• E-mail
• Print
• Comment
• Font Size
• Digg
• del.icio.us
• Discuss article

Center of Excellence in Leadership of Learning and BioCrossroads Celebrate Indiana Science Education Week By Announcing Strides in Implementing Lumina Foundation for Education Grant

Posted on: Thursday, 26 May 2005, 09:00 CDT

Upcoming Visits to California and North Carolina Will Enable Task Force to Explore Best Practices in K-12 Science and Technology Teaching

The Center of Excellence in Leadership of Learning (CELL) at the University of Indianapolis has announced upcoming tours of several organizations in San Diego, California and Research Triangle Park, North Carolina as a part of a grant from Lumina Foundation for Education.

CELL is among several groups in 2004 to receive funding from a $1.2 million Lumina Foundation grant that targets the development of "human capital" for Indiana's knowledge-based economy. The grant, awarded to the Central Indiana Corporate Partnership for BioCrossroads, Indiana's life-sciences initiative, supports several other academic and industry organizations with life sciences and technology workforce pilot programs. The intent is to replicate these programs across the state.

The week of May 23 - 29, 2005 has been declared by Governor Mitch Daniels as Indiana Science Education Week. This week is dedicated to highlighting current activities and promoting increased awareness of science education issues in Indiana.

CELL's portion of the grant ($100,000) is being used in part to explore innovative K-12 science and math programs across the country and bring the best ideas to Indiana.

The tour of best practices programs in North Carolina will be held for two days in early June 2005. Site visits are planned for the North Carolina School of Science and Math, the North Carolina Science Mathematics Technology Education Center and the Kenan Institute for Engineering Technology and Science.

The tour of best practices programs in San Diego will be held from June 15-17, 2005. Indiana participants will meet with representatives from University of California at San Diego's CONNECT program, the San Diego Science Alliance, the San Diego Business Roundtable for Education and Building Engineering and Science Talent.

In addition to visiting these national models for science, technology and math education, the grant is also being used by CELL to:

-- Gather partners along the educational continuum (K-12, higher education, informal education, private sector, public sector) to create a community-based leadership group focused on K-12 science and technology education solutions.

-- Study regions which have been successful in growing their own talent as it relates to the life sciences, and

-- Produce a road map that outlines specific action items and recommendations for community implementation.

To accomplish all four goals, CELL and BioCrossroads have formed the Life Sciences Education Task Force, which is comprised of approximately 40 members from the education, private industry and public sectors. Several members of this task force will be making the site visits to California and North Carolina.

The Life Sciences Education Task Force has met regularly since the end of 2004. They have reviewed, evaluated, ranked and prioritized more than 100 best practices. The next step for this group is to develop specific goals and benchmarks and produce the road map by late summer 2005.

To learn more, visit http://cell.uindy.edu/lifesciences/

About CELL:

The Center of Excellence in Leadership of Learning (CELL) at the University of Indianapolis promotes professional and civic leadership for achievement of educational excellence and equity for all students. http://cell.uindy.edu/

About BioCrossroads:

BioCrossroads is Indiana's life science initiative, a public-private collaboration that supports the region's research and corporate strengths while encouraging new business development. With government, industry and academic resources aligned to accelerate business growth, the region is fertile ground for investors and entrepreneurs to build new ventures. Learn more at www.biocrossroads.com

Source: Business Wire

More News in this Category