Texas Regional Collaboratives for Excellence in Science Teaching TRC Twelfth Annual Meeting: VIP Briefing July 12, :30–4:30 p.m. Hilton Austin Airport Austin, Texas Synergizing P-16 Science Education Partnerships

TEXAS REGIONAL COLLABORATIVES FOR EXCELLENCE IN SCIENCE TEACHING 2 Who We Are An award-winning statewide network of P-16 partnerships that provide sustained and high intensity professional development to P-12 teachers of science across the state. An infrastructure of over 37 institutions of higher education collaborating with education service centers, school districts, informal science educators and business partners A program with a 15-year track record of designing and implementing exemplary science professional development using research-based instructional models, materials, innovative technology, and best practices.

TEXAS REGIONAL COLLABORATIVES FOR EXCELLENCE IN SCIENCE TEACHING 3 Achievements Improved the knowledge and skills and developed the leadership capacity of over 12,000 Texas science teachers who in turn are sharing their experiences with other teachers through mentoring, peer coaching, and technical assistance. Benefited over 1 million students across Texas through improved instruction and performance of participating teachers. Facilitated unprecedented collaboration among 37 institutions of higher education and all 20 Education Service Centers. Transformed the theory and practice of professional development— through providing sustained and high quality professional development with a minimum of 105 contact hours per Science Teacher Mentor. Leveraged funds and resources to maximize our impact on teachers and students. Received commendation from U.S. Department of Education, policy makers, state legislators, and business partners; was inducted into the Texas Science Hall of Fame on January 17, 2000; and was recognized by the Governor, the Senate and House of Representatives on January 16, 2001 for distinguished achievements and contributions to supporting science.

TEXAS REGIONAL COLLABORATIVES FOR EXCELLENCE IN SCIENCE TEACHING 4 Geographic Distribution Austin Amarillo Lubbock Abilene Denton Kilgore Waco Houston Galveston Corpus Christi Brownsville Edinburg San Antonio Gainesville Wichita Falls Fort Worth Mt. Pleasant El Paso Victoria College Station San Angelo Midland Irving Richardson Dallas Laredo Texarkana Humble Regional Collaborative Over the biennium, the TRC is providing professional development to approximately 10,000 teachers of science Grades P–12. Beaumont Regional Collaboratives are located at 35 sites across Texas and in every Education Service Center region.

TEXAS REGIONAL COLLABORATIVES FOR EXCELLENCE IN SCIENCE TEACHING 5 TRC Science Collaborative Sites Regions Collaborative Names 1Region 1 Collaborative/Edinburg UT-Pan American Regional Collaborative/Edinburg UT-Brownsville Regional Collaborative/Brownsville TAMIU Regional Collaborative/Laredo 2TAMU-Corpus Christi/ESC 2 Regional Collaborative/Corpus Christi 3Region 3 Collaborative/Victoria 4Region 4 Collaborative/Houston Rice University Regional Collaborative/Houston Galveston County Regional Collaborative/Galveston Lake Houston Regional Collaborative/Humble UH-Clear Lake/EIH Regional Collaborative/Houston 5Region 5 Collaborative/Beaumont 6TAMU-College Station Regional Collaborative/College Station 7Region 7 Collaborative/Kilgore 8Region 8 Collaborative/Mount Pleasant TAMU-Texarkana Regional Collaborative/Texarkana 9Region 9 Collaborative/Wichita Falls 10 Region 10 Collaborative/Richardson UT-Dallas Regional Collaborative/Dallas University of Dallas Regional Collaborative/Irving 11Region 11 Collaborative/Fort Worth North Central Texas College Regional Collaborative/Gainesville University of North Texas Regional Collaborative/Denton 12Region 12 Collaborative/Waco 13Region 13 Collaborative/Austin ACC Regional Collaborative Capital City Regional Collaborative/Austin 14Region 14 Collaborative/Abilene 15Region 15 Collaborative/San Angelo 16Region 16 Collaborative/Amarillo 17Region 17 Collaborative/Lubbock 18Region 18 Collaborative/Midland 19Region 19 Collaborative/El Paso 20Region 20 Collaborative/San Antonio OLLU Regional Collaborative/San Antonio Regions Collaborative Names

TEXAS REGIONAL COLLABORATIVES FOR EXCELLENCE IN SCIENCE TEACHING 6 Activities: PDAs and PDPs Professional Development Programs (PDPs) provide an average of 105 contact hours of TEKS-based professional development through Instructional Teams to 25 or more teachers of science per region to prepare and support them to become Science Teacher Mentors (STMs) serving other teachers at the campus, district, and regional levels. Professional Development Academies (PDAs) are provided to Instructional Teams that consist of professors of Science and Science Education, Science Specialists and Master Teachers. PDAs focus on the elements of science education reform in Texas. PDAs enhance the knowledge and skills necessary to develop, sustain, and facilitate high quality Professional Development Programs.

TEXAS REGIONAL COLLABORATIVES FOR EXCELLENCE IN SCIENCE TEACHING 7 Bridging II TAKS/ STMs build their leadership capacity by mentoring Cadre Members (CMs) in their schools and districts and assisting Instructional Team Members in outreach activities. Every Science Teacher Mentor (STM) across the state receives a minimum of 24 contact hours in Bridging II TAKS Light and Optical Systems. STMs, where appropriate, receive materials to implement the Bridging II TAKS curriculum in their classrooms.

TEXAS REGIONAL COLLABORATIVES FOR EXCELLENCE IN SCIENCE TEACHING 8 PDA Summary/ DatesTitle September & October 5-7, 2005 Bridging II TAKS: Light and Optical Systems January 9-10 & January 11-12, 2006 Integrated Physics and Chemistry June 3-6 & June 7-10, 2006 “Taking a Closer Look” Astronomy, Botany and Geology Field Experience in West Texas Project Director Brenda Weiser from University of Houston Clear Lake Regional Collaborative and ITM Julie Reynolds from Region 1 Collaborative demonstrate “Chemistry in a Bag” at the Integrated Physics and Chemistry PDA.

TEXAS REGIONAL COLLABORATIVES FOR EXCELLENCE IN SCIENCE TEACHING 9 Additional Outreach/ DatesTitle October 2005Earth Science Week- Focus on Careers Fall 2005 and Spring 2006Project WILD Fall 2005Bridging II TAKS: Using Tools to Explore Matter Spring 2006GLOBE Teacher Training Lisa Bellows, North Central Texas College Regional Collaborative Project Director using the densiometer to measure the tree canopy at GLOBE training.

TEXAS REGIONAL COLLABORATIVES FOR EXCELLENCE IN SCIENCE TEACHING 10 PDA Schedule DatesTitle August 27-30, 2006GLOBE Program Trainer of Trainers* October 19-20, 2006Earth Science Revolution I PDA November 16-17, 2006Earth Science Revolution II PDA November 29-30, 2006Earth Science Revolution III PDA February 12, 2007Texas Science Diagnostic PDA* March 12-13, 2007Viewing Earth From Space PDA * Denotes required attendance Mark Your Calendar!

TEXAS REGIONAL COLLABORATIVES FOR EXCELLENCE IN SCIENCE TEACHING 11 Proposals and Partnerships One of the goals of the TRC is to leverage a variety of resources to continuously improve the quality of our program as well as the number of teachers served. As such, the TRC is aggressively pursuing additional funding to serve teachers and students across the state and the nation. A summary of proposals and partnerships is listed below: National Science Foundation Proposals  Teacher Professional Continuum*  Instructional Materials Development  Math/Science Partnership w/ UTeach  GeoTeach w/ U.S. Satellite  GeoTeach w/ American Geological Institute and UT Jackson School  Academies for Young Scientists w/ Jackson School and SW Texas Junior College Business Partner Projects  Shell Oil Company *  Toyota USA Foundation *  El Paso Corporation * Texas Education Agency  Science Initiative *  Math Initiative * * Indicates a funded proposal

TEXAS REGIONAL COLLABORATIVES FOR EXCELLENCE IN SCIENCE TEACHING 12 Total Number of Students Impacted 100 Elementary to 750 Secondary Students Students Students Students Students One Science Teacher Mentor Elementary/Secondary Cadre Member Teachers Mentoring Teachers MENTORING IMPACT STUDENT IMPACT

TEXAS REGIONAL COLLABORATIVES FOR EXCELLENCE IN SCIENCE TEACHING 13 TRC Technology Initiatives Update Online collection of demographic, assessment, and evaluation data Partnership with Region 19 ESC to establish an effective authoring and support process for online delivery of professional development Publication of TRC Educators’ Multimedia journal

TEXAS REGIONAL COLLABORATIVES FOR EXCELLENCE IN SCIENCE TEACHING 14 Poverty Levels of Participant Schools Low Poverty Under 35% Medium Poverty 35% - 50% Poverty Levels for public schools are determined by the percentage of students who receive free or reduced lunches. High Poverty 50% - 75% Very High Poverty Above 75% Percentages based on a sample of 713 teachers who provided campus poverty level data from September 2004 – July 2005

TEXAS REGIONAL COLLABORATIVES FOR EXCELLENCE IN SCIENCE TEACHING 15 Title I Status of Participating Campuses 86% 14% Based on a sample of 1261 Teachers reporting campus Title I status from September July 2005

TEXAS REGIONAL COLLABORATIVES FOR EXCELLENCE IN SCIENCE TEACHING 16 Educator Demographics - Teaching Level Data based on a sample of 771 teachers for funding period September May 2004

TEXAS REGIONAL COLLABORATIVES FOR EXCELLENCE IN SCIENCE TEACHING 17 Educator Demographics - Teaching Level Data based on a sample of 1,553 teachers for funding period September July TRC professional development priorities as per TEA guidelines focused on providing K-8 training on Bridging II TAKS modules, hence increasing the percentage of elementary teachers impacted.

TEXAS REGIONAL COLLABORATIVES FOR EXCELLENCE IN SCIENCE TEACHING 18 Ethnicity of Students Served by Collaborative Teachers 16% 33% 48% 1% Based on actual classroom data reported by a sample of 1157 teachers from September May %

TEXAS REGIONAL COLLABORATIVES FOR EXCELLENCE IN SCIENCE TEACHING 19 Impact on Teachers: Science Content Knowledge Data represents combined mean scores of a sample of 12 different assessments, 8 Regional Collaborative Sites, and approximately 250 teachers.

TEXAS REGIONAL COLLABORATIVES FOR EXCELLENCE IN SCIENCE TEACHING 20 East Texas Regional Collaborative Eighth Grade Science TAAS Scores Student Achievement – Continuous Improvement

TEXAS REGIONAL COLLABORATIVES FOR EXCELLENCE IN SCIENCE TEACHING 21 State Average District Average Collaborative Average Data Before Collaborative Activities Data After Collaborative Activities Rice University Regional Collaborative Average Scores Eighth Grade TAAS Science Test Results

TEXAS REGIONAL COLLABORATIVES FOR EXCELLENCE IN SCIENCE TEACHING 22 Rice University Regional Collaborative Comparison of Collaborative Science Teacher Mentors to Non-collaborative Science Teachers Shown are test scores for pre- & post-science content tests (TIMSS test, TAAS tests, and primary grade science content tests as grade appropriate) of students having participant and non-participant teachers. Differences in student performance between the two groups are highly significant statistically. Also shown is the average percent improvement in student scores for the two groups. Student Achievement—Collaborative Vs. Non-Collaborative Teachers % 11% participant students non-participant students participant students non-participant students IMPROVEMENT prepostprepost Average Student Score Percent Improvement

TEXAS REGIONAL COLLABORATIVES FOR EXCELLENCE IN SCIENCE TEACHING 23 Student Achievement on TAKS

TEXAS REGIONAL COLLABORATIVES FOR EXCELLENCE IN SCIENCE TEACHING 24 Student Achievement on TAKS: Region 7 Collaborative (2003)

TEXAS REGIONAL COLLABORATIVES FOR EXCELLENCE IN SCIENCE TEACHING 25 Student Achievement on TAKS: Region 8 Collaborative

TEXAS REGIONAL COLLABORATIVES FOR EXCELLENCE IN SCIENCE TEACHING 26 Student Achievement on TAKS: Region 12 Collaborative

TEXAS REGIONAL COLLABORATIVES FOR EXCELLENCE IN SCIENCE TEACHING 27 Student Achievement on TAKS: Longitudinal Data Elementary Science TAKS (2005) A Three-Year Analysis

TEXAS REGIONAL COLLABORATIVES FOR EXCELLENCE IN SCIENCE TEACHING 28 Future Research: Impact on Students Purpose To examine the correlation between TRC science teachers professional development and student achievement. To provide schools with a TEKS-correlated diagnostic measure of student achievement in science at the end of the 4th grade that can be used to guide instruction at the 5th grade level. Participants and Methodology 40 TRC Grade 4 teachers (treatment) 40 non-TRC Grade 4 teachers (control) Four Regional Collaboratives Test developed, reviewed and pilot tested to insure content validity and reliability. Administered online at the end of school year. Accompanying teacher demographic questionnaire. Research will continue in school year. Student Achievement Research Study ( )

TEXAS REGIONAL COLLABORATIVES FOR EXCELLENCE IN SCIENCE TEACHING 29 Mathematics Regional Collaboratives TMT 3 – Teaching Math TEKS through Technology MTR – Math TEKS Refinement MTA – Math TEKS Awareness MAP – Math Achievement Project MELL – Math for English Language Learners Twenty Regional Collaboratives for Excellence in Mathematics Teaching The focus will be on training in five math modules developed in Texas with TEA support Activities began July 1, 2006

TEXAS REGIONAL COLLABORATIVES FOR EXCELLENCE IN SCIENCE TEACHING 30 TRC Math Collaborative Sites Regions Collaborative Names 1Region 1 Collaborative/Edinburg 2Region 2 Collaborative/Corpus Christi 3Region 3 Collaborative/Victoria 4Region 4 Collaborative/Houston 5Region 5 Collaborative/Beaumont 7Region 7 Collaborative/Kilgore 8Region 8 Collaborative/Mount Pleasant 9Region 9 Collaborative/Wichita Falls 10 Region 10 Collaborative/Richardson 11Region 11 Collaborative/Fort Worth 12Region 12 Collaborative/Waco 13Region 13 Collaborative/Austin 14Region 14 Collaborative/Abilene 15Region 15 Collaborative/San Angelo 16Region 16 Collaborative/Amarillo 17Texas Tech Regional Collaborative/Lubbock 18Region 18 Collaborative/Midland 19Region 19 Collaborative/El Paso 20Region 20 Collaborative/San Antonio OLLU Regional Collaborative/San Antonio Regions Collaborative Names