Scientific American is about to make connecting scientists and schools a whole lot easier, thanks to their new 1,000 Scientists in 1,000 Days program. They’re recruiting “scientists who are willing to volunteer to advise on curricula, answer a classroom’s questions, or visit a school—for instance, to do a lab or to talk about what you do.”
Making the connection between students and scientists is essential given that “the U.S. ranks 27 out of 29 wealthy countries in proportion of college students with degrees in science or engineering.” Interested scientists can head to the Scientific American site to add their name to the list of participants. The program hopes to have a directory of scientists available for teachers by the start of the 2011-2012 school year this fall.
For more information about this program, or to register to be a visiting scientist, see
http://www.scientificamerican.com/page.cfm?section=calling-all-scientists
Core Education supports innovative ways to use professionals in teaching roles to support student learning. Many highly educated people are willing to devote part of their time to the next generation, but they are not interested in full-time careers as teachers. Opening opportunities for their participation in schools is a productive approach.
For more about Core Education’s work with teacher effectiveness initiatives, see www.CoreEducationLLC.com
