Kentucky Teacher

The University of Kentucky and the Partnership Institute for Math and Science Education Reform (PIMSER) will host several workshops this summer.

Get Ready! Introduction to the Next Generation Science Standards – two sessions this summer to assist teachers with implementing the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) in the fall.

• Infusing the Practices into Units of Study
• Integrating Engineering into Units of Study

Participants will leave sessions with an understanding of the progressions for each practice, how to develop scientific explanations and engineering design solutions, an understanding of the two engineering core ideas, and methods for effectively integrating the practices and engineering into science units of study.

Action Research Project: Understanding Formative Assessment will be presented by author and assessment expert Shirley Clarke, University of London, as a limited time opportunity. Read the full story

In celebration of its 10th anniversary, the Asia Center at the University of Kentucky is hosting a symposium focused on incorporating Asian Studies into K-12, postsecondary, and community-based education.

Learning and Teaching About Asia will be held at the William T. Young library on the UK campus on April 13 from 10-4:30 p.m. ET.

Workshops are free and open to all K-12 educators and non-formal educators such as those with 4H and YMCA programs. Click here for details and registration. Please contact Christine Kindler at cmkind2@uky.edu with any questions.

The University of Kentucky and the Partnership Institute for Math and Science Education Reform (PIMSER) are hosting the third annual Meeting the Challenge Conference July 22-24 in Lexington. This year’s theme is Standards, Differentiation and Assessment.

Experts will offer their perspective on understanding the curricular implications of the Next Generation Science Standards; advancing the implementation of the Common Core Standards for Mathematics; integrating assessment and standards-based grading; and leadership skills for supporting the changing classroom.

Local practitioners including classroom teachers and leaders will present a variety of curricular, instructional and leadership strategies that have been effectively applied in schools and classrooms.

This conference is geared toward administrators, classroom teachers, curriculum coaches, district leadership team members and higher education STEM faculty.

Those interested can go to http://www.uky.edu/p12mathsciencefor a link to the conference website with complete information and registration.

Discounts are available for groups of five or more. Early Bird registration ends May 31.

Heath Middle School (McCracken County) students Conner Kelly, Hayden Faughn, Garrett Childress and Katelyn Woodard make biosoap at the Emerging Technology Center at West Kentucky Community & Technical College.
Photo by U.S. Department of Energy

By Matthew Tungate
matthew.tungate@education.ky.gov

When an official with the U.S. Department of Energy offered 6th-grade science teacher Brandy Roberts a chance to take her high-achieving students from Heath Middle School (HMS) (McCracken County) to the Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant for some mock water sampling experiments, she jumped at the chance.

“This partnership was an opportunity for HMS to really engage our gifted science students, so as a science department we took the idea and ran with it,” Roberts said.

Heath Middle is now in the third year of a partnership with the Department of Energy and other organizations — DOE environmental contractors, the Kentucky Department of Waste Management and the University of Kentucky College of Engineering at Paducah – that exposes students to hands-on problem solving.

Tammy Weitlauf, an 8th-grade science teacher at Heath Middle who helps coordinate the program, said working with scientists and engineers from the various partners fits schools’ mission.

“As a Kentucky school our focus has shifted so much to college- and career-readiness. These are the children that are going to be filling the jobs of the future that may not have even been created yet. So we’re trying to facilitate to stop looking at us for answers and to be problem solvers, because that’s what it’s going to take for the future,” she said. “We’re trying to nurture these students so they will be able to adapt to new situations and to be those future industry leaders.” Read the full story

Gene Wilhoit talks about the Center for Innovation in Education. Wilhoit, a former Kentucky education commissioner, has been named director of the center. Photo by Amy Wallot, Feb. 8, 2013

The National Center for Innovation in Education is being established at the University of Kentucky College of Education with funding from two of the country’s leading foundations — the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation.

The center will be directed by Gene Wilhoit, a former Kentucky Department of Education commissioner who is a highly regarded figure in national education circles.  Wilhoit most recently spent six years as director of the Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO) in Washington D.C. During his tenure at CCSSO, Wilhoit spearheaded the development and adoption by 45 states of the Common Core State Standards.

The National Center for Innovation in Education will contribute to the national education reform agenda with a focus on ensuring more states are adopting and implementing a standard definition of college and career readiness that embodies “deeper learning” outcomes, implementing meaningful measures of those outcomes, and holding all levels of the system accountable for results.

“It is fitting that the National Center for Innovation in Education is being established in Kentucky, which has been at the forefront of adoption of the Common Core State Standards and promotion of college and career readiness and innovation in its schools,” said Kentucky Education Commissioner Terry Holliday. “The University of Kentucky and its P20 Innovation Read the full story

The University of Kentucky Department of Physics and Astronomy welcomes the public to its astronomical observatory.

The program of public outreach is held on every second Thursday of the month.

For more information, go to https://pa.as.uky.edu/observatory.

 By Matthew Tungate
matthew.tungate@education.ky.gov

Louisville Male High School (Jefferson County) teacher Jeff Wright experiments with building Knudsen pumps during the High School Teacher Fellowship Program at the University of Louisville.

Heather Packard spent four weeks of her summer vacation driving four hours a day to the University of Louisville.

What inspired the Bellevue High School (Bellevue Independent) biology, forensics and integrated science teacher to make the daily trek? Her desire to get hands-on experience working with nanotechnology.

“If I’m not continually learning personally, how can I take my students beyond what we’ve always done? Do I want to kind of change what I do in my classroom in theory, or do I want to be a better teacher because I am growing personally?” she asked. “I’m here because I like it. I want to continue to learn and I feel it makes me a better teacher. Even if I don’t take any techniques from that laboratory directly to my classroom, I can’t help but take the experience. Continuing to learn helps my students learn.” Read the full story

The University of Kentucky’s  College of Education Department will offer a professional learning opportunity this summer that includes a week-long “compressed” graduate level course designed specifically for K-8 reading and language arts teachers.

It course will  focus on improving professional practice in reading instruction, intervention and assessment. It will concentrate on developing skills to effectively use assessment to drive all phases of instruction.

The course will be taught by D. Ray Reutzel, Utah State University, who is recognized nationally for his work in literacy.

Teachers who are not currently enrolled in the UK Graduate School should contact Parker Fawson at parker.fawson@uky.edu, for assistance with post-bach admission. Arrangement for parking on the UK Campus should also be directed to Fawson.

The Kentucky Girls STEM Collaborative will be offering a summer program for girls in grades 8 – 11 at the University of Kentucky. Aqua Bots Summer Camp is set for July 30 – Aug. 3.

Aqua Bots is a program that has girls building fully submersible robots. Using a great variety of LEGO pieces, their bots become increasingly complex and able to complete sophisticated underwater tasks. In the process, the students gain knowledge in several areas of science, engineering and technology.

For more information, contact Sue Scheff at (859) 257-2614.

The University of Kentucky has redesigned its 12-credit hour professional licensure program as a one-year “Executive Leadership Program” to help aspiring superintendents achieve their goals.

Work-embedded learning is the centerpiece of UK’s new statewide superintendent program.

Nationally-prominent faculty deliver course content in Saturday classes, summer sessions and seminars held in conjunction with professional association conferences. Course content and practicum experiences are aligned with superintendents’ annual work cycle and supervised by mentors.

The application deadline for summer I (2012-13 cohort) “postbac” status is May 7, 2012.

Cohort students will complete the following required courses (12 credit hours) in sequence:

• Summer I EDL 676 – The School Superintendency (3)
• Summer II EDL 677 – School System Administration (3)
• Fall EDL 678 – Strategic Management in Education (3)
• Fall EDL 679 – School Superintendent Practicum I (1) Read the full story