High Schools

CSE is conducting the formative and summative evaluation of the Maine ScienceCorps, a project of the biosciences community at the University of Southern Maine and the Education Division of the Foundation for Blood Research, which works with university professors, teaching fellows, and over 30 teachers across the state. Teachers and researchers bring authentic lab experiences aligned with Maine’s science standards—involving nucleic acids, proteins, microbes, viruses, human disease, and immune responses—to over 2,500 students.

EDC is developing, testing, and publishing Linear Algebra and Geometry, a modular curriculum for high school capstone courses that features three semesters worth of topics in linear algebra and its applications.

This cross center project between CLLC and EDC’s Division for Mathematics Learning and Teaching, provides two years of professional development and support to teams of middle and high school mathematics teachers in the Greater Boston area involved with the lesson study model of professional development. Our goals include enhancing knowledge of mathematics and pedagogy, introducing teachers to lesson study, building a community of teachers interested in lesson study, and learning how the Japanese lesson study model can be adapted to become a successful professional development model for U.S.

ERO is creating science curriculum units for middle and high school students that focus on two of the most innovative and promising areas of botany: ethnobotany and economic botany. The units are designed to supplement existing life and plant science curricula as well as to provide an engaging set of materials for informal education settings, such as after-school science clubs, botanical gardens, and nature centers.

CME Project is a rigorous, coherent four-year high school mathematics curriculum designed to help students develop mathematical proficiency. CME Project fits into the familiar four-year high school course structure while maintaining mathematical relevance and rigor and integrating key concepts from the sciences and other fields.

This project provides two years of professional development and support to teams of middle and high school mathematics teachers in the Greater Boston area involved with the lesson study model of professional development. Our goals include enhancing knowledge of mathematics and pedagogy, introducing teachers to lesson study, building a community of teachers interested in lesson study, and learning how the Japanese lesson study model can be adapted to become a successful professional development model for U.S. secondary school mathematics teachers.

COPE is developing a series of 26 online professional development courses that are available through the PBS TeacherLine site. The courses are designed to help elementary, middle, and high school teachers deepen their own understanding of mathematics or reading/language arts, incorporate effective teaching and assessment methods, use technology in their classrooms, and address issues of equity.

Through its national network of school districts, CSE created and disseminated Selecting Computer-Based High School Science Curricula: A Guide for Teachers. The guide enables teachers to maximize the growing and considerable investment this country is making in technology. Research shows that a scientific and technical education is critical for students to function in and contribute to society. The guide is available through the CSE Web site.

In collaboration with EDC’s Center for Educational Resources and Outreach, this research project investigates two overarching questions: (1) What do teachers learn by participating in professional development programs that use classroom records and artifacts? and (2) What aspects of their learning do teachers apply to their classroom practice?