Texas Regional Collaboratives: Dynamic Partnerships for 21st Century Education

1. Texas Regional Collaboratives:Dynamic Partnerships for 21st Century Education Presented by James P. Barufaldi, Ph.D. Kamil A. Jbeily, Ph.D. Carol L. Fletcher, Ph.D. CAST Administrators and Policymakers Institute November 6, 2008

2. TRC - Who We Are • An award-winning statewide network of 60 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 17-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 14,000Texas 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.

4. 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

5. TRC Partnerships Higher Education UT System Texas A&M 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 AT&T 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

6. Geographic Distribution 36 Science Regional Collaboratives 24 Mathematics Regional Collaboratives Regional Collaboratives are located in all 20 Education Service Center Regions in Texas.

7. Statewide Impact MATHEMATICS SCIENCE Data compiled from August 1, 2007 - July 31, 2008

8. 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

9. Activities: PDAs and PDPs Professional Development Academies(PDAs) are provided to Instructional Teamsthat consist ofprofessorsof Science and Science Education,Science SpecialistsandMaster 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 of105 contact hoursofTEKS-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.

10. 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

11. Program Evaluation Component #1 Teacher science content knowledge

12. Statewide Impact: Teacher Content Knowledge Summary of 42 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.

13. Program Evaluation Component #2 Teacher practice

14. Statewide Impact:Teacher Practice Improvement in STM Preparation to Provide Instruction in BIITAKS 2005-06

15. Statewide Impact:Teacher 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.

16. Program Evaluation Component #3 Student achievement

17. Socioeconomic Status of Participating Students Poverty Levels for public schools are determined by the percentage of students who receive free or reduced lunches.

18. Title I Status of Participating Campuses 33% 67%

19. 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.

20. 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 (2007)

22. Student Achievement GainGrade 8 Regional Snapshot Region 8 Science Collaborative Grade 8 Science TAKS Scale Score Improvements (2007)

23. Student Achievement GainA Multi-Grade Regional Snapshot Region 7 Science Collaborative Middle and Elementary Science TAKS Passing Rates (2007)

24. 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

25. 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.

26. 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.

27. 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.

28. Contact Us • James P. Barufaldi, Ph.D. Principal Investigator Texas Regional Collaboratives 512-471-7354 jamesb@mail.utexas.edu • Kamil A. Jbeily, Ph.D. Executive Director Texas Regional Collaboratives 512-471-9460 kjbeily@mail.utexas.edu Carol L. Fletcher, Ph.D. Assistant Director Texas Regional Collaboratives 512-232-5690 carol.fletcher@mail.utexas.edu www.theTRC.org