• PRISM Mini-conference
• Event Date: 10/14/05-10/15/05
• Principal Investigator: Raegan Dillon, raegan.dillon@savannah.chatham.k12.ga.us, 912-961-3475

The lead teachers from Southwest Elementary School, Georgetown Elementary School, and West Chatham Elementary School collaboratively planned and implemented a PD activity entitled, "PRISM Mini-conference." Ideas for the conference were influenced by the book Designing Professional Development for Teachers of Science and Math and developed around the lead teachers' identification of the lowest performance strands of the CRCT for their schools. Higher education faculty from AASU and CGCC joined lead teachers in planning a presentation that addressed the new GPS in terms of rubrics and integrating curriculum. Participants then broke into groups to assess test score data and discuss its implications. This mini-conference was a kick-off event and its effects will be monitored throughout the year by way of lesson plans, student products, teachers' self-assessment of content knowledge, and classroom observation.

• Inquiry Based Science
  • Event Date: 12/1/05
  • Principal Investigator: Maura Fegel, mfegel@camden.k12.ga.us, 912-882-8191

    Maura Fegel and Bruce Wilkerson will lead an ongoing PD opportunity for Camden County 3rd-5th grade science teachers this year based on the study and implementation of the new GPS and Camden County's Spring 2005 CRCT scores. Higher education faculty will be invited to come to December's redelivery of GPS training and work with groups of teachers to examine existing data measuring science content. In April, a three-day sequence of collaborative unit development on inquiry-based activities will take place involving higher education faculty. The idea for this PD activity is based on a large body of literature supporting the effectiveness of inquiry-based learning methods for elementary school students. The impact of this grant will be measured by tracking CRCT results in science, specifically the inquiry strand, over the next three years, classroom visits by lead teachers and higher education faculty, and teacher opinion surveys.

December 2005

• Wild About Weather
  • Event Date: 12/1/05 and 12/8/05
  • Principal Investigator: Leona Gerido, leona.gerido@savannah.chatham.k12.ga.us, 912-961-3301

  
  Leona Gerido and Patricia Acosta of Southwest Elementary School collaboratively planned and implemented a professional development activity entitled, "Wild About Weather." Based on both analysis of 2004 and 2005 CRCT data in a September LC meeting and research showing that the integration of math and science in teaching improves student attitudes toward both subjects, these two lead teachers, through their LC, identified a need for PD in the area of Earth Science with a specific focus on weather. An additional goal of the PD was to integrate math into lessons on weather and to ensure that both math and science elements included in lessons on weather aligned with the GPS standards. AASU Associate Donna Mullenax was actively involved in the planning of this PD activity. This PD activity will directly improve teachers' and students' content knowledge about weather and will produce lesson plans that integrate science and math lessons into units on weather.

• Mathematics Navigation Series
  • Event Date: January - May 2006
  • Principal Investigator: Sarah Johnpeter, sarah.peter@savannah.chatham.k12.ga.us, 912-961-3500

  
  The math teachers at Bartlett Middle School will participate in an ongoing PD opportunity, spearheaded by Sarah Johnpeter, based on the implementation of the new GPS in mathematics. Based on PRISM's Needs Assessment Instrument, the LC of math and special education teachers at Bartlett identified the need for extra help in the areas of Measurement, Geometry, Data Analysis, Probability, and Algebra. Additionally, analysis of past CRCT scores reflected students' need for improvement in these areas. Integral to this ongoing PD activity will be the use of NCTM Navigation Series which illustrates the growth and connectedness of math content throughout middle school grades. Dr. Dale Kilhefner, a higher ed associate in math, will present activities from the series, each representing one strand of the new GPS, during monthly LC meetings. This increase in teacher content knowledge will improve overall unit design. The effectiveness of this PD activity will be evaluated by comparing student CRCT scores to scores from past years.