Mahoney and Gchachu, 1996; De Lunaand Montes, 1995; De Luna, 1995; Salas,1994; De Luna, 1994; Sosa, 1992).

IDRA's Engineering, Science andMath Increases Job Aspirations (ES-MIJA) project helped middle schoolminority girls become and remain excitedabout math and science. It addressed aserious educational concern about the lownumber of girls and minorities pursuingmath and science related careers. TheDesegregation Assistance Center SCCEis concerned about this issue and has madeit a specific focus of the center's equityplanning and school reform agenda forthis program year. The center is currentlyproducing a training video on young girlsand science that is designed to assistschools in addressing these concerns.

Clearly, we must be pro-active inmaking schools work for all children,including in math and science. We shouldmake no mistake, the goal is equity, notjust legal desegregation.

ResourcesBauer, H. "Scientific Literacy is Child's Play,"

IDRA Newsletter (San Antonio, Texas:Intercultural Development ResearchAssociation, April 1996).

De Luna, A. "Discovering Minority Females inMath and Science," IDRA Newsletter (SanAntonio, Texas: Intercultural DevelopmentResearch Association, March 1995).

De Luna, A. "Recognizing and Eliminating Barriersfor Minority Girls in Math and Science," IDRANewsletter (San Antonio, Texas: Intercultural

Bradley Scott, M.A.

Development Research Association, September1994).

De Luna, A. and F. Montes. "MIJA Girls GettingExcited about Math: Assessing the Outcomes of theMIJA Program," IDRA Newsletter (San Antonio,Texas: Intercultural Development ResearchAssociation, February 1995).

Johnson, R. "Equal Access to Quality School Facilities,"IDRA Newsletter (San Antonio, Texas: InterculturalDevelopment Research Association, March 1997).

Mahoney, K. and K. Gchachu. "Making Math andScience Relevant," IDRA Newsletter (San Antonio,Texas: Intercultural Development ResearchAssociation, June-July 1996).

Salas, C. "Gender Equity in Math and ScienceEducation,"IDRA Newsletter (San Antonio, Texas:Intercultural Development Research Association,March 1994).

Scott, B. "A Different Kind of Will: Educational Equityand the School Reform Movement," IDRANewsletter (San Antonio, Texas: InterculturalDevelopment Research Association, January 1 997).

Scott, B. "Everything Old Seems New Again...Or Is It?Recognizing Aversive Racism," IDRA Newsletter(San Antonio, Texas: Intercultural DevelopmentResearch Association, February 1996).

Scott, B. "The Fourth Generation of Desegregation andCivil Rights," IDRA Newsletter (San Antonio,Texas: Intercultural Development ResearchAssociation, January 1995).

Scott, B. "Playtime Is Science: Parents and ChildrenHave Fun Building Science Skills," IDRANewsletter (San Antonio, Texas: InterculturalDevelopment Research Association, June-July1994).

Scott, B. "In Pursuit of Equity: An Idea Whose TimeHas Come,"IDRA Newsletter (San Antonio, Texas:Intercultural Development Research Association,September 1990).

Sosa, A. "MIJA Aiming for Higher Ground," IDRANewsletter (San Antonio, Texas: InterculturalDevelopment Research Association, September1992).

Yanez-Perez, A. "IDRA's MIJA Program Expands,"IDRA Newsletter (San Antonio, Texas: InterculturalDevelopment Research Association, March 1996).

Bradley Scott, MA., is a senior educationassociate in the IDRA Division of ProfessionalDevelopment and director of the IDRADesegregation Assistance Center South CentralCollaborative for Equity. Comments andquestions may be sent to him via e-mail atidra®idra.org.

A Central Role continued from page 9

I urge colleagues at other colleges and universities to collaborate with school districts in creating similar programs enabling childrento participate in the university scientific life. In these partnerships, the university campus becomes a truly common ground for fostering

. the love and learning of science.

Eloy Rodriguez, Ph.D., is the James A. Perkins Professor of Environmental Studies at Cornell University. A native of Edinburg, Texas, he is the firstUS.-born Latino to hold an endowed position in the sciences. This article is reprinted with permission from the author and the publication CommonGround.

March 1998 10 IDRA Newsletter1 1

"SUGAR AND SPICE AND EVERYTHING NICE..."

GENDER INEQUITIES IN MATHEMATICS

For many centuries, poems and storieshave cast boys and girls into two separatecategories girls are sweet and boys aretough. Many societies have encouragedsexist portrayals of the genders. Thishas led to stereotypes asserting that girlsare too emotional and too soft for mathand science careers. Some people believethat girls just naturally do not do well inhighly technical fields. Despite the successof many women in the field of mathematics,these stereotypes continue to pervadeclassrooms and workplaces.

Boys and girls are victims of preju-dice in the form of unfair treatment andmiseducation. This is due in part to stereo-types that penetrate the subconscious (andsometimes conscious) thoughts of teachers,administrators, parents and students in class-rooms all around the world.

Anita Tijerina ReviUtr, 111.A.

teachers and girls in school, the plummet ofself-esteem for girls in their teenage years,

the search for selfidentity in high school,gender barriers to higher education and

Historical Women in MathWhile many people have little or no

knowledge of the historical development ofmathematics in different civilizations, thereare women who are credited for theircontributions to the field. Among them isHypatia, a Greek woman born in A.D. 370.She was one of the first women inmathematics who was acknowledged byhistorians of her time. Hypatia was thedaughter of a mathematics professor. Herfather passed on his passion for math to hisdaughter and saw to it that Hypatia receivedan accelerated education. She became aphilosopher and mathematician.

Although Hypatia's success was notacknowledged by many leaders of her time,she was well respected and accepted by otherscholars. She taught mathematics andphilosophy at the university in Athens. Shetaught students from Europe, Asia andAfrica. She made a number of contributionsthat were either lost or ignored until severalcenturies later. These contributions includemathematical treatises, astronomicalinventions, textbooks and scientificmeasurement tools. Because her intelligencewas threatening and her beliefs were counterto the Christian hierarchy ofAlexandria, shewas attacked by mobs and was beaten andburned to death in A.D. 415 (Osen, 1974).

A notable female mathematician fromcontemporary times is Edna Lee Paisano.

Paisano was born in 1948on the Nez Perce reservation and was stillworking in the field of mathematics in 1993when her story was written by Teri Perl inWomen and Numbers: Lives of WomenMathematicians Plus Discovery Activities(1993). Paisano is a Nez Perce and LagunaPueblo Native American from Idaho.Paisano was economically disadvantaged.When she was a young girl, her familyearned money by raising cows and makingmoccasins and purses to sell.

Paisano faced the struggle ofbecominga mathematician in much the same way thatother minority women do. She was forced tomake the decision between becoming amathematician and pursuing a field thatwould be "useful to her community." Shedid not realize at the time that mathematicscould be useful to her people. In college, shemajored in sociology and received a master'sdegree in social work, which eventually ledher to a federal job with the U.S. CensusBureau. She was the first Native Americanto work for the bureau. Paisano was finallyable to use her skills for computerprogramming and statistics. As a result, shehelped her people receive more equitabletreatment from census bureau data collectors.

Hypatia and Edna Lee Paisano areamong numerous remarkable women whosucceeded in spite of the inequities theyfaced. It is these inequities that IDRA worksto keep out of today's classrooms.

Inequities in SchoolsIn general and across academic

subjects, girls have been shortchanged. Myraand David Sadker wrote about the inequitiessuffered in schools by girls and boys in theirbook, Failing at Fairness: How Our SchoolsCheat Girls (1994). The Sadkers describemany situations of struggle, pointing inparticular to the lack of interaction between

the miseducation of boys.For years, the Sadkers have

studied sexism in schools and foundthat many girls are either ignored or

belittled by adults and peers. While teachersmay not recognize the distinctions they createin the classroom, students begin to internalizeand enact the prejudices. For example, girlstend to be silenced or angered by the factthat they receive little attention from teachers,and many children and adults have shownthat they accept the status quo. In fact, adultsoften fall into school age gender roles whenthey are in classroom settings.

Other problems that the Sadkersmention are the lack of role models, theforcing of gender roles on boys and girls andthe lack of adult-based motivation. Theyfurther explain:

While boys rise to the top of the class,they also land at the bottom. Labeled asproblems in need of special control orassistance, boys are likely to fail acourse, miss promotion or drop out ofschool... Girls suffer silent losses, butboys' problems are loud enough to beheard throughout the school (Sadkerand Sadker, 1994).

Essentially, boys and girls face situations ofinjustice due to stereotypes, competitionand misinformation.

Useful Strategies for the ClassroomAccording to a study conducted by the

Women's Educational Equity Act (WEEA)program and the University ofNevada, thereare at least nine areas of need regardingsuccessful involvement of girls inmathematics. They are:

changing attitudes about math,proving the relevance and use of math,improving the learning environment,increasing access to technology,improving spatial visualization skills,improving test-taking skills,increasing parental involvement,working with school counselors, andworking with administrators and otherteachers to promote math (WEAA, 1990).

Sugar and Spice continued on page 12

March 1998 Efa IDRA Newsletter

1

Sugar and Spice continued from page II

In the publication Add-Ventures forGirls: Building Math Confidence, JuniorHigh Teacher's Guide, the authors state:

At the elementary level, girls oftenenjoy math and attain achievementlevels equal to or higher than those ofboys; however, by the time they reachhigh school, many bright girls becomedisinterested in mathematics, enroll infewer advanced math classes, achievelower math scores than boys on collegeplacement tests, and are less likely tochoose careers that are math-related(WEEA, 1990).

WEEA recognizes that there is no onereason this happens, but there are severaleffective strategies that teachers and schoolscan embrace to create equitable mathematicsinstruction. WEEA has created guides forteachers at the middle school and elementaryschool levels. The strategies that WEEArecommends to change attitudes about mathare listed in the box below. These strategiesare only the beginning. In the WEEA teacherguides, there are hundreds more along with

resources with activities for students of allages. It is also important to consider raceand gender when searching for relevantmaterials and meaningful activities(Zaslaysky, 1994). The more sense a subjectmakes in a student's mind, the moreenthusiastic he or she will become.

IDRA is dedicated to ensuringequitable education for all students. It offersinformation and training in the priority areaof gender equity. Research and piloting hascreated some solutions. But these must beembraced by entire school communities tosucceed comprehensively.

ResourcesKogelman, S. and J. Warren. Mind Over Math (New

York, NY: McGraw-Hill, 1978).Osen, L. M. Women in Mathematics (Boston, Mass.:

The Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 1974).Pert, T. Women and Numbers: Lives of Women

Mathematicians Plus Discovery Activities (Tetra,Calif.: Wide World Publishing, 1993).

Sadker, M. and D. Sadker. Failing at Fairness: Howour Schools Cheat Girls (New York, NY:Touchstone, 1994).

Tobias, S. Overcoming Math Anxiety (New York, NY:W.W. Norton, 1978).

STRATEGIES FOR EQUITABLE MATHEMATICS INSTRUCTION

1. Publicly and privately acknowledge students' academic and intellectualaccomplishments (not their effort).

2. Make sure that girls get enough practice that they can be confident withtheir math skills.

3. Use slates or individual dry erase boards to encourage low pressure andspontaneous answers.

4. Structure math learning activities so that all students will be able toachieve success at some level.

5. Incorporate math problems that call for many approaches with severalright answers.

6. Provide opportunities for estimating, guessing and checking.7. Recognize students' math achievement, especially improvement. Create

a "math star" bulletin board.8. Help girls to recognize that it is okay to acknowledge their own

mathematical ability without feeling embarrassed or conceited.9. Create opportunities for cooperative learning and minimize overt

competition between classmates.10. Practice math skills on computers.11. Overcome personal anxiety about math with resources such as Mind

Over Math by S. Kogelman and J. Warren and Overcoming MathAnxiety by S. Tobias.

12. Turn the tables in class and let students ask the teacher questions aboutmath.

13. Use girls as peer tutors in math.

Source: Add-Ventures for Girls: Building Math Confidence Junior High Teacher's Guide by Women'sEducational Equity Act Program and the University of Nevada (Newton, Mass.: WEEA PublishingCenter, 1990).

WEEA (Women's Educational Equity Act) Programand the University of Nevada. Add-Ventures forGirls: Building Math Confidence, Junior HighTeacher's Guide (Newton, Mass.: WEEAPublishing Center, 1990).

Zaslaysky, C. Multicultural Math: Hands-On MathActivities Around the World (New York, NY:Scholastic Professional Books, 1994).

Anita Tijerina Revilla, M.A., is an educationassistant in the IDRA Division of ProfessionalDevelopment. Comments and questions may besent to her via e-mail at idra@idra.org.

What is the Matter - continued from page 7

make mathematics meaningful andapproachable to a wider range of studentsthan ever before.

Finally, schools can multiply theirefforts to improve their mathematics pro-grams by working schoolwide toward com-mon goals, building on a common founda-tion of beliefs, and utilizing common mate-rials and professional development.

Changing what and how we teach ishard to do. Sound standards, like the TEKS,provide a good starting point, and knowl-edgeable, confident mathematics studentsare the end product. Along this road, there ismuch work to do in every school to under-stand the mathematics curriculum and learnnew strategies for teaching and assessing it.The cost is high, but the investment is essen-tial. Our students deserve nothing less.

ResourcesFuller, E.J. (compiler). Texas Highlights from the

National Assessment of Educational Progress inMathematics (Austin, Texas: Texas StatewideSystemic Initiative, 1998).

NA EP (National Assessment of Educational Progress).1996 Mathematics: Report Card for the Nationand the States (Washington, D.C.: Office of Edu-cational Research and Improvement, U.S. Govern-ment Printing Office, February 1997).

TEA (Texas Education Agency). 1997 Interim Reporton Texas Public Schools: A Report to the 75thTexas Legislature (Austin, Texas: Texas Educa-tion Agency, 1997).

Texas SSI (Statewide Systemic Initiative). Texas Teach-ers Empowered for Achievement in Mathematics:1997 Guidebook (Austin, Texas: Texas StatewideSystemic Initiative, 1997).

Texas SSI (Statewide Systemic Initiative). Issue Brief#1: What It Means to Implement the TEKS (Aus-tin, Texas: Texas Statewide Systemic Initiative,1997).

TIMSS (Third International Mathematics and ScienceStudy). Internet posting <http:wwwcsteep.bc.edu/timss> (February 1998).

Cathy L. Seeley, Ed.D., is the director of policyand professional developmentfor the Texas State-wide Systemic Initiative at the Charles A. DanaCenter at the University of Texas at Austin.Comments and questions may be directed to hervia e-mail at cseeley@maitutexas.edu.

March 1998 IDRA NewsletterI3

TEXAS PREFRESHMAN ENGINEERING PROGRAM:

FILLING THE PIPELINE FOR.WORKFORCE DIVERSITY

The Texas Prefreshman EngineeringProgram (PREP) identifies high achievingmiddle school and high school students whoare potential engineers or scientists and givesthem reinforcement to successfully pursuecollege engineering and science studies.Women and minority students are specialtarget groups. The program was created inthe summer of 1979 by a partnership of 20community and senior colleges in 11 cities.

PREP is an academically intensesummer program that stresses developmentof abstract reasoning skills, problem-solvingskills, and career opportunities in engineeringand science. Participants commit themselvesto eight weeks of intellectually demandingclasses and laboratories. They complete classassignments and laboratory projects andtake scheduled examinations, including afinal examination in each course.

All participants are expected tomaintain a 75 average or better performancestandard during the program. Each studentearns a final grade, which is reported to hisor her school. Participants can return forsecond and third summer components.

Since a significant number of minoritystudents come from low-income families,PREP charges no tuition or fees. In this way,low income is not a barrier for applicants.Also, PREP has been designated as a serviceprovider by the local Summer YouthEmployment and Training Program(SYETP) sponsors.

Some poverty-level participants canearn at least $800 for their PREP experience.During the school year, many PREP studentsparticipate in an academic co-curricularprogram conducted by the local chapters ofthe Texas Alliance for Minorities inEngineering.

In 1997, PREP served 2,627 students.The program staff included 160 instructorswho are college faculty members, middleschool and high school teachers, an AirForce officer, and civilian engineers andscientists. Also, 161 college undergraduatesin engineering and science served as programassistant mentors. The administrative andinstitutional support staff consisted of 67individuals. The total support was morethan $3 million that year. There were 452participants who received SYETP stipends,and most sites served free lunches to low-

income students through the TexasDepartment ofHuman Services summer foodservice program.

Financial and full-time in-kind staffsupport comes from various sources: local,state and national colleges and universities;military commands; Texas government;Texas Higher Education Coordinating BoardEisenhower Program; NASA; U.S.Department of Energy and other governmentagencies; public and private industry;professional organizations; individuals; localschool systems; and SYETP sponsors.

Many People Had Low Expectationsfor Minority Students

When PREP first started 19 yearsago, the conventional wisdom was that itwas doomed to failure because teenagestudents would never want to spend eightweeks during the summer studyingmathematics. Furthermore, minority studentswould not succeed in this structured anddisciplined environment.

In 1979, an article was published in aSan Antonio magazine concerning theestablishment of an engineering program atUTSA. The article included the followingstatement: "The Mexican Americancommunity is not where engineers comefrom anyway" (Walker, 1979).

Science magazine dedicated itsNovember 1992 issue to minorities in thescience pipeline. One interviewee, who as ahigh school student participated in anintervention program, commented that wespend too much effort getting students tolove science and mathematics instead ofpreparing them academically to pursue theseareas (Sims, 1992).

This is simply a variation on a themefrom previous years when our able minorityhigh school students were urged to takeshop courses instead of college preparatorycourses, so that they could enter the laborforce immediately upon high schoolgraduation.

PREP Proves Success is PossibleNow 19 years ofoperation have belied

the predictions. Nearly 14,000 students havepursued PREP; 80 percent have beenminority and 54 percent have been women.The high school graduation rate is 99.9

Manuel P. Berriozabal, Ph.D.

percent, the college attending rate is 91percent, and the college graduation rate is87 percent. Fifty-four percent of the collegegraduates have majored in science orengineering.

Although 50 percent of our studentshave come from economically at-riskcircumstances, PREP has proved that, underthe guidance of competent and caringteachers, these students can acquire qualityeducational preparation to succeed incollege. PREP scholars develop skills thatare becoming increasingly important infunctioning and thriving in our technologicalsociety.

Some explanations for the success ofthe PREP partnership include the following.

PREP is a well-organized and highlystructured mathematics-based academicenrichment program that stresses thedevelopment of abstract reasoning skillsand problem-solving skills.PREP has high but reasonableexpectations of its participants.PREP staff consist of competent andcaring teachers, program assistants andadministrators who have a strongcommitment to student achievement, inparticular to minority studentachievement.PREP is an inclusive program thatwelcomes minority students and non-minority students.PREP maintains a data base of all of itsgraduates.Each current sponsor and benefactorreceives a copy of the annual report.As appropriate, sponsors and benefactorsreceive diskettes and listings asauthorized by our graduates to use forrecruitment opportunities in specialprograms, college entrance, andpermanent or temporary employment.

PREP has received several state and nationalcitations as a model intervention programfrom

National Research Council MathematicalScience Education Board ReportMoving Beyond Myths,U.S. Department of Energy Mathematicsand Science Leadership Developmentand Recognition Program,Mathematical Association of America

Prefreshman Engineering - continued on page 14

March 1998 ra IDRA Newsletter4

Prefreshman Engineering - continued from page 13

SUMMA Project,United Negro College Fund,Hispanic EngineerNational AchievementAward Conference,Society ofMexican American Engineersand Scientists (1992 BRAVO Award),Ford Motor Company Hispanic Salute,Lone Star Showcase and Salute toCommunity Service,1994 Hispanic Heritage Award inEducation,U.S. Department of Education,Texas Senate, andBusiness-Higher Education Forum of theAmerican Council on Education (1992Anderson Medal Competition Certificateof Merit).

In 1996, NASA awarded a $1 milliongrant in support of a collaborative effort of

the Hispanic Association of Colleges andUniversities (HACU) and the University ofTexas at San Antonio (UTSA) to replicatePREP in seven Hispanic-serving collegesand universities outside Texas. In 1997, SanAntonio PREP was a recipient of aPresidential Award for Excellence inScience, Mathematics and EngineeringMentoring.

Lessons LearnedWe must condemn programs that

substitute acquisition of computermanipulative skills for intellectualdevelopment. We must support generouscollege scholarship programs for low-income high school students who excel incollege preparatory programs in high school.

As in the PREP program, we musthave high expectations of our students. They

will learn that through hard work andcommitment, they can become educated andproductive citizens, masters-not servantsof our technology and leaders of our society.

ResourcesSims, C. "From Inner-City L.A. to Yale Engineering,"

Science (November 13, 1992) Volume 258, 1232.Walker, T. "The Rise and Fall ofUTSA,"S.A.Magazine

(November 1979).

Manuel P. Berriozabal, Ph.D., is a professor ofmathematics at the University of Texas at SanAntonio and is the coordinator of the TexasPrefreshman Engineering Program. This articleis adapted from "The Texas PrefreshmanEngineering Program: Filling the Pipeline forWorkforce Diversity," proceedings of the 1995National Symposium and Career Fair of theSociety of Mexican American Engineers andScientists. It is used with permission from theauthor.

HIGHLIGHTS OF RECENT IDRA ACTIVITIES

In January, IDRA worked with 8,073teachers, administrators and parentsthrough 88 training and technical assis-tance activities and 141 program sites in10 states plus the United Kingdom. Top-ics included:

+ "Countdown 2000: Equity andthe U.S. Department ofEducation's Seven PriorityInitiatives," Title IVDesegregation and EquityCenters Conference

+ Teacher Renewal+ Two-way Bilingual Program

Design Issues and Models+ IDRA Content Area Program

Enhancement (CAPE) Project+ Focus Group Interview Training

Participating agencies and schooldistricts included:

O Hope Public Schools, ArkansasO Richardson, Independent

School District (ISD), TexasO Pharr San Juan Alamo ISD,

Texas.0. Donna ISD, TexasO Oklahoma City Public Schools4. Clovis Municipal Schools, New

Mexico

/Activity Snapshot-,

Four campuses.in.aschool district in San ArlonlifiareworIcingtogether to.1 ..--- ---,...----:------,...._ 1

irnproyethe quality orcontent area programsfor limited - English - proficienti 1

IDRA, 1-Zi . N N. ii (LEB),,stildents. IDKA is helpingby.uniting teams of content area/teachers,

1English"as a secorIdiangu4(ESL) teachers;ancLcam_pus administrators YY

frOd..(four middle schoolg4 and junior high schools th7O-igh'iiie-IDRA _ r,

Conient Area Program Enhancement (CAPE) project. The project is /it 1

\ \\ 1 \ v

IA i

I I

funded by the Office of BihnrallEducation and Minority Languages IAffairs

. ! 1 1 I

A

(OBEMLA). The team are focusing on the implementation of I' t i d i 1 1curricula and instruction thatare culturally and linguistically appropriate. ;

1 k \IDRA is providing teacher training' on-si e ec ical assistance, task force i/ /". g/ / t lin.

't. sN N,...., ..,.., j.,. , I I1--facilatior.i, curriculumirleylopmerfand action research assistance. The I

new projectisaTectepolnipact more.than 500 LEP students in the areasof itiath;---kience,.sociaLstutlieginglie-shalid-reading.

Regularly, IDRA staff provides servicesto:

+ public school teachers+ parents+ administrators+ other decision makers in public

education

Services include:O training and technical assistanceO evaluation0 serving as expert witnesses in

policy settings and court cases0 publishing research and

professional papers, books,videos and curricula

For information on IDRA services for your school district or other group, contact IDRA at 210/684-8180.

BEST COPY AVAILABLE tMarch 1998 14 IDRA Newsletter

15

How Do I WOW YOU? LET ME COUNT THE WAYS...

Training is no easy task. Ask anyteacher who has had to prepare a lessonfor other teachers. Ask any school facultymember who has been sent by the princi-pal to a conference and is expected toreport the findings presented there. Askanyone who has had to conduct a profes-sional development session.

Regardless of how well the trainerknows the topic, preparing a quality train-ing session requires time and careful prepa-ration. For many of us, it is a painful andarduous process.

But I have found out that, armedwith the necessary tools, it is possibleand even fun to prepare and lead asuperb workshop with minimal stress.

The WOWWhen I first began working at the

Intercultural Development Research As-sociation (IDRA), I heard people talkingabout "WOW" training like it was somesort of rite of passage: "Have you beenWOWed?"

They talked about the quality andlasting effectiveness of the training. Theytalked about how "charged" the partici-pants were at the end of the two-day ses-sion. This piqued my curiosity. What isthe WOW? I finally asked.

The WOW, it was explained, is theWOW: Workshop on Workshops designedby IDRA lead trainer, Aurelio M.Montemayor, M.Ed. It teaches the art ofplanning and conducting workshops.

A few months ago I had the oppor-

Anna Alicia Romero

P,v..

.,..

From Ysleta Reports (El Paso, Texas, November 1997): "There was such a positive response to the firstWOW: Workshop on Workshops training that a second session was held at Central Office. Participantswere asked to share some highs and lows of the training. 'Positive ways to impact people while they enjoylearning,' and 'Being able to draw from others' experiences,' were a couple of the comments made byparticipants."

tunity to participate in this training of train-ers session. I experienced first-hand theintensity of the participation, the wealth ofinformation, and the techniques discussedand applied throughout the two days.

A notebook accompanies the trainingthat is a life-saving reference guide repletewith examples of training tools that you canuse to ensure your audience can apply thenew information you are presenting.

People who have "gone through theWOW" say that their approach to leadingworkshops has changed forever. One per-son said, "You made my nightmares aboutworkshops go away." Part of the magic isthe unique perspective about adult learningthat the WOW offers.

ANDROGOGICAL ASSUMPTIONS ABOUT ADULT LEARNERS

Adults learn most when given responsibility for what is learned.

Adults learn fastest when allowed to determine the pace at which they learn.

Adults are uniquely qualified to take responsibility for their own learning.

Adults bring a rich background of personal resources and past experiencesthat pertain to whatever you want to teach them.

Adults want to have positive self-concepts and to be treated asautonomous, individual beings.

Adults want experiences that build on positive issues and success and thatminimize limitations.

Adults want to be considered basically intelligent, powerful, flexible andable to change when sufficient reason for change is provided.

Source: WOW: Workshop on Workshops by A.M. Montemayor (San Antonio, Texas: InterculturalDevelopment Research Association, 1994).

How Adults LearnJust as pedagogy deals with the

teaching of children based on how theylearn and develop, andragogy deals withthe teaching of adults based on assump-tions of how they learn. Principles ofandragogy drive the execution of theWOW: Workshop on Workshops.

For example, one assumption is thatall adults bring a rich background of per-sonal knowledge and experience that per-tain to whatever you want to teach them.Montemayor acknowledges that trainersof adults are often faced with individualswhose past learning experiences may be-come a barrier. He says that appropriatetraining bypasses the negative past andconcentrates on developing new skills.

One participant stated, "Your work-shops have a very unique technique: Youbring the good out in every human being."Montemayor asserts that facilitators can-not create a collegial atmosphere if theyspeak to their participants as i f they are notintelligent adults.

Therefore, one of the keys to effec-tive training is to create an interactive,energetic process. Montemayor draws aclear distinction between traditional lec-ture-style teaching and interactive teach-ing. Lecture-style teaching places thelearner in a passive capacity while inter-active teaching gives the learner impor-tance. It is more flexible, less formal andincreases learning. It can also be more

flow Do 1 WOW You? - continued on page 16

BEST COPY AVAILABLEMarch 1998 ra IDRA Newsletter,

1 b

How Do I WOW You? continued from page 15

difficult to prepare. The WOW makes iteasier.

Features of the WOWThe WOW: Workshop on Work-

shops takes the participant through a con-tinuous interplay of action and reflection.In short, the process includes the follow-ing steps.

Assess the needs of the audience.Clarify the workshop objectives.Select appropriate activities and mate-rials (using the WOW: Workshop onWorkshops notebook as a guide).Evaluate throughout the process.

WOW participants prepare an ac-tual workshop with a team of other par-ticipants. They provide feedback to eachother. One participant commented thatthe most productive aspect of the sessionwas the "feedback on our efforts in writ-ing [because] others noticed things Imissed." Together, participants learn toapply the elements necessary to create a"well-wrought" workshop.

A safe environment conducive tosharing, learning and productivity is mod-eled throughout the two days. The WOWpresenter makes use of furniture arrange-ment, humor and paying attention to indi-viduals to maintain a rapport with partici-pants. A teacher adds, "The presenter didan excellent job of making the partici-pants feel comfortable and willing to share;I hope I can develop to that level as apresenter."

WOW: Workshop on Workshops

Coming Soon...May 7-8, 1998

San Antonio, Texas

June 11-12, 1998San Antonio, Texas

The registration fee of $150 per personincludes the two-day training session and

WOW: Workshop on Workshops notebook.Call IDRA for information (210/684-8180).

This rapport is a major theme of theWOW. "Starting from the participants'strengths is 'rock bottom' in terms of mod-ern principles of teaching adults,"Montemayor explains.

One of the greatest challenges for atrainer is to make the topic interesting andinteractive, using the appropriate techniquesthat convey the material. Types of activitiesto facilitate learning include quizzes, cross-word puzzles, group discussions, anagramsand "warm-ups" (at the beginning of theworkshop to alleviate participants' initialtension). These are fun ways of teaching andreinforcing information.

The WOW: Workshop on Workshopsis designed to be adaptable to all kinds ofadult learners. It is not exclusive to the fieldof education or to those who already teachor train other adults. In fact, at IDRA wehave used the WOW to prepare first-timeparent presenters to lead educators and other

parents. Others have used it for theirbusinesses, local non-profit agencies andcivic initiatives. The beauty of the WOWand its teaching style is its flexibility tothe needs of the audience.

Montemayor says the pay-off is awell-planned and well-conducted work-shop that is the most concentrated, mostefficient and perhaps most elegant meansof training adults. "This is one of the bestworkshops I have ever attended," com-mented one participant, "I really enjoyedbeing a part of this fantastic, wonderful,marvelous, unique workshop."

The WOW: Workshop on Work-shops is the sum of more than 30 years ofMontemayor's experience in pedagogi-cal roles school teacher, political orga-nizer and IDRA trainer. Montemayor'sunique process ofplanning a well-wroughtworkshop challenges trainers and learn-ers to strive for excellence.

Many elements make the WOW asuccessful workshop. By trying out themethods, participants learn the art ofplan-ning and conducting workshops. Moreimportantly, everyone in the "communityof learners" participates and internalizesthe lessons making the themes andtechniques part of their actions. Theyleave better equipped to conduct their.,own smooth, efficient and successfulworkshops.

Anna Alicia Romero is a education assistant in theIDRA Division ofProfessional Development. Com-ments and questions may be sent to her via e-mailat idra@idra.org.

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