News

The 2013 Annual Meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) has full details for over 150 scientific sessions, careeer development workshops, and plenary and topical lectures:  14-18 February, Boston, Massachusetts

Register for meeting

Topical lectures

Symposia tracks

PARCC - the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers - is a 24-state consortium led by non-profit Achieve - recently released a request for propoosals (RFP) through the Indiana Department of Administration (IDPA) for the item tryouts, field testing, embedded research, practice tests, and forms construction for the first operational year of the assessment in English language arts/literacy and mathematics.   The RFP specifies the development of technical and cost options for administering and scoring PARCC operational assessments in 2014-2015. Elements include: 

• Item tryout: The purpose of the item tryout is to better understand how assessment items, tasks, and innovations are functioning and to refine test administration, data collection, scoring materials and procedures. Item tryouts will occur in the spring of 2013.
• Field testing: The purpose of the field test is to administer items and tasks to representative samples of students across PARCC states in order to generate the data necessary to assemble multiple forms for operational testing in 2014-2015 and beyond. Field testing will occur in the spring of 2014.
• Operational forms: The RFP calls for vendors to use the item/task data generated by the field test to assemble multiple test forms for each content area (English language arts/literacy and mathematics) and for each of the grades 3-11. For mathematics at the high school level, forms will be assembled for each of six end-of-course assessments.
• Embedded research: A total of seven research studies will be conducted to inform operational test administration, scoring procedures and the development of metrics for reporting the results of operational assessments. Research activities will occur throughout the item tryout and field test phases, as well as during summer 2013 following item tryouts.
• Cost option: The RFP includes a request for the administration and scoring of the first operational exam and a standalone field test during the first operational year, as a cost option to PARCC. PARCC may choose to exercise this option and include these activities under a contract that will be assigned to the new PARCC operational organization after the grant period.

Vendors have until November 27, 2012 to submit proposals. 

RFP 13-29 can be found at http://www.in.gov/idoa/proc/bids/RFP-13-29/

Questions about the RFP may be directed to the Indiana Department of Administration

Learn more about PARCC, visit www.parcconline.org, on Twitter at http://twitter.com/PARCCPlace, or on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/PARCC

The full program for the February 14-18 2013 annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (Boston) is available.   

Poster sessions deadline:  October 24   Submit online

Register

www.aaas.org/meetings

Sierra College in Rocklin, California reports positive outcomes from its Advanced Technological Education (ATE) project, funded by the National Science Foundation. Emphasizing the value of two-year college programs, the ATE focuses on improving and expanding the education of technicians in high technology and skills areas integral to the US economy. 

"Sierra College welding students are better prepared for employment because the critical math skills sought by industry are being overtly integrated into class projects. Sierra College Welding Department chair, Bill Wenzel, worked with Katie Lucero, chair of the Sierra College Math Department to develop new infused math in welding curriculum and test it in two classes. While welding classes have alwaysincluded some math, incorporating math lessons tied directly to a student project significantly improved students’ math skills.

The Sierra College IGNITE (Infusing GeN-ed Into Technical Education) project was developed in partnership with the West Virginia University at Parkersburg (WVUP) and funded by the National Science Foundation, according to Carol Pepper-Kittredge, director, Sierra College Center for Applied Competitive Technologies (CACT).

Using the math competencies WVUP identified for infusion into welding, Sierra College faculty developed hands-on, applied math curriculum that related directly to welding projects. Students in Welding Technology 10 classes learned welding and technical skills as they fabricated a Hibachi barbeque, according to Wenzel. “Classes were provided with drawings that showed measurements as fractions and decimals, step-by-step assembly directions and instruction on the use of shop equipment and hand tools,” said Wenzel. “For the experimental class, we designed weekly math lessons that covered critical math skills that applied directly to the construction of the barbeque.”

For example, students multiplied and divided fractions to determine how many lengths of a specified measurement could be cut from a rod. They calculated how much material would be used for the Hibachi handle and the grill. In another exercise, students designed two different grill patterns and calculated the amount of material needed and the cost to construct each design. 

“The class that completed the hands-on math exercises performed significantly better than the control group on basic and pre-algebra skills based on pre- and post-tests,” said Wenzel. The infused math in welding curriculum was also tested in another class, Welding Technology 15, and again the students’ mathematics performance improved.

On a student survey, 52% of the students in the infused math WT-10 class had not enrolled in a math class at Sierra College but 82% said they would feel more comfortable taking a math class in the future as a result of the WT-10 class; and 48% would be more likely to take the math assessment for placement in a math class at Sierra College. So, math confidence improved too.

The Sierra College CACT provides customized training in shop math for Placer and Nevada County businesses. “Employers report that skilled employees can’t apply fractions, decimals and basic math to their work,” said Pepper-Kittredge. “Infusing math into welding shows great potential to address the skills gap before students go into the workforce.”

For more information go to www.sierracollegetraining.com, www.sierraschoolworks.com, or contact Carol Pepper-Kittredge, director, Center for Applied Competitive Technologies, Sierra College, at cpepper-kittredge@sierracollege.edu."