Stevens partners with Piscataway Township Schools to improve middle school mathematics through technology

HOBOKEN, N.J. — Stevens’ Center for Innovation in Engineering and Science Education (CIESE) has begun a long-term partnership with Piscataway Township Schools to improve mathematics achievement through technology in the district’s three middle schools: Theodore Schor, Quibbletown, and Conackamack.

The $84,000 N.J. Department of Education-sponsored P-12 Higher Education/Public School Partnership Grant Program will enable teachers to receive 40 hours of hands-on professional development, mentoring and web-based support.

The program will enhance teachers’ ability to teach key topics contained in the Grade Eight Proficiency Assessment (GEPA), designed to indicate student progress in mastering the knowledge and skills specified in the Core Curriculum Content Standards needed to pass the High School Proficiency Assessment (HSPA).

“The workshops will incorporate exemplary, field-tested, technology-based lessons designed to bolster teachers’ content knowledge, instructional delivery, and student understanding of core curriculum topics,” said Meg Turner, Manager of District Outreach Programs. “Technology resources will be used to promote visualization of complex concepts and demonstrate the relevance of mathematics to real-world issues.”

The program builds upon the district approach to a standards-based, articulated scope and sequence for grades 6-8 mathematics, based on the principles contained in Understanding by Design (Wiggins & McTighe, 1998). CIESE Mathematics Project Manager Ihor Charischak will lead the workshops. Additional information on this and other CIESE K-12 professional development programs can be located by visiting: ciese.org/pd.html

About CIESE

CIESE was founded in 1988 to improve K-12 science and mathematics education through the use of technology. Since then, programs and activities have reached more than 22,000 educators worldwide, received grants and contracts totaling approximately $25 million, and have received accolades from the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the National Science Teachers Association, and others (see www.ciese.org/awards.html). CIESE offers professional development programs and services during the school year, and during the summer which focus on unique and compelling Internet applications for the K-12 classroom.

For further information about CIESE programs, contact Meg Turner at 201-216-5655, mturner@stevens.edu, or visit ciese.org

About Stevens Institute of Technology

Founded in 1870, Stevens Institute of Technology is one of the leading technological universities in the world dedicated to learning and research. Through its broad-based curricula, nurturing of creative inventiveness, and cross disciplinary research, the Institute is at the forefront of global challenges in engineering, science, and technology management. Partnerships and collaboration between, and among, business, industry, government and other universities contribute to the enriched environment of the Institute. A new model for technology commercialization in academe, known as Technogenesis®, involves external partners in launching business enterprises to create broad opportunities and shared value.

Stevens offers baccalaureates, master’s and doctoral degrees in engineering, science, computer science and management, in addition to a baccalaureate degree in the humanities and liberal arts, and in business and technology. The university has a total enrollment of 2,150 undergraduate and 3,500 graduate students, with about 250 full-time faculty. Stevens’ graduate programs have attracted international participation from China, India, Southeast Asia, Europe and Latin America. Additional information may be obtained from its web page at www.stevens.edu.  

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