Effective Science Teaching
Lehman is enhancing classroom teaching at the K-12 level to support the student pipeline to STEM careers:
The Teacher Education for Advanced Science Preparation program gives working science teachers a broad, interdisciplinary background in the physical and biological sciences that expands their knowledge of the content areas they teach. The goal is to create, over a three-year period, a critical mass of science teachers who can provide the improved science instruction needed to elevate student achievement.
Through the Mathematics Teacher Transformation Institute (MTTI), eighty Bronx middle and high school mathematics teachers are enhancing their knowledge of mathematics, articulating and pursuing classroom inquiry projects, and engaging in direct leadership development. Participating teachers take graduate courses in mathematics and mathematics education, and receive on-site support from NYC Mathematics Project consultants. MTTI is funded by a $5 million Math-Science Partnership grant from the National Science Foundation.
- At the middle-school level, Lehman's Noyce Scholarship program is preparing twenty-four New York State Initially Certified Teachers with the skills to teach science and math in high-needs, inner-city middle schools (grades 5 - 9). The students, who receive scholarships to the program, are selected from culturally and linguistically diverse seniors majoring in STEM fields.
- At the elementary-school level (grades 1-6), the program entitled MATH UP (Mathematics Achievement with Teachers of High-needs Urban Populations) has a dual goal. Aimed at college seniors, who then complete a master's degree in education, the program is preparing 125 new elementary-school teachers who have not only the professional knowledge and skills to teach math but also the proficiency to work with English language learners in Bronx elementary schools.
- The New York City Mathematics Project supports teachers and administrators to improve mathematics teaching and learning in NYC public and charter schools. Teachers from schools throughout New York City take part in Project-sponsored seminars, workshops, and summer institutes. Over its twenty-three-year history, the Project has served more than 7,000 teachers, reaching over 200,000 students. It is funded by the National Science Foundation, U.S. Department of Education Title IIB, the NYC Department of Education, The City University of New York, and various charter-school networks
- The New York City Writing Project supports teachers across the curriculum in New York City schools to integrate writing as a mode of learning, assessment, and expression within their courses. Because reading and writing are essential to understanding STEM content, the Writing Project works with STEM teachers to explore ways to teach the disciplinary vocabulary, conventions, and text structures that will help students succeed in science and math courses, and to use writing as a way to monitor reading comprehension and quantitative reasoning in STEM courses.