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“Why, sometimes I've believed as many as six impossible things before
breakfast.”
― Lewis Carroll, Alice in Wonderland
A small group of Oklahoma science and math teachers is
turning what might seem impossible into real campaigns to advance education across
the state.
The OKMath/OKSci Leadership Program, sponsored by the
Oklahoma State Department of Education (OSDE), goes beyond professional
development and helps teachers enhance their leadership capacity. Teachers from
K-12 and CareerTech collaborate to solve problems they encounter in their
classrooms, schools and districts.
Networking with other teachers is the first step to pushing
the teachers beyond their comfort level and inventing solutions for education
through the program that got its name from #OKMath and #OKSci, hashtags that
connect math and science teachers on Twitter and Facebook.
“What we wanted to do was build on this synergy where math
and science teachers in the state were excited about being connected and
working toward a common goal, and enhancing math and science education in the
state,” said Tiffany Neill, director of science and health education for the
OSDE. She and Levi Patrick, the OSDE’s director of secondary mathematics education,
coordinate the progra
Looking for solutions
Each OKMath/OKSci Leadership class meets three to four
weekends over the course of a year and consists of 40 teachers chosen through
an application process. Neill said teachers come to it looking for basic lesson
plan ideas, but soon find the program delves much deeper into the challenges of
education.
“Early on, teachers see themselves as only being able to
have an impact on students in their classrooms. They don’t think about their
ability to develop solutions beyond their classrooms,” Neill said. “They are the
ones who are closest to the issues that face our education system. Because they
have those experiences, they are actually the ones with the solutions for some
of the bigger issues that we face.”
Members of the OKMath/OKSci Leadership class are expected to
develop keystone projects that they can take back to their communities.
Traci Richardson, who teaches chemistry, biology and physics
at Stillwater High School, said OKMath/OKSci Leadership provided her the
resources to visit with other science teachers in the state. Her keystone
project was the Shifting Science blog, in which she shares how she is
implementing state science standards. The blog is hosted at www.oksciteachers.com.
Richardson said she has enjoyed being part of national
teacher collaboration programs, but OKMath/OKSci Leadership has helped her face
circumstances unique to Oklahoma.
“It’s always been a struggle for me to communicate the
issues I have teaching science in Oklahoma versus the issues others have in
other states or other big cities,” she said. “With a group of science and math
teachers from Oklahoma, they already know (the issues). They’re in the same
boat we are. I can’t say enough how important this program is to education in
Oklahoma.”
Yielding results
Mandy Karleskint, a pre-algebra and Algebra 1 teacher at
Wells Middle School in Catoosa, saw students struggling with low scores at her
school. She said the training she received from OKMath/OKSci Leadership gave
her the confidence to approach district leaders about implementing a
remediation program. Students who did not pass the state test last year now
receive extra attention through an additional math class to help them catch up.
“We slow it down. They work at their own pace. We have small
classes. All classes except for one are below 10 (students) in the remediation
class, so we can do that one-on-one teaching because not all students need the
same things,” Karleskint said.
Karleskint is still seeking funding for the remediation
program, about $1,400. However, it is already yielding results after just its
first month.
“There have been a couple of students that said, ‘I didn’t
get this last year, but it makes sense now,’” Karleskint said.
Annette Huett, a fifth-grade teacher at Houchin Elementary
in Moore, saw a need for more emphasis in science in the lower grades. She successfully
sought a grant that has allowed her to become a science coach to other teachers
in the district. She meets with teachers after school, and the grant pays for
substitutes so teachers can come to her classroom to watch her model teaching
strategies.
As a result, said Huett, one of her colleagues has a new approach
to science instruction.
“That particular teacher went from being in third grade
where they just read the book once a week and then answered a few questions, to
where she is actually doing hands-on science now. And she is getting the other
teachers in the grade level with her teaching hands-on science at least two to
three times a week,” said Huett, who won the Presidential Award for Excellence
in Mathematics and Science Teaching in 2013,
Huett’s OKMath/OKSci Leadership project prompted an
invitation from U.S. News & World Report to speak at one of its conferences
about why science is important in the lower grades.
Successful graduates
The ultimate goal of OKMath/OKSci Leadership is for teachers
to pitch their solutions to a broader audience. The program’s final meeting includes
diverse stakeholders such as community members, business and industry leaders,
legislators, administrators and university leaders.
“When those teachers make the pitch, they become so
passionate about their project that they make sure it happens or moves forward
in some way in their district. A lot of the ideas are so good that we turn them
into projects at the state level,” Neill said.
Graduates of the program typically build on their leadership
skills after the program. For instance, Richardson joined the state’s academic
performance standards-writing committee. Shawn Sheehan, recently named the 2016
Oklahoma Teacher of the Year, developed his Teach Like Me campaign as part of
the OKMath/OKSci Leadership program.
Other successes of the program include the development of an
online professional learning community, a formalized plan to bring in parents
to a campaign to help education, and a pending patent for a student table
designed to aid instruction. The OKMath/OKSci Leadership program has also been
recognized nationally by groups such as the National Science Teachers
Association, The Research and Practice Collaboratory and other state agencies looking
at modeling similar programs.
Karleskint summed up the program by stressing how nothing is
impossible: “If money wasn’t an issue, if politics weren’t an issue, what would
you do? Then go do it.”
The due date for
applications for his year’s OKMath/OKSci Leadership Program has been extended
to Sept. 29. To apply, go to
https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/okmath_oksci_class2.
 
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