The Latest at PRISM

The Partnership for Reform in Science & Mathematics (PRISM) is a partnership designed to improve science and mathematics education in Georgia. To learn more about PRISM, click here or on the "About Prism" link to the left.

2008 PRISM Conference: Accepting the STEM Challenge

Preparing K-16 Students for Global Competitiveness in the 21st Century
September 11-13, 2008 in Atlanta, Georgia
Call for Proposal brochure: www.gaprism.org/STEMConference

In an effort to share the successes of PRISM and provide others to share their lessons learned, PRISM will host the 2008 Accepting the STEM Challenge: Preparing K-16 students for Global Competitiveness in the 21st Century conference on September 11-13, 2008 in Atlanta, Georgia. This conference will provide an opportunity for teams of educators to showcase their STEM work and learn about the successes of similar teams from across the United States.  All involved in education (K-12 teachers and administrators, higher education faculty and administrators, K-12 and IHE state level administrators and policy makers, Business and community leaders) are welcome to attend.  We anticipate a variety of presentations designed to provide the tools needed to help others move their STEM agenda forward. We are now accepting proposals that address one of three strands: (1) K-16 Student Academic Success in STEM; (2) Roles and Effectiveness of K-16 STEM Educators; and (3) Partnerships for Effective STEM Education. 

Upcoming Regional Coordinating Committee (RCC) Meetings

Congratulations to Halley Page, Ron Prescott and Rachael Parr

The Georgia Science Teachers Association has named Fowler Drive Elementary School's Halley Page the 2008 Elementary Science Teacher of the Year and Jackson County Comprehensive High School’s Ron Prescott the 2008 High School Science Teacher of the Year. East Jackson Middle
School's Rachael Parr has been chosen to receive a ScienceQuest Teacher Scholarship and is also a finalist for the Presidential Award in Mathematics and Science. Mrs. Page, Mr. Prescott and Ms. Parr were honored at a special awards banquet February 15 at the annual GSTA Science and Leadership Conference in Athens at the Classic Center.

GPS Self-Assessment Instruments

Northeast Georgia PRISM has developed a collection of Science and Mathematics Self-Assessment Instruments based on the GPSs to help teachers identify their professional learning needs so that appropriate learning opportunities may be provided. Each grade has a science and mathematics instrument for GPS content, and also has an instrument for Science Characteristics or Mathematics Process Skills, when appropriate. In addition, there are several content self-assessments that show the progression of curricular ideas over the grade bands K-2, 3-5, 6-8, and 9-12. These instruments offer easy use by individual teachers, learning communities, or school districts as formative assessment tools to pin-point personal and collective professional development needs. Click here for more information.

The PRISM Mathematics Curriculum Team

The PRISM Mathematics Curriculum Team recently gave two presentations about their work with the Georgia Performance Standards (GPS). Five team members conducted a 90 minute workshop in Atlanta at the annual conference of the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM) in March 2007(Click to see picture). The team also hosted a Collegial Lunch for colleagues in mathematics, statistics, and mathematics education on April 4th, 2007(Click to see picture). 

The overall goal of the Mathematics Curriculum Team is to identify opportunities in UGA mathematics, mathematics education, and statistics courses to highlight connections and ideas that will help prepare teachers to teach algebra, geometry, and statistics in an integrated, standards-based approach. Team members represent the departments of mathematics, statistics, and mathematics education from UGA and also include a middle school teacher, a high school teacher, and a PRISM facilitator. Contact Sandy Blount at sandyb@uga.edu. Click here for more information.

Current Research on High School Science Course Sequence

is a paper which provides a synthesis of the research on which sequence of high school science courses produces the highest level of student achievement.  Click here to read the complete report.

An Opportunity for UGA Science Faculty to Support K-12 Education

GIFT (Georgia Intern-Fellowships for Teachers) is a collaborative effort between the University of Georgia’s Tifton campus and the Georgia Institute of Technology.  The project allows K-12 teachers to experience the 'real-life" application of the classroom subjects they teach by pairing them with faculty in research settings. 

On Thursday, February 14, at 3:30 in Room 103, Conner Hall, Susan Reinhardt, the GIFT Program Coordinator, will have an Information Session to explain more about the program.  Please let her know if you are interested in attending - slr@uga.edu or 229-386-3050.  Her partners from Ga. Tech will also attend to explain why they became involved in GIFT 15 years ago.More about GIFT can be found athttp://www.ugastars.org/gift.htm.

More Professional Development Opportunities!

Visit the professional development section of our website to learn more about upcoming professional development opportunities.