Printer Friendly Version - East Haven Teachers Participate in Science Education Training at Quinnipiac

From left, East Haven High School science teacher Rabecca Florio, East Haven science instructional leader for grades 6-12 Maria Pompano, and East Haven High School science teacher Ellen Blanker recently participated in Project SING (Science Induction for Next Generation) training at Quinnipiac University.

A group of East Haven educators— Rabecca Florio, Maria Pompano, and Ellen Blanker—recently spent four days at the Quinnipiac University School of Education to learn how to enhance their lessons using the Next Generation Science Standards.

The standards are state-led K-12 initiatives in science learning developed by the National Research Council, the National Science Teachers Association, the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and other critical partners. Finalized in 2013, the standards are rich in content and practice and arranged in a coherent manner across disciplines and grades to provide all students an internationally benchmarked science education.

The training, called Project SING (Science Induction for the Next Generation), was made possible by a $153,707 Teacher Quality Partnership grant from the state Office of Higher Education that was awarded to The Bristol-Myers Squibb Center for Science Teaching and Learning at Quinnipiac and the University of New Haven.

Cindy Kern, visiting professor of education and director of the Bristol-Myers Squibb Center for Science Teaching and Learning at Quinnipiac, and Amanda R. Bozack, associate professor of education at the University of New Haven, led the training, which brought together teams of new science teachers, veteran science teachers, and administrators from the Capitol Region Education Council and Notre Dame High School of West Haven, as well as the Bridgeport, East Haven, Hamden, Meriden, and New Haven school districts, to learn innovative approaches to teaching science based on the Next Generation Science Standards.

“We want to challenge teachers to expand their content knowledge while helping them to understand that there is a national shift in the way we engage students in learning science with the Next Generation Science Standards,” Kern said. “It is a brave new world in science education, and we are here to help beginning teachers, their mentors and their administrator through this transformation change.”