September 5, 1995 Contact: Jennifer McNulty (408/459-2495)

UC SANTA CRUZ AND LIFE LAB SCIENCE PROGRAM COORDINATE AMBITIOUS TRI-COUNTY BILINGUAL SCIENCE EDUCATION PROJECT FOR K-6 STUDENTS

$4.4 million grant from the National Science Foundation funds five- year project

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

SANTA CRUZ, CA--In one of the campus's most ambitious partnerships with public schools, the University of California, Santa Cruz, and the Life Lab Science Program are coordinating a five-year, tri-county project designed to improve science education for K-6 bilingual students.

A $4.4 million grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF) has funded the Language Acquisition in Science Education in Rural Schools, or LASERS, project. More than 50 elementary schools in seven school districts across central California will participate in the project. Ultimately, more than 30,000 students from the following districts will be involved: Alisal, Aromas-San Juan, Hollister, King City, North Monterey, Pajaro, and Salinas. (See below for list of schools involved in the first phase of the project this year.)

The goal of LASERS is to develop a model of science education that reaches students from diverse cultural and linguistic backgrounds. The project will make links between school science and the scientific ideas and language children have developed in their homes, communities, and local ecology, says Trish Stoddart, an associate professor of education at UCSC and the principal investigator on the LASERS project. Co-principal investigators on the project are Lucinda Pease-Alvarez, an assistant professor of education at UCSC, and Roberta Jaffe, executive director of the Life Lab Science Program, which is based at UCSC. The project will include Life Lab's garden-based curriculum, which will be used to introduce students to scientific concepts and to help make the subject matter accessible and meaningful.

"These are students who live in three of the most productive agricultural regions of the world," says Stoddart. "They've grown up near fields of fruits and vegetables, and many are the children of farmworkers, which makes Life Lab an especially appropriate teaching tool because it builds on experiences in their daily lives. And because the subject matter is familiar to parents, we hope they will become more involved, too."

Language development in both the first and second languages needs a meaningful context, which LASERS will provide, says Pease- Alvarez, who will coordinate the language development aspects of the project.

Life Lab provides a ready platform for language development because describing what is happening in the garden is an integral part of the curriculum, says Jaffe. The Life Lab curriculum teaches physical, earth, and life science in a "garden laboratory," and each school's garden allows students to have a "hands-on" experience. Moreover, as part of the computer technology component, students at LASERS schools will go on-line with each other to compare garden and weather information. Life Lab is currently being used by more than 1,000 schools in 36 states. Jaffe will coordinate the professional development effort for teachers.

LASERS is one of the first projects funded under NSF's Local Systemic Initiative, which is designed to take a new approach to school improvement by impacting the total institutional and community systems that affect the teaching and learning process. "This is a unique opportunity to bring together the expertise of teachers, administrators, parents, business and community members, Life Lab staff developers, and university researchers to develop a model of bilingual science education for the region and the nation," says Ylda Nogueda, assistant superintendent of elementary education in the Pajaro Valley Unified School District.

The LASERS project received the endorsement of UCSC Chancellor Karl S. Pister, who said it reflects the spirit of UCSC partnerships in the community. "By reaching out to schools and targeting an underserved student population, this project represents an important part of what UCSC has to offer," said Pister. "Teachers will benefit, students will benefit, and university researchers will benefit."

To maximize the reach of the program, two lead teachers from each school will attend four seminars and an annual two-week summer professional development institute at UCSC. Those teachers and one parent coordinator from each school will then help implement LASERS at their schools, including training teachers and staff. In addition, each school is forming a steering committee made up of the lead teachers, a site administrator, and community representatives.

Teachers will be encouraged to improve their own science backgrounds and to develop more confidence in their science teaching skills, says Stoddart. They will also learn the latest techniques of teaching science to bilingual students and strategies to adapt the curriculum to the migrant lifestyle shared by many students in rural areas.

"NSF is predicting that there will be a shortage of 750,000 scientists and engineers by the year 2006," says Stoddart. "It's critical that we keep these children in the pipeline and prepare them for higher education. A big part of that is improving their language skills and learning to make science and technology interesting and accessible to them."

The NSF grant concentrates on staff development to ensure that the program will continue beyond the life of the five-year grant, says Stoddart. Project participants are actively seeking financial and material support from business and community groups.

A list of schools participating in the first phase of the LASERS project this year follows. The asterisks indicate schools that have established Life Lab gardens, and contact names are listed.

ALISAL SCHOOL DISTRICT

* Frank Paul Elementary (Salinas); Roberta Alvarez, teacher Fremont Elementary (Salinas) Sanborn Elementary (Salinas)

AROMAS/SAN JUAN SCHOOL DISTRICT

* Aromas Elementary (Aromas); Jackie Munoz, principal San Juan Elementary (San Juan Bautista)

HOLLISTER SCHOOL DISTRICT

* Calaveras Elementary (Hollister); Jane Durell, teacher Cerra Vista Elementary (Hollister) Sunnyslope Elementary (Hollister)

KING CITY SCHOOL DISTRICT

* Del Rey Elementary (King City); Carolyn McCombs, principal Santa Lucia School (King City)

NORTH MONTEREY SCHOOL DISTRICT

* Castroville Elementary (Castroville); Marilyn McLoughlin, teacher Echo Valley School (Salinas)

PAJARO VALLEY SCHOOL DISTRICT

* Alianza Elementary (Watsonville); Michael Jones, principal McQuiddy Elementary (Watsonville) * Mintie White Elementary (Watsonville); Agnes Clark, principal Ohlone Elementary (Watsonville)

SALINAS SCHOOL DISTRICT

Boronda Elementary (Salinas) Kammann Elementary (Salinas) * Lincoln Elementary (Salinas); Ray Isola, principal Los Padres Elementary (Salinas)

Editor's Note: To reach Trish Stoddart, call 408/459-3850 or send her e-mail at stoddart@cats.ucsc.edu. For more information about the Life Lab Science Program, call Roberta Jaffe at 408/459-2001.

(This release is also available on UC NewsWire, the University of California's electronic news service. To access by modem, dial 1- 209-244-6971.)

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