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Local schools winners with $3.3 million grant for 'Project in Science'

In the spring of 1995, the El Centro (elementary) School District piloted a highly successful inquiry-based science program in two of its schools.

This year, most Imperial County schools will be able to implement a similar program thanks to a $3.3 million grant recently awarded to the El Centro district by the National Science Foundation.

"We are proud and pleased for a variety of reasons," said El Centro elementary district Superintendent Michael Klentschy during a press conference Tuesday. "It was a highly competitive process and we're the only non-urban district selected to receive the grant."

Added Janie Signorotti, district board president, "It's a very exciting program that brings recognition to the Imperial Valley."

The program, called Valle Imperial Project in Science, or VIPS, consists of four eight-to-10 week hands-on science units at each grade level from kindergarten through six. These units emphasize exploration, experimentation, data collection and recording. Students keep science notebooks in which they write or draw their observations about experiments done in class.

The program was piloted in the El Centro district at Hedrick and McKinley elementary schools in 1995 and then at Sunflower Elementary the following year.

"This program teaches science as a thinking process. It allows students to formulate their own questions and discover the answers," said Leslie Garrison, the district's program support coordinator.

The grant, disbursed over a four-year period, will expand the program to all elementary schools in the county wishing to participate.

Sarah Quinn, VIPS program director, said teacher participation in the program has grown tremendously over the last three years.

"We started with 14 teachers and now we have over 60 teachers. They are trained by other teachers who have taught the units successfully," Quinn said.

Each teacher receives six hours of training from a pilot school coordinator, or PSC, prior to using a unit. The PSC also provides in-class support to teachers at their school sites once a week, assisting the teachers with materials preparation and classmanagement strategies.

Teacher training will begin this summer with about 25 percent of all county elementary schools participating.

Klentschy said students in participating schools have expressed more interest in science.

"We've seen students learning technical writing. There is a higher pass rate among students taking thc sixth-grade writing proficiency test," he said. "Teacher acceptance of the program has been high. Everything they need to teach a unit is there."

Several components contribute to the program's effectiveness.

One involves the use of volunteer science professionals to assist PSC's during teacher training. Employees from Laidlow Environmental, General Dynamics, Pac Bell, the Imperial Irrigation District, the county Agricultural Commissioner's Office, the U.S. Bureau of Land Managment and local doctors and pharmacists were among the past participants.

Another key component is the district's partnership with San Diego State University, Imperial Valley Campus.

Olga Amaral, director of teacher education at SDSU in Calexico, said the university is working on aligning its courses to complement the program's objectives.

"Our curriculum is moving toward a more inquiry-based program. It is critical that our students be taught with teachers with superior teaching skills, especially in science," Amaral said.

Parent involvement is another main component of the program.

Said Quinn, "We will conduct parent nights and family science programs because it is important that students show their parents the science activities they've done."