Innovative Opportunities for Elementary and Middle School Teachers to Maintain Currency in Mathematics and Science: A Community College-School System Partnership

Since 1992 the Manassas Campus of Northern Virginia Community College – in response to requests from local school systems – has developed four innovative methods of assisting elementary, secondary and middle school teachers to enhance their content knowledge in science and mathematics, as well as integrate curriculum units for classroom presentation. These methods are based on the assumptions that: - While teachers at this level have fundamental understanding of math and science, if they wish to incorporate new concepts or technologies from these fields, graduate level content courses are generally beyond their background level. - Community College faculty can often provide a bridge that connects advanced content in science and mathematics with the applications that can be adapted to elementary/middle school curriculum. - Presenting content to a mixed audience of teachers from K-8 allows teachers to see how content can be adapted to grade levels above and below. - Content delivery methods must be interactive and must be responsive to the multiple demands on these teachers’ time. This requires flexibility in scheduling and course requirements