This project is funded by a grant from Longview Foundation.

Purpose: : Show teachers how to meet standards while infusing curriculum with global connections

Timeframe: Spring-Fall, 2006

Description:

• Support the local Pacific NW region team in implementing an in-depth workshop series for teachers, based on the successful experience at the OSPI Summer and Winter Institutes, which provides a scalable model for helping whole schools of students and teachers engage in global collaboration
• Produce “Starter Kits” for teachers so they can immediately begin implementing projects tied directly to the state’s Classroom-Based Assessments in Social Studies and the Arts
• Present the workshop at five regional conferences (including the OSPI Summer/Winter Institutes)
• Disseminate the work further through collaboration with Coalition partners and through use of technology
• Provide follow-up, in-class and on-line support to selected teachers attending the institutes to ensure effective implementation of the assessment tools and international projects
• Provide scholarship help for up to five teachers in schools with low socioeconomic status to join iEARN
• Provide opportunity for up to five teachers to enroll in OSPI certified online professional development courses offered through iEARN

Key Personnel:

• Caleb Perkins, Supervisor for International Education and Social Studies, Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction; 2004 State Team Member
• Greg Tuke, Director of the NW Region Project affiliated with the International Education and Resource Network (iEARN) – Project Director
• Jennifer Geist, Spanish language teacher and developer of materials for elementary language programs

Status as of: 1/31/2007 | 5/20/2006

Status as of 1/31/2007

• Support the local Pacific NW region team in implementing an in-depth workshop series for teachers, based on the successful experience at the OSPI Summer and Winter Institutes, which provides a scalable model for helping whole schools of students and teachers engage in global collaboration
  >> Done
• Produce “Starter Kits” for teachers so they can immediately begin implementing projects tied directly to the state’s Classroom-Based Assessments in Social Studies and the Arts 
  >> Done  See OSPI > Open the Doors and Raise the Scores
• Present the workshop at five regional conferences (including the OSPI Summer/Winter Institutes)
  >> Done 
• Disseminate the work further through collaboration with Coalition partners and through use of technology
  >> Done 
• Provide follow-up, in-class and on-line support to selected teachers attending the institutes to ensure effective implementation of the assessment tools and international projects
  >> Done 
• Provide scholarship help for up to five teachers in schools with low socioeconomic status to join iEARN
  >> Done 
• Provide opportunity for up to five teachers to enroll in OSPI certified online professional development courses offered through iEARN
  >> Done 

Comments from Greg Tuke, Project Director:
The project was quite successful on nearly all measures. This summer we developed specific curriculum frameworks in several project areas so teachers could easily see, step by step, how to engage in an international collaboration with students around the world in several key topical areas. And we tied the activities and outcomes into the state standards and classroom-based assessments. These have been developed into “Starter Kits’ for teachers in four subject areas. The frameworks have been disseminated to teachers among our 70 participating classrooms, and are posted on the Washington state International Coalition website for further dissemination purposes: http://internationaledwa.org/starter_kit/.

We have provided two day-long workshops for more than 40 teachers in central and eastern Washington, and the materials were well received. This fall we worked with selected teachers in Puget sound area classrooms to utilize some of these new frameworks and assessment tools. Eight schools worked with us intensively, involving groups of their staff, and an additional 12 schools had teachers working with us on various international projects, many involving more powerful communication media to engage in stimulating exchanges (video, digital photo story-telling, live video conferencing, and actual physical exchanges of students from South Africa). A total of 70 local teachers with an equal number of international teachers began direct on-line collaboration projects together, in more than 25 countries.

Status as of 5/20/2006

• The proposal to present the iEARN projects at the OSPI Summer Institutes has been accepted.

back to top