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LeTaS! Project Goals

• To increase the science content knowledge of elementary teachers in Union County and at P.K. Yonge Developmental Research School
• To enhance the quality of science learning and teaching strategies for engaging students in science in Union County and at P.K. Yonge Developmental Research School
• To develop a professional development model that includes teacher collaboration, mentoring and coaching in elementary science teaching and learning
• To produce a tool for assessing teacher content knowledge in science

LeTaS! Program Overview:

• Teachers from grades K-5 will be assigned to a cluster of three teachers in the same grade level in the same school.
• Grade-level clusters from P.K. Yonge Elementary (PK Yonge School District) and Lake Butler Elementary (Union County School District) will be organized and each teacher assigned to one FCAT Content Strand Cohort: Physical & Chemical, Earth & Space, or Life & Environmental.
• FCAT Content Strand Cohorts will participate in seven collaborative professional development activities: two LeTaS! Summer Science Academies, two electronic (via videoconferencing) classroom observations, two onsite co-teaching experiences, and one LeTaS! Winter Science Camp.
• Cohorts will engage in ongoing asynchronous collaboration through an online LeTaS! portal designed by technology specialists at the University of Florida. During such interactions participants will share their learning and map strategies to critically analyze science teaching and learning in their classrooms and to develop plans for formative assessment procedures.
• Development of elementary teacher science content expertise will focus on the four FCAT Science Content Strands: Physical & Chemical, Earth & Space, and Life & Environmental.
• One full-time district coordinator and one half-time project director will coordinate program development, implementation, and evaluation.
• Three graduate assistants from the University of Florida, College of Education, will work with the project director and district coordinator on program development, implementation, and evaluation.
• One graduate assistant in collaboration with a professor in Educational Technology from the University of Florida will develop the online portal.