Texas Regional Collaboratives for Excellence in Science Teaching
Sixth Annual Meeting, July 21 – 23, 1999
Press Release

Growing new "Silicon Valleys" that will generate thousands of new jobs in a booming, high tech Texas economy of the future isn't too farfetched an idea for Dr. Kamil Jbeily, who directs a unique statewide science education program from the UT-Austin College of Education.

On Thursday, July 22 at 8:30 a.m. in the OMNI Ballroom, Dr. Jack Christie, former chair of the State Board of Education will conduct a panel exploring Texas policy challenges and opportunities featuring elected officials and senior administrators from the Texas Education Agency and Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board.

"These three days are about enhancing our state's science teaching, while also developing students' scientific and technological literacy, which will be needed more than ever before to fuel the Texas economy and compete--not only with other US states--but globally," said Barufaldi.

Press Coverage

    Science education conference -Today through Friday. Science Education for the 21st Century, a three-day conference that will explore ways to improve the teaching of science and attract more education students, opens in Austin today with a noon luncheon at the Omni Austin Hotel, 700 San Jacinto St.
    The sixth annual meeting of the Texas Regional Collaboratives for Excellence in Science Teaching will feature scientific display at 6 p.m. today. The displays will include a science teacher who will lie on a bed of nails while a cinder block on his chest is smashed with a sledgehammer.
    The conference will be led by Kamil Jbeily of UT. For more information, call Jbeily at 658-1310 or call the hotel at 476-3700 and ask for the house phone at the conference registration desk.

    Science educators from across the state met Wednesday night at the Texas Regional Collaboration for Excellence in Science Education to discuss progress and goals in continuing teacher education.
    Kellar Hall Daily Texan Staff Mac Thompson smashes a cinderblock over a board of nails atop Johnny Stephens. Thompson is a teacher at Western Hills High School in Fort Worth, and Stephens is a teacher at Western Hills High School in Palmer. The demonstration was part of the Sixth Annual University of Texas at Arlington Regional Collaborative for Excellence in Science Teaching.
    "Our goal is to support science teachers with sustained professional development," said Kamil Jbeily, director for Texas Regional Collaborative.
    Sen. Eddie Lucio, D-Browns-ville, emphasized the importance of sustained education for science teachers. "I understand the importance of having teachers who are innovative and creative, who love children," Lucio said. "Nothing can sustain this love like continued education."
    UT President Larry Faulkner said in his key note speech that fewer students are pursuing science at a college level. Faulkner said the attrition rate in the College of Natural Sciences is 55 percent, and 94 percent of those who remain in the college major in the health sciences or in computer science.
    "Obviously, we need to do something to diversify," Faulkner said.
Faulkner also noted that enrollment in the College of Engineering is declining, despite the flourishing economy and opportunities available across the country and in Austin.
    "Students avoid these fields because there is a perception that they are hard, and they are," Faulkner said.
    He asked science teachers present at the meeting to cultivate a sense of wonder in their students.
    "Students who have a sense of wonder are willing to work hard," Faulkner said. "Students who have done something on their own know they can do more more."
    The Texas Regional Collaborative provides funding for 20 regions which attempt to match the funding and use the money to provide long-term education for science teachers, said Joel Blasingame, program coordinator for Texas Regional Collaborative.
    Peggy Carnahan, director of the South Texas Rural Regional Collaborative, said her program works with small and rural school districts. The program has started a project, which currently has 49 degree-seeking members, to help teachers earn their master of education degree in integrated science.
    Carnahan added that NASA had renewed a grant with the South Texas region for the third time. "We use the grant to educate teachers in geology and space curriculum," she said. "We also encourage them to take their students to NASA. Many of our students have not left their districts before, and getting to go to NASA is a great opportunity."
    Blasingame said the continuing education of teachers has a direct effect on the future of the Texas economy.
    "Think about Austin for a minute," Blasingame said. "Everything is technology, everything is based on science and math. We want students to come out instead of knowing facts, knowing how to use scientific reasoning skills."

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