Education

Juneau announces math, science grants

Posted: Sep 18, 2012 9:13 PM by Lindsey Gordon - MTN News

Montana is receiving about $2-million dollars in grant money from the federal government to improve K-12 math and science programs.

The idea is that the money will go toward training teachers on how to better instruct in math and science, which in turn will help prepare students for jobs of the future.

MT Superintendent of Public Instruction Denise Juneau gave an example: "Partnership between Bozeman Public schools and Montana State University, they will develop a training system, they'll bring teachers in from the system who will become experts in math and then they will go out regionally and train other teachers across the state, and so pretty soon you'll have this big pool of teachers that are ready to do a lot of training back onsite at their own school systems."

The grants will be divided over three years, with about $335,000 each year for both math and science.

The following information was provided in a press release from the Office of Public Instruction:

Math Project Grantee:

Montana Common Core Standards for Mathematics (MCCSM)
Bozeman Public Schools and Montana State University, Dr. Jennifer Luebeck, Director

This project will create a model for statewide training of K-12 teachers implementing the Montana Common Core Standards for Mathematics. In the first year of the project, MCCSM will prepare training materials for middle school teachers (grades 4-8) and train its first group of teachers through an in-person workshop, online trainings and a summer academy. In year two of the grant, those teachers trained in year one will provide training to their colleagues with the support of mentor teachers, the RESAs and MCCSM staff. In years two and three, the project will expand to more communities, new grade levels and add an assessment component. The goal for the three years of the grant is 150 teachers trained and supporting the implementation of the Montana Common Core Standards for Math.

Partners: Montana State University, University of Montana, Bozeman Public Schools, Montana Learning Center, Montana Council Teachers of Mathematics, Anaconda School District, Arlee School District, Box Elder Public Schools, Charlo School District, Conrad Public Schools, East Glacier Park Grade School, Hot Springs School District, Kalispell Public Schools, Target Range School District, Terry School District, and the five Montana Regional Education Service Areas

Science Project Grantee:

Montana Partnership with Regions for Excellence in STEM (MPRES)
Montana Tech of the University of Montana and Montana State University-Billings, Rayelynn Connole and Dr. Ken Miller, Co-Directors

The Montana Partnership with Regions for Excellence in STEM (MPRES) is designed to build upon two previous successful Montana Science Partnership grant projects to improve K-12 science student achievement and teacher instruction and incorporate the Framework for K-12 Science Education. The project aims to develop Teacher Trainers who will work across the state through face-to-face and online trainings. Twelve teachers who have previously participated in Math Science partnerships projects will be recruited as trainers and will complete a year-long program of professional development in the first year of the grant. During the second year, the 12 trainers will each recruit five teachers to receive professional development with four of these teachers becoming trainers for their region, additional teachers will be trained in year three. The goal for the three years of the grant is a total of 152 teachers provided with high quality professional development in science.

Partners: Montana Tech of the University of Montana, Montana State University-Billings, Montana Education Consortium, Alliance for Curriculum Enhancement, Billings Public Schools, Butte School District #1 and the five Montana Regional Education Service Areas