Adult Education

CC&F will develop and launch a major new region on the PBS Parents Web site to help parents and caregivers nurture the creativity of their children from birth through age eight. CC&F is designing both online and real world games and activities to encourage parents and children to interact in ways that enhance creativity. To help adults understand how each activity relates to creative development and to spark their own ideas on how to further it, CC&F staff are also writing articles and adding resources.

EDC will provide a professional development institute in conjunction with the Massachusetts Department of Education.

Building on the Lesson Study Communities in Secondary Mathematics project, EDC is creating professional development materials that support secondary mathematics teachers in improving teaching and learning through lesson study. EDC will develop a range of in-depth resources: (1) lesson study course for teachers; (2) leadership guide for lesson study leaders and coaches; (3) a facilitator institute designed to build the capacity for scaling up; and (4) models for coaching and for writing about research lessons.

In collaboration with community-based organizations, EDC improves the education and employment of Latina women and their families, and supports economic and community development in Waltham, Mass. Participants take courses in English, GED preparation, and computers, while developing life skills in the areas of child care, family advocacy, and community activism. They also explore career opportunities, moving into first-time jobs or improving their career prospects.

EDC is providing technical assistance to the National Center for Literacy through the development and implementation of a comprehensive dissemination plan for its early childhood literacy products and program materials. By bringing to bear our knowledge of diverse and complex early childhood education systems and their staff development and parent education efforts, we will reach thousands of stakeholders across the nation and provide them with essential information that they can use to advance early childhood education literacy policies and practices.

The project will create instructional materials, for use in seminar settings with teams of school and district leaders from middle and high schools, to support school and district leaders who are experiencing increasing pressure to improve the mathematics performance of students in their schools–at a time of raised expectations for all students’ enrollment in algebra and more participation in higher-level mathematics courses in high school.

CSE is helping develop a Northeast Biomanufacturing Collaborative, a regional center with hubs in 12 states from Maine to Virginia. The project helps partnerships of community colleges, biotechnology companies, high schools, and four-year colleges develop programs and curricula to train people for biomanufacturing occupations and careers in the biotechnology industry.

Focus on Mathematics increases student achievement and teacher quality by providing teachers with solid content-based professional development, students with rigorous courses and curricula, and by establishing a mathematical community in which mathematicians and pre-college educators work together to improve mathematics education in grades 5 through 12. This project is a National Science Foundation Targeted Math and Science Partnership.