Back to class

• By MARSHA SILLS
• Advocate Acadiana bureau
• Published: Jun 19, 2009 - Page: 1BA

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LAFAYETTE — One federal program has teachers in the role of student to learn ways to improve ninth-graders’ understanding of math and science.

The Math Science Partnership fosters collaboration between math and science teachers as a way to improve student achievement.

The three-week program taught by local classroom teachers and University of Louisiana at Lafayette staff offers teachers new strategies and hands-on experiments to teach in their classrooms. Beyond that, it also challenges teachers to explore connections between the two disciplines and coordinate with their fellow faculty members.

“I’ve learned activities and real-life problems that I can use with my students,” said Jalel Ben Hmida, a Lafayette High algebra and statistics teacher.

One of those activities involved using a simple circuitry experiment with small light bulbs and a 6-volt battery to calculate resistance, voltage and current.

“My background is in engineering, but I never thought about involving the math students in physics, like using electricity and using circuits to add and subtract fractions,” Ben Hmida said.

It’s the third and final year of the grant program that targets high school freshmen-level algebra and physical science teachers.

Federal funding funneled to the state department of education is awarded on a competitive basis.

Lafayette and Iberia parishes received a three-year grant with a $150,000 installment this year to fund 30 high school teachers to participate in the three-week program.

Thirty teachers from Lafayette and Iberia parishes participated in the three-week course held at the Vermilion Conference Center. Iberia Parish will host a Math Science Partnership for middle school teachers next month.  Daylong follow-up sessions are planned throughout the year.

Teachers receive a stipend of about $150 a day for their participation in the professional development program.

The impact of the professional development is evidenced in the classroom, said Penny Gennuso, Lafayette Parish School System lead math teacher for the high schools.

“Overall, when we run a report at the end of the year, the teachers that were in this project, their students performed better on standardized testing,” Gennuso said.