The program intends to improve student achievement by developing 120 rural Illinois 9th -12th grade chemistry teachers to become Teacher-Leaders equipped to teach and lead based on cutting-edge research, computational methods of visualization and communication, and extensive leadership development experiences.
The ICLCS has identified the following goals: (1) Strengthen rural high school teachers' and students' understanding of chemistry within the context of 21st Century scientific research; (2) Increase teachers' use of, and comfort with, computational and visualization tools in their teaching; (3) Create a cadre of 9th-12th grade and university-level faculty teacher-leaders who will become advocates for excellence in science education; and (4) Promote institutional change in university and school district partners.
The Institute features two-week residential sessions in three successive summers with extensive academic year online support, two academic-year regional meetings, and academic-year on-line interaction among partners and participants.
Central to the Institute are: the use of computational methods to describe molecular behavior, including internet-based molecular visualizations; the establishment of an on-line community of participants and project staff via Access Grid (AG) communications technology and Moodle, a course development tool, as a means of fostering comfortable, mutually beneficial on-going interchanges about chemistry content and pedagogy; chemistry understanding informed by cutting-edge scientific research; and leadership development for teachers at various levels of their professional careers.
The project employs a randomized control trial research/evaluation design intended to contribute to the research base on improving teacher quality.