INDIANA UNIVERSITY PURDUE UNIVERSITY INDIANAPOLIS

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IUPUI, OTHER UNIVERSITIES, TO HELP BETTER PREPARE HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS FOR COLLEGE

Imagine knowing your child is being taught what they need to know in math, science, and language arts so they will be prepared for college.

Imagine schoolteachers and university professors having ample opportunities to work hand-in-hand to improve what your child is taught.

Imagine educators connecting what your child is taught from grade to grade, so that it builds like a spiral staircase, with children climbing the first step in kindergarten and reaching the last step as they leave college with a degree in hand.

In fact, families in 15 central Indiana public school districts serving tens of thousands of children won't have to imagine these things much longer.

The Central Indiana Educational Service Center (CIESC) today announced it has received a $6.6 million grant from Lilly Endowment Inc. for an initiative called Project SEAM that will connect teachers and administrators in the 15 school districts and six universities and colleges. The 15 school districts will match the grant, bringing a total of more than $13 million to bear on the project, which will be facilitated by CIESC.

School districts participating are: Beech Grove City Schools, Carmel Clay Schools, Center Grove Community School Corporation, M.S.D. Decatur Township, Franklin Township Community School Corporation, Hamilton Southeastern School Corporation, Indianapolis Public Schools, M.S.D. Lawrence Township, Lebanon Community School Corporation, M.S.D. Perry township, M.S.D. Pike Township Schools, Speedway Public Schools, M.S.D. Warren Township, M.S.D. Washington Township, and M.S.D. Wayne Township.

The six participating colleges and universities are: Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis, Ivy Tech State College, Marian College, University of Indianapolis, Franklin College, and Butler University.

Project SEAM's goals are straightforward: provide comprehensive, systematic, and systemic training efforts to assist and support teachers in raising student achievement in math, science, and language arts, thereby paving the way for student success in college.

"This effort is an important complement to other programs we have funded to raise the educational attainment level in Indiana," said Sara B. Cobb, Endowment Vice President for Education. "We expect that the relationships among professors and K-12 teachers developed through this effort will have far-reaching implications and a most positive effect on college success."

Teachers in the school districts and faculty at the colleges and universities, supported with a $600,000 planning grant from Lilly Endowment, spent a year identifying ways to improve how kids are taught subjects that are the foundation of the 21st century information age.

One thing became clear. For too many students, going from high school to college was like crossing a bridge that failed to connect with the other side.

"Passing a student from high school to college is much like passing the baton in a relay race," said IUPUI Physics faculty member Dr. Andy Gavrin. "Track teams practice those passes, but educators never have. Project SEAM is an extraordinary new mechanism to change that. In the past, colleges and universities did not coordinate with high schools, they simply admitted students and then complained about their poor preparation. Project SEAM will allow high school and college faculty to coordinate their efforts and expectations for the benefit of the students."

Dr. Douglas Williams, Superintendent of Perry Township Schools agrees. "An English teacher may tell students 'you need to know this for college.' Maybe that was true years ago, but it may not be true today. Expectations have changed and sometimes we may be missing the mark."

"We make a lot of assumptions about preparation for college because there hasn't been a way to conduct an on-going, two-way dialogue between high school teachers and faculty at colleges and universities until Project SEAM," Williams said.

Project SEAM also will help educators focus additional attention on the last two years of high school, sometimes left in the shadow of the attention poured on 10th graders and the gateway exam, educators said.

"Do we just say this is what we think kids should learn in the last two years of high school, or do we match what they need to learn with what colleges and universities are expecting?" he asked.

"The involvement of faculty in the disciplines working with their colleagues in the high schools gives central Indiana education a special opportunity to strengthen professional development in enhancing the curriculum and to enhance student learning," said IUPUI Dean of the Faculties Dr. William Plater.

Curriculum is of special concern to Project SEAM. The courses offered by the school districts, like most American schools, are a mile wide and an inch deep, educators said. Educators believe students will be better served by engaging them more deeply in these critical subject areas.

David Shane, volunteer President of Community Leaders Allied for Superior Schools, applauded the initiative. "As a collaborative professional development effort, this has a solid focus on core curriculum - English, Math, Science; on what students actually learn; and on gaps between K-12 expectations and student needs for success in now essential post-secondary education. It is a healthy step forward."

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