Meeting Abstract
Standardized testing links K-12 student mastery of state educational standards to school funding, teacher job security, and student graduation. This can leave teachers little time to try out or refine new methodologies, including active learning practices. These challenges also effect undergraduate education, as students enter their courses with an ever-changing set of skills and competencies. A partnership between Allegheny College and local high school STEM faculty ran from 2014-2018 to address these challenges. Educators from Allegheny and local schools were paired together each summer to develop curriculum and pedagogy in line with state standards and to inform Allegheny faculty about current issues in our local school system. In some cases, Allegheny undergraduates were also matched with these educator pairs. Based on participant assessments, the partnership program was largely successful. Participants found it useful and enjoyable, and new collaborations spanning teaching and research sprouted between some participants. Successful partnerships occurred when partners were well-matched by topic interest and personality, and when partners were truly on equal footing. To reinforce the latter, professors and teachers were paid equally for their time, were asked to determine their goals for the summer together, and were asked to articulate how their planned work would specifically benefit each partner. Challenges included difficulty in finding partners for interested potential participants and finding undergraduate participants, largely due to the difference in collegiate and K-12 academic calendars and the limited number of potential teacher partners in small school districts.
