Camarillo,Calif., March 18, 2005 -- California State University Channel Islands has received a grant to develop gender equitable lesson plans at no cost to teachers or school districts.
The four-year grant of $774,400, awarded to the University by the U.S. Department of Education, Women’s Educational Equity Act Program, will implement the CSUCI TECH Equity Project that will provide face-to-face workshops and online courses to middle and high school math, science, and technology teachers in California and Hawaii.
The program guides teachers to create classroom projects that encourage females to pursue higher-level courses and careers in technical fields. “We are excited for this grant opportunity to work with educators to create lesson plans that motivate all students through choice-based work and deliver those all important State Education Standards in ways that promote mastery and retention,” said Barbara Thorpe, CSUCI associate vice president for Research and Sponsored Programs.
The ultimate goal of the project is to empower young women and support their success in math, science, and technology classes, and instill confidence so they may consider a career path in a technical field. “There are learning style differences between girls and boys,” says Sacha Pampalone, project coordinator, but there are teaching techniques that will work for both genders and this program will bring those techniques to our teachers.”
The project curriculum, which is aligned with State Standards, Title IX, and Western Association of School and Colleges (WASC) guidelines, was also designed to help teachers to meet program improvement and professional goals as well as to support efforts to increase state test scores.
Workshops are currently being scheduled for San Diego and Sacramento counties and for the state of Hawaii. Other districts may be considered in response to interest and demand.
For more information, contact Sacha Pampalone, project coordinator, at (805) 482-4523 or visit www.techequity.org.
