Bates seeks collaborative K-12 proposals for math and science grants
Bates College is looking to Maine teachers and school administrators, as well as the college’s own students and faculty, to propose initiatives designed to improve education in mathematics and the sciences.
Made possible by the Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI), the Bates Science Education Outreach Grant Program offers Maine K-12 schools support for equipment, curriculum development and other projects that will improve science teaching and learning. To be eligible for funding, proposals must involve direct collaboration between a K-12 teacher or administrator and Bates faculty or students.
Grants of $100 to $10,000 are available for science education projects during the academic year or for summer curriculum development projects. Any project with a well-designed plan, a sound and well-articulated budget and a clear K-12 school-Bates College collaboration will be considered.
March 15 is the deadline for proposals to be implemented this summer or during the fall 2002 semester, with notification by May 1.
Past projects supported by the Bates Science Education Outreach Program have included the redesign of a sixth-grade physical sciences curriculum, acquisition of computers for high school sciences, enhancement of kindergarten reading programs with science materials, purchase of microscopes, water quality kits and other equipment for teaching science at the elementary level, and a mathematics project that integrates junior high school and high school math curricula and students.
HHMI, one of the country’s largest private scientific institutions, furthers all fields of science, biomedical research and medicine, including science education. Bates has received several HHMI grants to enhance science and mathematics education at the college level. The Science Education Outreach Grant Program at Bates is intended to help cultivate the next generation of scientists.
School systems, administrators, or teachers anywhere in Maine may apply for the outreach grants, but preference will be given to proposals submitted by teachers and administrators from under-resourced schools and from schools in Androscoggin, Franklin and Oxford counties.
Proposals are reviewed by the Hughes Council, a group of Bates science and mathematics faculty members. The Council awards strong, coherent proposals that address science education in light of the Maine Learning Results standards, serve a significant number of K-12 students and teachers, enhance current science offerings or propose revisions to existing curricula, demonstrate a long-term commitment to proposed science education enhancements, and articulate a solid collaboration among K-12 educators and/or students and Bates students and/or faculty.
To request an application form, call or e-mail Kerry O’Brien, assistant dean of the faculty at Bates, at 207-786-6065 or this e-mail. Proposals must be delivered or postmarked by March 15 and sent to the Office of the Dean of the Faculty, Bates College, 2 Andrews Road, Lewiston, ME 04240.
