DALLAS— The University of North Texas and Texas Woman’s University are co-hosting a Symposium on College and Career Readiness in Chemistry 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. July 18. Seventy chemistry teachers from around the state are registered to attend the first-of-its-kind conference.
“College and career readiness in chemistry is a hot topic in the P-16 Initiatives,” said Diana Mason, UNT associate professor of chemistry, in reference to the statewide effort to improve student achievement from preschool through a four-year college degree. The Texas Legislature passed the P-16 initiatives establishing college readiness standards in response to the “Closing the Gaps by 2015” Higher Education Plan adopted by the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board (THECB) in October 2000.
“The upcoming implementation of the four-by-four (graduation requirements for English, social studies, math and science) and the EOCs (end of course assessments) for chemistry are important issues that need to be discussed,” Mason said. “As a high school chemistry teacher, you prepare your students for graduation, but do you know what happens to the students after they head off to college?”
The conference is an opportunity for high school teachers to discuss the issues around college readiness, look at the current situation and learn about ideas to work on the problem of students coming out of high school unprepared for college-level chemistry and mathematics.
The University of North Texas at Dallas is hosting the meeting because two of the P-16 goals are to create a college-going culture and develop partnerships between public education and higher education. Those are two of the main goals of UNT Dallas and its office of College Readiness and Student Success. Speakers from more than a half dozen Texas colleges, two high schools and the THECB will lead discussions on numerous topics.
There is no registration fee but only three spaces were left as of July 6. Contact Diana Mason at dmason@unt.edu or 940-565-2491 with questions or to register.
The University of North Texas at Dallas is a 21st century teaching institution and a component of the University of North Texas System. Founded in 2000 as UNT Dallas by the flagship University of the UNT System, the University of North Texas in Denton, UNT Dallas achieved independence in May 2009 and will accept its first freshman class in Fall 2010. The University’s goal is to train citizens to be productive and lead in a global environment and to promote the values of higher education, including virtue, civility, reasoning and accountability.
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