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TRC Impact and Special ProjectsCarol L. Fletcher, Ph.D.Associate Director, TRCTRC Advisory Board MeetingMarch 1, 2012

Key components of the TRC model All projects must …

Have a partnership between an IHE (science, math or engineering faculty) and at least 3 high-need schools or districts. IHE faculty ideally provide content training.

Serve 2 tiers of teachers – Mentor Teachers (STMs or MTMs) and Cadre Members Mentor Teachers must participate in 100 hours of PD in

the project year. Cadre Members must participate in 12 – 24 hours of PD. Mentors provide support to Cadre Members in their

districts or at their schools. Mentors can earn up to 12 contact hours (out of the 100 required) by documented mentoring.

Key components of the TRC model All projects must …

Require teachers to attend at least 40 hours of PD in the summer of 2012. Ideally a large component of this PD should be focused on development of teacher content knowledge.

Focus a minimum of 40 of the 100 contact hours of PD for Mentors on building teacher content knowledge.

Administer pre/post assessments of teacher content knowledge.

Establish agreements with schools/districts to provide standardized test scores of students in participating teachers classes where applicable.

Immersion Model All projects must identify at least 5

campuses in which every teacher at a tested grade level that is focused on by the project will receive TRC training. At least one STM/MTM must assigned to that

grade level. All other teachers must be CMs and must

receive at least 24 hours of PD. Immersion schools must agree to provide

student data at the school level to the TRC.

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DataCenter Improvements Improved project management

capability for Project Directors. Ability to see at a glance their Project

Measures as compared to requirements. Improved ITM management. Improved communication with Mentor

teachers. Simplified online reporting.

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DataCenter Improvements Greater detail regarding professional

development offered by each project. Better summaries of training events. Tracking of teacher pre/post content

assessment. Specifying immersion schools and

teachers.

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Online RFA process Applications for funding are now

submitted completely online. Scoring can be done online to support

more external reviewers. Information from funded applications

will be automatically connected to new DataCenter for 2012-13 grant.

The application process went from over 3 cases of paper to almost none.

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Status of 2011-2012 GrantsAs of February 17, 2012:

Number Average

STMs served 1,428 71 hours

MTMs served 886 63 hours

Science CMs 3,339 10 hours

Math CMs 3,417 9 hours

Campuses 2,961 -----------

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Regional Collaborative EventsMath Scienc

e

Proposed Training Events

230 539

Completed Training Events

881 1,214

Total Events

1,111 1,753

Mentor Training 666 events

addressing life science or biology

316 events addressing environmental science

549 events addressing algebra

344 events addressing geometry

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Area of Concern? In current grant, only 21% of training

events for mentors are noted as “required.”

New grant application looking closely at instructional timelines to evaluate the cohesiveness of the program offered to STMs and MTMs.

TRC staff will monitor this through the DataCenter.

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Mid-Career STEM Teacher Recruitment Project

Mid-Career Goals

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The goals for the program are to increase the number of certified science and mathematics teachers in Texas during the grant period through: Recruitment of mid-career professionals with

degrees in science, mathematics, engineering, and technology fields to teach in Texas schools;

Teacher training and certification in science and mathematics;

Job placement of new science and math teachers into high-needs LEAs;

Mentoring after certification and placement.

Mid-Career Highlights

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The program began in September 2008.

Approximately $400,000 has been allocated for the 2011-2012 grant period.

Subgrants are currently awarded to Texas A&M System and Texas State University.

Mid-Career Accomplishments

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To date, 192 science and mathematics teachers have received certification through the Mid-Career Teacher Recruitment Program and 75 recruits are currently targeted for the program to become Texas science and mathematics teachers.

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Beginning Teacher Induction and Mentoring Project

Background

The TRC implemented the Beginning Teacher Induction and Mentoring (BTIM) Program for Texas science and mathematics teachers in September 2009 through a grant from the Texas Education Agency.

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BTIM Purpose & Impact

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The program is designed to increase retention of beginning science and mathematics teachers by assigning a qualified mentor teacher to each classroom teacher who has less than two years of teaching experience.

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BTIM Cycle 3b ImpactGrant period: October 2009 to April 2011Funding: $4,040,842

831* beginning science & mathematics teachers served

436 mentors

476 campus served

* Spring 2010, Fall 2010, Spring 2011

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BTIM Cycle 4b Grant period:

New projects: March 2011 to June 2012Continuation projects: May 2011 to June 2012

Funding: $5,000,000

854 beginning teachers served

472 mentors

465 campuses served

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BLOCKSEarly Childhood Research Grant

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Building BaseLine Objectives for Children’s Knowledge and Skills in Science

Designed to begin the dialogue toward understanding where K-2 science teaching and learning should begin

Different Science Content Focus Each Year Year 1 – Physical Science Year 2 – Life Science Year 3 – Earth Science

50 Austin area teachers 25 teacher researchers 25 comparison group

teachers

NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION (NSF)

GRANT