• May 2010 – Bob Chen: Urban Oceanographer Profiled for Ocean Education Outreach

BSP PI Bob Chen has the honor of being the first ocean scientist profiled on COSEE in an informative, interactive and engaging multimedia site. Check it out here...

• April 2010 – BSP Showcase Draws 130 People for Two Days of Celebration and Discussions

Over 130 people from all corners of science education attended a two day celebration and discussion about the BSP’s work in Boston over the past six years. Teachers, faculty, partner staff, graduate students and principals all took to the microphones to share their stories about change to science education in Boston.

• March 2010 – Spring Presentations and Publications Bloom

March will have seen more presentations by BSP staff, PIs and participants than ever before. Jennifer Dorsen gave an overview of the BSP at the Boston Education Funders meeting at the Boston Foundation offices; over a dozen teachers, faculty, BSP staff and PIs presented various topics at NSTA; Hannah Sevian and Pam Pelletier presented the Navigation Guides at the American Chemical Society; and Marilyne Stains and Hannah Sevian presented on the pipeline study at NARST. If you did not catch us at those events, there is still time to register for the BSP Showcase!

As part of the Boston Science Partnership research program, Hannah Sevian and Marilyne Stains, Research Assistant Professor in COSMIC have developed and validated over the last year and a half a survey designed to assess student’s progress in understanding fundamental concepts related to the particulate nature of matter. More specifically, the survey evaluates students’ progression in understanding the structure and motion of matter (SAMM). The SAMM survey was designed for science teachers and university educators as well as science education researchers. It was therefore developed in collaboration with local science teachers and several validation and reliability studies were conducted to ensure that results obtained from the survey are valid and reliable from a research stand-point.

The survey and its scoring scheme can be found at: http://sites.google.com/site/sammsurvey/. The presentations will be on our Media and Publications page as soon as they are submitted to us.

• February 2010 – Boston Science Education Fellowship Application Period Opens

Are you a K-12 Boston science teacher or teacher of science who loves being in the classroom? Are you looking for a new challenge? Are you ready to learn, collaborate, and be reflective on your classroom practice while learning how to improve your leadership skills? If you answered yes to these question, then you should consider applying for a Science Education Fellowship. Please click here to access Fellowship information. Please e-mail Allison Scheff at allison.scheff@umb.edu to request an application or if you have any questions. Applications are due by 11:59 PM on March 26; Applicants will be notified by May 3.

• February 2010 – BSP Presents at College Board Southern Regional Forum
  

The Boston Science Partnership was pleased to have the opportunity to present at the College Board’s 2010 Southern Regional Forum on February 18. This session focused on the BSP, its impact on AP Science enrollment growth, and the increase in students passing AP exams across the sciences. Participants were able to make strategic plans and discuss challenges that may arise and how to overcome them. Please click on the links below to access the materials distributed during this session.

Doing The Impossible - AP Success
AP Program Guide
Planning Guide - Session 1
Planning Guide - Session 2
Program Expense List
BSP Expenses
Year-Long Calendar
Year-Long Calendar (Example)

• January 2010 – BSP Co-PI Christos Zahopoulos Named to Governor's STEM Advisory Council

Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick recently appointed Zahopoulos, an associate professor in the College of Engineering and Department of Education, to the newly formed Governor’s Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) Advisory Council.

Zahopoulos, the executive director of Northeastern’s Center for STEM Education, will cochair the council’s subcommittee on statewide curriculum standards for science, technology, engineering and math.

“I am looking forward to making as significant a contribution as possible,” Zahopoulos said of his new role. “This is both an honor for myself and for Northeastern.”

Northeastern’s STEM center serves as a connecting link between the university’s science, engineering and math programs and the education program, and seeks to play a key role in improving STEM education in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and beyond.

In his new position, Zahopoulos will work with members of Massachusetts’ seven regional STEM Networks to make recommendations to the governor, cabinet members and legislators on how best to tailor curriculum standards to better serve students.

The rest of the story can be found here.

• October 2009 – Four BPS Science Teachers Selected to be NSTA New Science Teacher Fellows

We congratulate four BPS science teachers who have been named Teaching Fellows by the National Science Teachers Association. The program is sponsored by the Amgen Foundation. The award honors teachers in their second or third year of teacher with an array of supports for their growing leadership, conference admission, and the shared resources of a community of teachers from across the country. We wish them a long and satisfying career teaching science in Boston!.

The teachers are Nicole Yana Davis (The English High School), Katherine Fogarty (Boston Latin Academy), Michele Goe (Fenway High School), Stacy-Michelle Reid (East Boston High School).

• September 2009 – Nine Teachers Receive M.Ed. degrees

Congratulations to the first nine teachers to graduate with a Master of Education in Middle School Science degree from Northeastern University.

The M.Ed. in Middle School Science is a specially designed graduate degree administered by the Center for STEM Education at Northeastern University that provides teachers with the strong science content knowledge and research-based pedagogy needed to teach middle school science effectively. A majority of the degree requirements are Contextualized Content Courses which have been co-developed by faculty from Northeastern and UMass-Boston through the Boston Science Partnership.

The M.Ed. draws teachers from across Massachusetts, with a particular focus on traditionally high-needs districts including Boston, Revere, Saugus, Somerville, Lynn, and Malden. Since January 2007, fifty teachers have applied and matriculated into the program, with the following group of teachers graduating on August 29, 2009.

Boston Public School teachers: Antoinette Barrow (McKinley Middle School), Erin Flynn (Philbrick Elementary School), Mitchelle Galac (Irving Middle School), Juliet Parry (Brighton High School), Angel Simpson (Timilty Middle School).
Teachers from other districts: Sally Brith (Next Wave Alternative Junior High School – Somerville), Mario Perella (Seacoast High School – Revere), Carl Piepora (Saugus High School), Karen Woods (Somerville High School).

This degree is approved by the Massachusetts Department of Elementary & Secondary Education and satisfies the professional licensure requirements for the state. Teachers interested in applying to the degree program should contact Nick Smetana in the Center for STEM Education at Northeastern University (n.smetana@neu.edu; 617-373-3706).

• August 2009 – BSP Leadership News

We are pleased to shared the wonderful news that BSP PI Hannah Sevian has been asked to spend a year serving at the National Science Foundation as a program officer. In that role she will work for three NSF programs: The Math Science Partnership (MSP), Noyce Teacher Fellowships, and chemistry projects in the Course, Curriculum & Laboratory Improvement (CCLI) program. Starting in August, she will be on a temporary leave of absence from UMass Boston and her role as PI of the BSP. The BSP is fortunate to have Bob Chen serving as lead PI while she is in Washington, DC. He will guide the project during the next year of programming, reporting and research. We wish both of them a terrific year in their new roles.

• July 2009- Presidential Award given to BPS Teacher Erin Flynn

Congratulations to Erin Flynn on being awarded the Presidential Award for Elementary Science. Erin teaches at the Philbrick School in Roslindale. The Presidential Awards for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching (PAEMST) is the highest recognition of teaching at the K-12 level, and Erin will join the other state representatives in Washington DC for an awards ceremony. About the award, Erin said, “I feel so lucky to teach in Boston, where I have had so many opportunities for professional development and leadership. Not to mention fantastic colleagues and a supportive science department!"

• April 2009 - BSP PI Receives Prominent Education Award

Arthur Eisenkraft is the recipient of this year’s Millikan Award in Physics Education. We have always known that he is to be celebrated for his “Notable and Creative Contributions in Physics Education” but having official confirms the honor that we have to work with him and have him as part of our larger science education community in Boston and beyond. The Robert A Millikan Medal, established in 1962, recognizes teachers who have made notable and creative contributions to the teaching of physics. Congratulations, Arthur! Click here to read a full press release

• March 2009 - Upcoming Chemistry Education Seminar

 The UMass-Boston Chemistry Department announces upcoming seminar given by Prof. Tom Greenbowe (Iowa State University) on his research in chemistry education.  The seminar will be held this Wednesday, April 22nd, from 12:00 – 1:00 PM in the Science Building, 1st Floor – Room 89 at UMass-Boston.  A delicious hot lunch will be served afterward. 

• February 2009 - Announcing SEF: A New Boston Science Partnership Initiative

If you are a K-12 science teacher or a teacher of science and would like to pursue a leadership role while staying in the classroom, then you should consider applying to be a SEF Fellow.  Please click on the links below to access Fellowship information and application.  Applications are due by deadline to 11:59 PM on April 23 (with signed contracts needing to be submitted by April 28); Applicants will be notified by May 13. Contact Allison Scheff at allison.scheff@umb.edu if you have any question. 

The Harvard Medical School, Office for Diversity and Community Partnership, - a BSP Partner - will hold a three-session for AP Biology Scholars. The Saturday Review Workshops will be taught by experienced AP Biology teachers so that students can review topics, practice answering questions and generally work towards improving their exam scores. The three sessions will be February 28, March 7, and March 14, from 9am-12pm on the Harvard Medical School campus. Note that on February 28 th , they are holding an information session for parents and caregivers. For more information, contact AnneMarie Clarke at Annemarie_clarke@hms.harvard.edu.

Pam Pelletier, Interim Director of Science for Boston Public Schools, has been presented with the Russell P. Stanhope Distinguished Friend of Science Award by the Massachusetts Association of Science Teachers (MAST). We are excited to have Pam receive state-wide recognition for her hard work and dedication to the teachers and students of Boston.

Bon Temps! 14 BPS teachers, 6 BPS science department staff and 1 BSP staff (and counting!) will be presenting sessions at NSTA in March in New Orleans. The 12 sessions cover everything from using technology, inquiry learning, assessment and the local urban environment. We are proud to learn that a number of the sessions profile specific BSP strategies. To see some of the presentation materials, click here.

Congratulations to Brian White, professor of Biology at UMass-Boston, for winning the 2008 Chancellor's Award for Distinguished Teaching. Brian has supported the BSP since the start of the Partnership, and currently serves on the Articulation Team and is a member of the Vertical Planning Group. We are excited that someone whose contribution is so highly valued by the BSP is being acknowledged for the quality of his teaching by the University.

Boston Public School teacher Matt Anthes-Washburn has been a 2008 recipient of the prestigious ‘Presidential Award for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching', presented by the National Science Foundation. This award is the nation's highest honor for teachers of mathematics and science and recognizes exemplary contributions to improving teaching and learning. Matt is currently a teacher at Boston International High School. Boston Public School teacher Kristen Cacciatore has been a 2008 recipient of the exclusive ‘Amgen Award for Science Teaching Excellence', presented annually by the Amgen Foundation. This award recognizes extraordinary contributions by educators who are elevating the level of science literacy through creativity in the classroom and motivation of students. Kristen is currently a teacher at East Boston High School.