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Recruiting and Supporting GLOBE Schools
In their efforts to expand GLOBE locally, most GLOBE U.S. Partners are targeting school districts rather than individual teachers, according to the most recent program evaluation conducted by SRI, a professional education evaluation firm. Nearly one-quarter of the U.S. Partners reported that they require schools to send more than one teacher to GLOBE Training workshops. Building a team of GLOBE teachers within a school makes it easier to provide support after training, in part because the teachers themselves build a support system together.
"Our goal is to have at least two teachers in every GLOBE school," GLOBE
in Alabama U.S. Partner Coordinator Greg Cox said. "We've found that it gives
teachers confidence to have someone to touch base with right at school.
They are able to work together to resolve issues in implementing GLOBE
activities."
The SRI evaluation also found that GLOBE U.S. Partner have been a primary source of scientific equipment for many schools. In addition to providing GLOBE instrument kits, more than half of the U.S. Partners give new GLOBE teachers assistance setting-up and using equipment and technology. Other common follow-up activities include personal phone calls, email contacts, site visits by U.S. Partner staff, and meetings or conferences for teachers to share their experiences, successes and challenges.
Meeting Local Educational Needs
SRI also found that many U.S. Partners developed crosswalks between GLOBE activities and materials and local and state standards and curriculum that emphasize inquiry-based, hands-on, and integrated learning. GLOBE is emerging as an excellent way to put such guidelines into practice.
For example, educators in Texas report that GLOBE ties-in well with many of the state science education requirements of the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills guidelines, or TEKS. "One of the hardest things is having kids gather real data and interpret it, and that is just one way GLOBE helps teachers meet the TEKS standards," says Kathleen Ward from the GLOBE U.S. Partner at Our Lady of the Lake University in San Antonio. The U.S. Partner has published a table showing where GLOBE activities match-up with the TEKS guidelines on their web site at http://itc.ollusa.edu/nasa/globe/.
Starting with the 2000 - 2001 school year, students graduating from North Carolina high schools will be required to have completed a course in Earth or environmental science. GLOBE is proving to be as useful for these new high school requirements as it has been for the state's existing K-8 guidelines. "Teachers are interested in using GLOBE because there's so much overlap between the state's objectives and the GLOBE protocols," says Mary E. Watson, a geologist at the North Carolina Geological Survey and trainer with the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill U.S. Partner. "For example, in sixth grade, students are asked to do a detailed analysis of soil properties. That's just one example of how the GLOBE protocol is a perfect fit."
Training Pre-Service Teachers
U.S. Partners are not only reaching-out to in-service teachers but also introducing GLOBE to pre-service teachers. "By presenting GLOBE, we feel that we can get 100 percent of the pre-service teachers who go through our program comfortable with the concepts of inquiry-based teaching," says Michael Odell, a coordinator at the University of Idaho U.S. Partner.
U.S. Partner Coordinator Burnette Hamill of Mississippi State University says GLOBE training has made some of the graduates from the University's Department of Education more attractive in the job market. "One of our graduates told us that during an interview the principal's eyes lit up when she saw that GLOBE was part of her portfolio," Mrs. Hamill said.
The University of Montana's GLOBE Geographic Alliance is also integrating GLOBE into their pre-service curriculum. U.S. Partner Coordinator Georgia Cobbs of the University of Montana's Department of Education says they aim to have all of their students trained as GLOBE teachers. "Even if the school they go to doesn't have GLOBE, they may want to bring the program there," she said. "And if GLOBE is there when they arrive, they will be part of a team where GLOBE teachers can support each other."
Throughout the United States, GLOBE U.S. Partners provide training and mentoring to GLOBE schools. Find out about U.S. Partners in your area by visiting the GLOBE U.S. Partner Website at http://www.globe.gov/U.S. Partner
GLOBE in the Urban Environment The data GLOBE students collect
in urban environments are very important in getting a completepicture of
the Earth's changing environment.
| IN THIS ISSUE | |
 GLOBE Fall 1999 Newsletter Index |
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| GLOBE Students |
International Update |
| Science Update |
Urban Implementation |
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U.S. Partner Update |
Watershed Studies |
| Math Lessons |
GLOBE Community |