New Partners in Teacher Preparation: How Scientific Work Experience Programs for Teachers Help Students
A Forum — September 19, 1997
SWEPTs vary across their many sites. Many are run through universities, and teachers spend their summers working in university research laboratories. Others are run by businesses or intermediary organizations, and place teachers in private research and development firms to refine and apply their math, science and technology skills. Participants generally work full-time at their placement laboratory, meeting as a larger group regularly to discuss methods of integrating what they are learning in their "internships" into their classroom and curriculum. Many continue these meetings throughout the school year and share their knowledge with non-SWEPT co-workers. Cost per teacher range from $4,000 to $25,000 per year, with most programs funded by the private sector or foundations.
The Oregon Business Education Compact, according to Tamra Busch-Johnsen, Executive Director, is a Portland-based intermediary organization whose members consist of representatives from both businesses and education. Under its charter, the chair must be a business representative. The Compact runs a range of training and workforce development programs, including school retention projects and school-to-work initiatives. Its SWEPT effort began in 1984, and since then has provided nearly 800 teachers with summer internships and conducted over 1,000 teacher and 5,000 student worksite visits. Its goal is for 10 percent of teachers, counselors and administrators to participate in a SWEPT initiative.
The Compact ensures that teachers perform real work that requires them to achieve quality results. Busch-Johnsen notes that SWEPT leaves teachers highly motivated to apply their lessons to the classroom. One junior high school math teacher--consistently considered one of the best teachers in his school--stated that his SWEPT experience convinced him that he had "been teaching all wrong." While the content of what he was teaching his students was strong, his work experience taught him the importance of developing the problem-solving skills of his students, that are critical in science and technology-related occupations.
Sausen Silmi, Science Teacher at Canarsie High School in the Bronx, New York, maintains that SWEPT enhanced her teaching techniques, taught her more about science and "believe it or not, transferred additional knowledge to her students." Silmi applied four times to the Columbia SWEPT before being accepted in 1996, and is now one of the program's shining stars. She has shared her learning with fellow teachers and founded an after-school science club (in which many of her students participate). Silmi notes that her students are more motivated to study science, and academic achievement has improved as a result.
Although designed to improve the knowledge base of teachers and enhance their classroom performance, these types of improvements in student outcomes are the primary goal of every SWEPT initiative. The Columbia SWEPT is nearing completion of an evaluation of its effects on student performance and achievement. Although final data are pending, preliminary results suggest that students of SWEPT teachers, compared to students of non-SWEPT teachers, have higher standardized test scores in math and science, attend science classes more regularly, have a higher GPA, pass science courses at a higher rate and are more involved in extracurricular science activities.
Preliminary work has also begun on a larger evaluation of seven of the most stable SWEPTs. Funded by the National Science Foundation, the assessment is designed to determine if participation enhances classroom instruction such that student academic performance is improved. At the same time, SWEPTs across the nation are collaborating and developing a broader network within which to identify effective principles and practices. Through this network, SWEPT administrators and participants are sharing methods of enrollment, follow-up, the role of business, the potential for losing teachers to industry and other critical issues.
As SWEPTs have formed independently across the country over the past few years, there is still much variation in their structures and styles and much to be learned from their practices. Early results, however, indicate that SWEPTs can help teachers create a classroom environment based on real-world applications, and that environment can go a long way in improving student performance.