The current project, An Interdisciplinary Partnership For Middle Grades Education, has enabled

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1 Page 1 of 5 SUSTAINING A PARTNERSHIP FOR MIDDLE GRADES EDUCATION A Proposal for Project Interweave Glenda W. Crawford, Ed. D. Department of Teacher Education Overview and Status of Carnegie Project The current project, An Interdisciplinary Partnership For Middle Grades Education, has enabled teacher education faculty and middle grades education majors to explore the value of cross-disciplinary inquiry and integrative curriculum development. The shared goal has been to design collaboratively an experience that best prepares middle level majors to teach young adolescents. Recent findings from the Teachers College Press, the Carnegie Corporation and the National Middle School Association have noted that disproportionate emphasis has been placed on responding to the affective needs of middle school students, and have called for better balance among high expectations for academic learning and experiences that promote adolescent social, emotional and personal development. The implication for teacher education is to help prospective teachers acquire such understanding. Guiding questions for the study are What cross-disciplinary approaches strengthen content understanding and integration? What field-based experiences support and facilitate interdisciplinary instruction? What is the shared benefit of interdisciplinary inquiry among faculty and students? How can prospective teachers gain interdisciplinary understanding that is powerful enough to shape future actions, instructional decisions and subsequent self-learning? How should institutions of higher learning design experiences to prepare middle level educators to meet the social, personal and intellectual needs of adolescents? The research team consists of Glenda Crawford, Middle Grades Education and Project Coordinator, D'Vera Tune and Rachel Evans, Middle Grades majors, Janet Warman, Department of English, Janice Richardson, Department of Mathematics, Bernard Curry, Department of Social Science, and Jimmie Agnew, Department of Science. A consultant, Dana Yaksic of the University of Georgia and an Elon graduate in Middle Grades Education, assists with project development and assessment of outcomes. Additionally, a resource network of current majors and program graduates who teach in partner middle schools are involved in project planning, implementation and evaluation. Current Assessment of Teaching-Learning Process

2 Page 2 of 5 Though the project is in the early stages, the benefits of faculty and student collaboration are richly apparent. The two students have shown initiative and resourcefulness in planning for the new course, which we will co-teach in spring 2002, and in helping to shape the context for a stronger middle grades program. They have been ambassadors about the project to faculty and students on campus and in area schools, have contributed creative ideas for a stronger program identity, and have been proactive in student recruitment. They have designed, for example, a promotional multimedia presentation and a program logo. A middle grades web site for disseminating student publications and research findings and a periodical for sharing program projects and opportunities have been planned. They will also co-present with me in Washington, DC at the 28 th Annual Conference of the National Middle School Association, November 1-4, During the spring 2002, when the course is taught and research conducted, they plan to participate in SURF and for the North Carolina middle school conference. We have discussed plans to co-author an article for a research-based professional journal to share project findings (e.g., Journal of Middle Level Research or Journal of Teacher Education) and we have submitted a proposal to the 2002 NMSA Annual Conference entitled Building Interdisciplinary Learning Communities for Teacher Preparation. Additionally, within this new course will be opportunities for field-based research that should yield undergraduate research projects by middle grades majors on a continuing basis. My desire is to sustain a partnership with majors, teacher education and liberal arts faculty facilitated through collaborative teaching, presentation, publication and program development. Project Interweave: Sustaining the Partnership, (and beyond ) A sustained interdisciplinary partnership for middle grades education is important for several reasons. Current studies in middle level education reform for the 21 st Century have reiterated the need for teacher preparation that emphasizes interdisciplinary teaming, mastery of academic content and an understanding of the learning needs of young adolescents. With the middle school movement under criticism for lack of academic rigor, research is needed to help resolve the perceived tension between intellectual challenge and developmental appropriateness. Support from the Elon Carnegie Committee for will facilitate projected scholarly publications and professional presentations, as specified above. A second consideration is the continuing benefit for the Elon Middle Grades Education program. This inquiry-based community of faculty and student learners has yielded a synergy of creative inspiration, shared spirit and collective energy in defining a unique preparation experience for these majors. Though

3 Page 3 of 5 relatively small in number, students who choose to teach young adolescents are passionate and motivated, and their sense of identity is vital. A second year will help to refine and stabilize this academic community. Two additional students will be selected (from enrollment in new course piloted spring 2002) to apprentice with the current team of two students who will graduate in December This new team would help to sustain the project s work into the spring of It is projected this practice continue in an Elon TA model, expanded to include the co-mentoring of research and other endeavors in middle grades education. The most compelling reason for continued support for this project, however, lies at the center of the Carnegie model of the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning. The enhanced intellectual engagement among faculty and students in the study of the teaching-learning process is powerful and enticing. I have written and presented about the theories of shared cognition, as related to the construction of knowledge and understanding, of cognitive apprenticeship, as a model for teacher-student relationships, and of learning communities, as collective entities with shared passion and purpose, yet I had not, until this project, experienced their value in the teaching-learning process. We would like to sustain this interdisciplinary partnership for middle grades education and invite a second set of students to assume subsequent leadership. Through Project Interweave we would be able to continue this valuable collaboration, work more closely with the Carnegie Committee (e.g., mentoring new projects, serving on the Carnegies Committee and helping with the proposed Center for Creative Teaching and Learning), and learn more about the SOTL as an area for professional contribution. Proposed Timeline for Phase Two Assessment of Teaching-Learning Experience Fall 2002 Invitation to 2 new students to apprentice with the December graduates Evaluation and reflection on experience by participants/research team Continued collaboration among students, participating faculty for refinement Continued collaboration with middle level consultant and resource network Presentation at the N. C. Teacher Education Forum Sharing within the Elon University and Professional Communities Dissemination of findings on Middle Grades and Carnegie Web sites Collaborative presentation at National Middle School (NMSA) conference Collaborative presentation at the Teacher Education Forum (state level)

4 Page 4 of 5 Drafting of collaborative article for potential publication Spring 2003 Proposed presentation at North Carolina middle school conference Collaborative article submitted to a middle level journal Student presentation at Elon University SURF Student-faculty sharing of experience with campus community Involvement in the proposed Elon Center for Creative Teaching and Learning Assessment of Phase Two Assessment will be evident in the team s professional contribution regarding the scholarship of teaching and learning and middle level teacher preparation (e.g., publications, presentations at the local, state and national levels), level of commitment to the Carnegie model (e.g., involvement and leadership in the Committee s ongoing initiative to enhance the conditions for teaching and learning), and impact on quality of Elon University s Middle Grades Education program (e.g., recruitment data, course and program evaluations, surveys data from public school administrators, teachers and graduates). Other measures, to be collectively developed, will assess level of intellectual engagement and the value of faculty-student partnership in the teaching-learning process. The Proposed Budget Stipends for teacher education faculty $300) 1,200 Stipend for program coordinator/co-teacher 1,500 Stipend for continuing student team $300) 600 Stipend for new student team $500) 1,000 Other professional expenses (materials, consultant) 700 Total Requested Funds $5,000 Conclusion The Carnegie philosophy promotes the energy of intellectual engagement as new ways of thinking and learning are explored. This project has enabled students and faculty across disciplines to be co-creators of a more authentic, cohesive and meaningful experience for middle grades majors. The proposal for a sustained interdisciplinary teaching-learning model through Project Interweave will enable the team to

5 Page 5 of 5 maintain its direction and momentum, to share the Carnegie scholarship more extensively with the wider profession, and to remain active as a resource and contributor to the work of the Carnegie Committee at Elon University. Signature of Approval Dean, School of Education Date