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Over
500 Educators to Launch PRISM in Southeast Georgia
Savannah, GA—August
20, 2004—Thirty-six principals, over 50 teacher leaders, 40 higher
education faculty, and hundreds of teachers will participate this year
in the regional PRISM (Partnership for Reform in Science and Mathematics)
initiative. Two-hundred of these participants—educators from Armstrong
Atlantic State University (AASU), Coastal Georgia Community College (CGCC),
and the school systems in Bryan, Chatham, Glynn, and Camden counties—will
gather for a two-day launch of the PRISM learning communities, August
27-28.
"Pre-kindergarten through university educators will launch the learning
communities that will meet over the next four years to examine, validate,
and share best-practices in the teaching and learning of science and math,"
said Sabrina Hessinger, coordinator of the regional PRISM initiative.
"Across the southeast region, P-16 educators are collaboratively
exploring and offering a multitude of faculty development opportunities
that are needed for teachers to bring students to higher levels of learning."
On Friday, plenary speaker Jose Mestre (physics professor, University
of Massachusetts-Amherst) will present "Research on Human Learning,
Understanding, and Applications" from 5-6:30 p.m. On Saturday, PRISM
Qualitative Evaluator Mary Jo McGee-Brown will present a talk on educator
action research from 9-10:30 a.m.
The best time for video and photography will be from 2 to 5 p.m. on Saturday.
At this time, educators will meet in small groups for hands-on learning
activities and demonstrations on performance-based assessment, creating
P-16 learning communities, and developing the regional PRISM Website.
At 4:45, the launch will conclude with final reports given by each district
on upcoming learning community plans.
Following the launch, groups of higher educators and P-12 faculty will
continue to meet in the 36 schools. Over the next four years, the number
of participating schools will increase to the 85 schools in the four counties.
During the same period, the 48 lead teachers will increase to around 150.
Additionally, the over 500 teacher participants will increase to about
1,500.
"Educators in this region are excited about this opportunity to exponentially
grow the 'knowledge capital' of southeast Georgia," said Thomas Z.
Jones, president of AASU. "We look forward to improving science education
for all students and to markedly closing the achievement gap in mathematics
and science between various demographic groups."
AASU and CGCC are partnering with the school systems in Bryan, Chatham,
Glynn, and Camden counties to implement the PRISM initiative. The region
received $5,833,926 from a National Science Foundation Grant to fund the
initiative.
PRISM will reach over 10,000 teachers in four regions and eventually every
teacher in Georgia as successful models are created statewide. Overall,
PRISM will impact over 170,000+ students in the 13 participating school
districts in Georgia, with great potential to impact the 1.4 million P-12
students.
For additional
details about the PRISM initiative, contact Sabrina Hessinger at 912.921.2059.
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