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School Division Partners
Initially, seventy-one school divisions committed to participate in the grant.
Participating divisions demonstrated a need to increase the number of endorsed earth science
teachers within the division and/or to improve the quality of earth science instruction.
By grant completion, 83 divisions had participated.
Teachers from participating school divisions that
met
the following criteria were eligible to participate:
- Unendorsed teacher currently teaching earth science or
teachers with an endorsement in biology, chemistry,
or physics that wanted to obtain an Add-On Earth Science Endorsement
by completing the required courses.
- Middle school or special education teachers that taught Earth
Science topics as part of the curriculum. Recommended courses
were Geology I: Physical Geology, Astronomy, and Meteorology because
these courses
covered the major topics included in the curriculum. The more
advanced courses, Oceanography and Geology II: Geology of
Virginia, build
upon these fundamental
courses.
- Endorsed earth science, special education, or sixth grade
teachers that wanted to improve their effectiveness by enrolling
in
Geology of Virginia or various pilot classes including
Effective Collaboration
in the Earth Science Classroom, Integrating New Technologies
in the Earth Sciences, or GeoVirginia: Creating Virtual
Field Trips.
- Reduced tuition was provided for all courses. Each participating
division committed to provide $150 for a 3-credit and $200 for a 4-credit
course with financial procedures determined by the division, e.g. payment
by division at beginning of course, payment by teacher at beginning of
course and reimbursement by division upon satisfactory course completion,
or payment of stipend to teacher equal to or greater than course costs
with procedures determined by the division. On the first day of class,
it was the participant's responsibility to pay the designated amount, either
by personal check or a check from the school division.
- Free textbooks and instructional materials
- Free lunches
- Free lodging and meals for teachers outside a reasonable
commuting time, typically about 75 minutes.
- Free lodging and meals for overnight field trips to visit various geologic provinces in the Geology
of Virginia course and to the Virginia Institute of Marine Science's Field Station on the Eastern Shore during the Oceanography course.
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What
Were the Costs & Benefits?