News - April 11, 2001 NSF PR 01-27 Media contact: Dave Vannier (703) 292-8070 dvannier@nsf.gov Program contact: Sonia Ortega (703) 292-5309 sortega@nsf.gov New Wave of Graduate Students to Enrich K-12 Classrooms A second wave of partnerships between universities and local K-12 school districts will form as graduate and advanced undergraduate students enter the classroom to teach their younger peers. The National Science Foundation (NSF) has awarded $30 million in 25 new grants under an innovative educational program enabling approximately 300 talented graduate and advanced undergraduate students in science, mathematics, engineering and technology to serve as teaching fellows in K-12 schools. The grants, from NSF's Graduate Teaching Fellows in K-12 Education (GK-12) program, will go to institutions in 19 states from Maine to California, as well as Puerto Rico. "Researchers need to bring their expertise and enthusiasm out of the laboratory and into the classroom," says Rita Colwell, NSF director. "The GK-12 program creates partnerships across the academic community that benefit research and education at every level." The second round of multi-year awards was made after reviewing 90 proposals from institutions nationwide. Planned as a pilot effort in 1999, the GK-12 program received positive responses from colleges and universities, as well as from elementary and secondary schools. These new awards will significantly expand the program nationwide. "The GK-12 program has been a springboard for learning opportunities throughout San Diego County," says Nancy Taylor, director of the PISCES Project--established in the first wave of the awards. "Our elementary students want to know if their scientist is coming again today, our teachers are improving practice and gaining content knowledge, and our GK-12 fellows are becoming better communicators. Parents are especially enthusiastic about the science learning that their children are experiencing." Under GK-12, institutions are responsible for recruiting the teaching fellows from their campus science, mathematics and engineering departments. Graduate students in the program receive annual stipends of $18,000, plus a cost-of-education allowance. Undergraduate students will receive as much as $5,000 per academic year, plus up to an additional $5,000 for service during the summer. -NSF- Attachment: List of Year 2001 GK-12 awards Attachment GK-12 Awards For Teaching Fellows State Institution Amount (est) Project Leader (PI) Arizona Arizona State University, Tempe $1,397,825-3 yrs B. Ramakrishna California San Francisco State Univ. $1,500,000-3 yrs John Stubbs Colorado U of Northern Colorado, Greeley $1,409,010-3 yrs John Moore Georgia (2) GA Tech Res Corp-GIT $1,496,635-3 yrs Donna Llewellyn GA State U Res Fdn, Inc. $1,187,565-3 yrs Barbara Baumstark Illinois (2) Illinois State University, Norman $1,343,560-3 yrs Cynthia Moore Univ. of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign $1,499,768-3 yrs Eric Jakobsson Maine Univ. of Southern Maine, Portland $805,170-3 yrs Samuel Duboise Maryland Univ. of MD, College Park $927,086-3 yrs Ellen Williams Massachusetts Harvard University $1,140,000-3 yrs John Hutchinson Missouri Southwest Missouri State U $961,721-3 yrs Tamera Jahnke Nebraska Univ. of Nebraska, Lincoln $1,442,817-3 yrs Diandra Leslie-Pelecky New Jersey Rutgers Univ., New Brunswick $952,908-3 yrs Jeffrey Kidder New York (2) SUNY Binghamton $1,161,486-3 yrs Nancy Stamp Columbia University $1,434,272-3 yrs Jack McGourty North Dakota North Dakota State Univ. Fargo $971,556-3 yrs Dogan Comez Ohio University of Akron $1,169,324-3 yrs Peter Niewiarowski Oklahoma (2) U of Oklahoma, Norman $1,490,010-3 yrs Anant Kukreti U of Oklahoma, Norman $1,102,538-3 yrs Michael Mooney Puerto Rico U of Puerto Rico, Mayaguez $1,465,956-3 yrs Juan Lopez-Garriga South Carolina (2) Clemson University $1,275,043-3 yrs John Leudeman Univ. of SC, Columbia $1,099,192-3 yrs Jed Lyons Texas Baylor College of Medicine $624,815-3 yrs Nancy Moreno Virginia Virginia Commonwealth Univ. $1,499,999-3 yrs William Haver Washington Univ. of Washington, Seattle $1,476,702-3 yrs Loyce Adams -NSF-