Texas Regional Collaboratives: Dynamic Partnerships for 21st Century Education

1
Texas Regional CollaborativesDynamic
Partnerships for 21st Century Education

• Presented by
• Kamil A. Jbeily
• Carol L. Fletcher
• Education Open Source
• January 30, 2008

2
TRC - Who We Are

• An award-winning statewide network of P-16
  partnerships that provide sustained and high
  intensity professional development to P-12
  teachers of science and mathematics.
• An infrastructure of over 43 institutions of
  higher education collaborating with education
  service centers, school districts, informal
  science educators and business partners.
• A program with a 16-year track record of
  designing and implementing exemplary science
  professional development using research-based
  instructional models, materials, innovative
  technology, and best practices.

3
TRC Achievements

• Improved the knowledge and skills and developed
  the leadership capacity of over 12,000 Texas
  science teachers who in turn are sharing their
  experiences with other teachers through
  mentoring, peer coaching, and technical
  assistance. In addition, over 8,500 mathematics
  teachers received workshop training across Texas.
  
• Benefited over 1 million students across Texas
  through improved instruction and performance of
  participating teachers.

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STEM Challenges

• Teacher Content Knowledge
• Relevant, Real World Applications of Science and
  Mathematics
• Quality instructional resources aligned to the
  TEKS
• Adequate equipment and materials to implement
  inquiry lessons

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TRC Partnerships
Higher Education UT System Texas AM
System Texas Tech Community Colleges Private
Universities
State and Federal Texas Education Agency U.S.
Department of Education National Science
Foundation Texas Higher Education Coordinating
Board
Statewide Corporate and Foundation ATT
Foundation El Paso Corporation Shell Oil
Company Toyota USA Foundation The Cynthia and
George Mitchell Foundation
Local Education Agencies 853 Public School
Districts and Private Schools across Texas
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Geographic Distribution
37 Science Regional Collaboratives
22 Mathematics Regional Collaboratives
Regional Collaboratives are located in all
20 Education Service Center Regions in Texas.
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Statewide Impact
SCIENCE
MATHEMATICS
Data compiled from August 1, 2006 - July 31, 2007
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One Science Teacher Mentor Elementary/Secondary
MENTORING IMPACT
Cadre Member
Cadre Member
Cadre Member
Cadre Member
Cadre Member
Students 20-150
Students 20-150
STUDENT IMPACT
Students 20-150
Students 20-150
Students 20-150
Total Number of Students Impacted 100 Elementary
to 750 Secondary
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Activities PDAs and PDPs
Professional Development Academies (PDAs) are
provided to Instructional Teams that consist of
professors of Science and Science Education,
Science Specialists and Master Teachers. PDAs
enhance the knowledge and skills necessary to
develop, sustain, and facilitate high quality
Professional Development Programs.
Professional Development Programs (PDPs) provide
an average of 105 contact hours of TEKS-based
professional development through Instructional
Teams to 25 or more teachers of science per
region to prepare and support them to become
Science Teacher Mentors (STMs) serving other
teachers at the campus, district, and regional
levels.
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Professional Development Focus 2008-09

• Extended support for high quality elementary and
  middle school instruction
• K-8 Geosciences
• K-12 Chemistry
• Algebraic Thinking
• Measurement

• Supporting schools and districts in meeting the
  challenges of the 4x4 requirement
• New programs in HS Chemistry
• Continued support for HS Physics
• Continued training in HS Geosciences with the
  TXESS Revolution
• Geometry

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Program Evaluation

• Component 1
• Teacher science content
• knowledge

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Statewide Impact Teacher Content Knowledge
Summary of 21 different tests of science content
knowledge administered to classroom teachers.
Test content covered a range of topics including
physics, chemistry, biology, earth science, and
science process skills.
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Program Evaluation

• Component 2
• Teacher practice

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Statewide ImpactTeacher Practice
Improvement in STM Preparation to Provide
Instruction in BIITAKS 2005-06
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Statewide ImpactTeacher Practice
Improvement in CM Preparation to Provide
Instruction in BIITAKS 2005-06
Based on data collected from a sample of 831 K-8
science teachers trained in Bridging II TAKS
curriculum during the 2005-06 project year.
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Program Evaluation

• Component 3
• Student achievement

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Socioeconomic Status of Participating Students
Poverty Levels for public schools are determined
by the percentage of students who receive free or
reduced lunches.
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Title I Status of Participating Campuses
33
67
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Ethnicity of Students Served by TRC Teachers
1
2
12
44
41
Based on actual classroom data reported by TRC
teachers from August 2006 - July 2007.
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Statewide Student Achievement Gain - Longitudinal
Data
Elementary Science State Test/Texas Assessment of
Knowledge and Skills (TAKS) A Three-Year
Analysis (2002-05)
21
Student Achievement GainA Multi-Grade Regional
Snapshot
East Texas Regional Collaborative Science TAKS
(2005)
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District-Specific Student Achievement Gain -
Aldine ISD
Students in the Aldine Independent School
District (ISD) taught by teachers in the Rice
University Regional Collaborative showed
significant improvement as compared to
non-participant teachers in the same school
district on a test consisting of items from the
Third International Math and Science Study
(TIMSS) and released TAAS tests.
Rice University Regional Collaborative
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District-Specific Student Achievement Gain -
Austin ISD
CLOSING THE GAP 25 Austin Independent School
District (AISD) schools that received
intervention through the support of the TRC and
Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) posted significantly
greater gains on the elementary TAKS test than
other AISD schools. TRC support contributed to
closing the gap in achievement between these high
poverty, high minority schools and the rest of
the district.
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District-Specific Student Achievement Gain -
Galveston ISD
TRC Intervention
CLOSING THE GAP Galveston Independent School
District (GISD) campuses that were selected to
participate in the TRC/Rockwell program improved
an average of 22 points each year between 2003 to
2004 and 2004 to 2005. In contrast, other GISD
campuses improved 46 and 52 points during this
same time period. After TRC intervention, TRC
campuses showed an average improvement of 51
points, catching up with their comparison
campuses who improved an average of 47 points
during this same time period.
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District-Specific Student Achievement Gain -
Round Rock ISD
Relationship between Bridging II TAKS curriculum
and Elementary TAKS/State Tests (2004-2005)
Improvement on Elementary TAKS passing rates and
commended rates from 2004 to 2005 was positively
related to implementation of Bridging II TAKS
lessons in Round Rock ISD schools that
participated in the Austin Community College
Regional Collaborative.
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Sustaining Effective Partnerships

• Collaborative decision making
• Leveraging of resources
• Return on investment
• Recognition
• Communication
• Communication
• Communication

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Contact Us
Carol L. Fletcher, Ph.D. Assistant Director
Texas Regional Collaboratives
512-232-5690
carol.fletcher_at_mail.utexas.edu

• Kamil A. Jbeily, Ph.D. Executive Director
  Texas Regional Collaboratives
  512-471-9460
  kjbeily_at_mail.utexas.edu

www.theTRC.org