Mission and History: Since 1994, the Glasscock School of Continuing Studies (GSCS) has provided exemplary workshops and resources for teachers. The mission is to provide high-quality, content-rich, professional development opportunities for educators at an affordable price. The program strives to increase student achievement by enriching teacher content knowledge and instructional strategies.
The GSCS hosts the largest program in the country for Advanced Placement (AP) teachers and has developed and implemented a number of related services for teachers including the Advanced Placement Digital Library (APDL), programs for International Baccalaureate (IB) teachers, nanotechnology programs for teachers and students (NEST), and a summer school for high school students. See Teachers.Rice.Edu
Challenge and area of focus: Content knowledge of the public school teaching force is a significant national issue: increased content knowledge has a direct effect on student achievement. By bringing together teachers with leading experts, we significantly increase their teaching repertoire, engender new ways of teaching and thinking about teaching, and connect them to current knowledge in their field. Teachers leave the program knowing more about their subject matter and with renewed energy to convey this information to students. The model therefore effectively translates current thinking in higher education into high school classrooms.
The Academies model was the next logical step for the strategic priorities in teacher professional development. The Academies were launched after studying evaluations from other pedagogically-focused teacher professional development programs over the past five years, where participating teachers indicated that they would benefit greatly from training in course content. Unlike more traditional teacher training programs, the Academies model is dynamic and topics will change each year based on the needs of teachers and their students. Implementation Needs Assessment: In 2005 and 2006, in response to substantial and repeated requests from experienced Advanced Placement (AP) and International Baccalaureate (IB) teachers, Rice piloted the Academies model to meet the demand for advanced content training. The Advanced Topics Academies connect teachers to current higher education scholarship in their field and provide intense graduate seminar type learning opportunities to delve more deeply into specific course content and to connect to their discipline’s current work. The courses are composed of presentations by distinguished faculty from Rice and other institutions of higher education, providing teachers an opportunity to fully engage with faculty in their field who teach courses at the university level. We expect student achievement to increase as teachers are challenging students with curriculum which emphasizes depth over breadth, concepts over facts, and is grounded in real-world issues and problems that students care about or need to know.
Objectives of the Exemplar Program:
Strategy and Implementation: Rice is the only institution in the United States offering this type of program for both AP and IB teachers. This model also allows us to reach new audiences that traditional TPD workshops do not. Because many of the available training opportunities across the country focus heavily on teaching strategy and pedagogy, the Academies are attractive to both new teachers and experienced teachers who no longer need instruction on teaching techniques. The model is also dynamic, as the content is driven by the needs of the students and teachers and can be changed every year.
Rice offers two Academies each year: a spring session for IB teachers, and a summer session for AP teachers. Each session features between five and eight lectures presented by Rice faculty and other leading experts in the field. Each course is facilitated by an experienced “master” teacher, who ensures that faculty presentations are closely aligned with the needs of both high school teachers and the AP and IB programs. The topics for each course are selected based on the results of student performance on national examinations that identify content areas where U.S. students show the greatest need for improvement. Last year’s course topics included biology, U.S. history, geography, and macroeconomics, among others.
Access to high-quality, well-trained teachers in specific subject areas who can provide challenge and nurturance for our students is clearly a critical issue in education. Teachers will fail to motivate their students if their own lack of knowledge is apparent. Academy topics for each course are selected based on the results of student performance on national examinations that identify content areas where U.S. students show the greatest need for improvement.
Outcomes
The Petroleum Academy was held June 16-20, 2008. The AP Academies (Math, Science, and Social Studies) were held June 23-27, 2008. We are in the process of working through course evaluations in order to cull qualitative data. Quantitative date won’t be available until next spring when Academy participants are able to view student’s performance scores on both the TAKS and AP tests.
Shareable Resources: available on request, assessment, checklists, and speaker presentations. Funding: Arthur Vining Davis Foundations, Texas High School Project, Washington Mutual |
Initiative: Advanced Topics Academies: Content-rich Summer Institute for Teachers of AP Math, Science, and Social Studies
Exemplar Categories:
Professional development
Connect teachers to current higher education scholarship in their field and provide intense graduate seminar type learning opportunities to delve more deeply into specific course content and to connect to their discipline’s current work
College connections and a college-going culture
The Academy addresses high level thinking, and offers advanced topics lectures given by college professors.
Resources:
-Brochure: Rice Academies for Advanced Topics in AP
-Digital Library (APDL)
-Website: Teachers.Rice.Edu
-Webinar: Advanced Placement
School Type: Private university, school of continuing education
Demographics
Grades Served: Teachers of Grades 6-12
Caucasian: 60%
African American: 20%
Hispanic: 20%
Contact information:
Jennifer Gigliotti-Labay
teachers@rice.edu
People:
Students – The “students” we serve are secondary teachers from across Texas and the nation.
Faculty – Faculty participation in the Academy program included representation from Rice University
Leadership - Jennifer Gigliotti-Labay, Director of Teacher Professional Development and Dr. Siva Kumari, Associate Provost for K-12 Initiatives
|