Geography through Film and Literature |
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This seminar assumed that students of all ages have been studying (or absorbing) geography most of their lives. They have been watching a great many films and reading some novels which, whether they know it or not, convey ideas and impressions of what the world elsewhere looks like, physically, socially, and culturally. First, the seminar examined a couple of American films to see how they represent the world as well as to imagine how peoples elsewhere experience "our" films. Then the group looked at films--and certain works of literature--made abroad so as to experience how other people imagine the world. | |
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Since cinema is not widely studied for itself in grades K-12, this seminar anticipated and attracted a mix of teachers of geography, literature, history, and social studies. While many of the films were pitched at a mature audience, teachers of students at the elementary and middle as well as at the high school level were able to use the films to grasp and wrestle with the pedagogical, social, and artistic issues involved. With the seminar leader's help, these teachers then planned a different set of films appropriate to the grade level with which they work. | |
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In first exploring mainstream films set abroad, the seminar practiced some rudiments of film analysis, with questions including: How is the foreign portrayed? How is language used? How might these films look from the perspective of those living in the areas portrayed? Questions on the film industry included: How do Hollywood-financed films entertain the world? How does global distribution work? Does the film-globe put Hollywood as the prime meridian? In successive weeks the issues that the seminar addressed concerned: film and nation (Japan); recovering one's space (Africa); cultural space (how a culture portrays its homeland, Ireland); landscape films versus urban films (mainland China, Brazil); and how children orient themselves in space (Iran). | |
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The seminar on "Geography through Film and Literature." (Clockwise from bottom left: Fellows James P. Brochin, Giovanna M. Cucciniello, Nehemia Levin, Sandra K. Friday, seminar leader Dudley Andrew, and Fellows Waltrina D. Kirkland-Mullins and Angelo J. Pompano.)
In all cases the participants investigated how films build upon or alter traditions of art (especially theater, painting, the novel). The group read some literary works to gauge how different narrative forms treat geography. Titles ranged from Chinua Achebe's Things Fall Apart, Mariama Ba's So Long a Letter, and Sembene Ousmane's God's Bits of Wood from West Africa, to John Keane's play The Field and James Joyce's story "The Dead" from Ireland. Fellows considered the way that the larger world is implicitly mapped in films and literature. |
The seminar looked at films--and literature-- made abroad so as to experience how other people imagine the world.
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Weekly seminar discussions focused on the films participants saw together from a given region (West Africa, Ireland, China, Iran, Australia). The group used films' cues to learn about the social and geographical features of a chosen part of the world, as well as information about the national cinema. Mainly the seminar sought to elaborate the kind of concerns, features, values, and resources the films addressed, comparing these to parallel aspects of American life and Hollywood films. The literary heritage of some of the regions made the distinctiveness of the films easier to comprehend (for example, William Butler Yeats' poems celebrating the landscape and sprites of western Ireland are context for films like Into the West and The Secret of Roan Inish).
Participants launched their own examination of various aspects of film as it relates to geography and history, building what the seminar leader called an "impressive set of teaching units." Some of these examined features of social life in a given region. Kristin Carolla used the movies mentioned above, among others, to help students understand Irish culture. David DeNaples conceived of the continent of Africa as a group of regions with distinct climates, economies, and social organizations while discussing colonialism and its aftermath. Sean Griffin developed an exploratory adventure for his students: a study of the places along the Trans-Siberian railway, with "stops" along the way allowing students to acquaint themselves with the history, literary classics and famous architecture of key cities. Crecia Cipriano's unit emphasizes the breadth of Francophone cultures from West Africa, to Madagascar, to the Caribbean to Quebec, and alludes to Southeast Asia as well. Waltrina Kirkland-Mullins, working with early grades, emphasized the narrative traditions in several distinct places: West Africa, France, Eastern Europe; branching out from the films of the stories, she prepared materials and planned activities to immerse students in the world and world view of children abroad who are at once very like them and yet whose daily lives are different. |
Participants used films' cues to learn about the social and geographical features of a chosen part of the world.
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All of the units produced by the Fellows took advantage of the opportunities afforded by the subject matter of world films and geography to introduce sophisticated notions of diversity and commonality in the human experience. A couple of the units, besides that of Waltrina Kirkland-Mullins, made diversity the focus of their units. Sandra Friday, looking to introduce a broader world to her students and to portray the distinction between place and space, asks them to move concentrically out from their homes and neighborhoods, to the city of New Haven, to the New York City orbit, and then to the wider world. Giovanna Cucciniello, who works with children recently arrived from non-Anglophone countries, goes directly after the goal that all the Fellows shared, that of making the students in her class comfortable with themselves, intrigued by their heritage, and prepared to treat other children with these same feelings of comfort, intrigue, and pride. Evelyn Lawhorn's catchword is "scale," the manipulation of which allows her to bring together science, mathematics, geology, anthropology, history, as well as geography. | |
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Two other units situate cinema and geography within a historical framework. Nehemia Levin employs films such as Schindler's List and The Pianist to initiate an inquiry into the origins of anti-Semitism, beginning as far back as Russia in the late 18th century. James Brochin's unit deploys several notable films to make students aware of the importance and fragility of their freedoms, specifically the freedom from aggressive interrogation that has terrorized peoples in the past, from the ordeal of Joan of Arc to the Inquisitions, the Salem witch trials and McCarthyism. | |
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Finally, Angelo Pompano plans to have his students produce a filmed geography of their own environment, the middle school where he teaches and where they spend so much of their lives; his unit adopts the genre of artistic documentary films known as "City Symphonies" to display the "ecology" of a public school. | |
Everyday Life in Early America |
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This seminar was designed to present and explore a variety of themes related to everyday experience in the premodern period of American history, before the Industrial Revolution. The sequence of topics moved week-by-week from the general to the particular, and from the structural to the personal. | |
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After an introductory session in which the participants considered questions of evidence and inference in historical work, the seminar addressed the environment encountered by the first European settlers of North America, and their developing interaction with it. At the same time, the group contrasted European patterns with prevalent Native practice in this respect. Next, the seminar took up issues of demographic history, including the catastrophic experience of Native groups in the face of foreign disease pathogens, and the growth of an increasingly diverse--indeed multiethnic and multiracial--population throughout the British colonies.
Then they turned to questions of politics and society, broadly understood: the characteristically premodern, consensus approach to governance (so different from our own), the extent and use of voting rights, the role and responsibilities of leadership, the widespread acceptance of class-based hierarchies, the development nonetheless of social mobility, and the tensions confronting traditional community models when situated in a new context. This led directly to the next topic--the "moral economy" of premodern times, and attendant factors of labor scarcity, subsistence as well as cash-crop production, and the faint, first stirrings of capitalism. The seminar concluded the more "structural" part of its agenda by investigating the prevalent cultural system, including literacy and print communication, information networks, education, and the centrality of face-to-face encounters. |
After considering questions of evidence and inference in historical work, the seminar addressed the environment encountered by the first European settlers of North America, and their developing interaction with it.
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Remaining sessions were devoted to more "personal" aspects of premodern history--to individuals' experiences within the structure of society. For example, participants examined the circular dimension of work and family (geared, as virtually all of it was, to the daily cycle, the seasonal cycle, and the life cycle). The group then turned in a direct way to questions of race and gender. The seminar considered, in particular, the forced introduction of African-American laborers (and their subsequent enslavement), and the step-by-step accommodation of Native groups to British (and European) dominance. Participants also explored the experience of early American women within an everyday regime of "flexible patriarchalism." A concluding topic was cosmology--the ways in which early Americans sought to make sense of their world (including religion and magic, witchcraft and Providence, and various forms of practical knowledge). | |
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Readings comprised both secondary and primary sources; the latter included material artifacts brought both by the seminar leader and by the Fellows. The leader did some informal lecturing, leaving ample time for discussion. | |
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The seminar on "Everyday Life in Early America." (Left to right: Seminar leader John P. Demos and Fellows Thomas P. O'Connor, Sheila Wade, Malini Prabakar, and Barbara K. Smith.)
From the beginning, the Fellows were at work on their individual curriculum units. As the seminar proceeded, these were shared with the entire group. Topics ultimately addressed in these units were diverse. Stephen Broker's unit examines death and dying in Puritan New England through a focus on gravestones in Cape Cod, Massachusetts, where he has conducted substantial original research; this interdisciplinary unit is designed for high school courses in anatomy and physiology and Advanced Placement environmental science. Jameka Sayles, who teaches at an arts magnet middle school, explores early childhood in the New England colonies, including education, recreation, health and home life. Home skills in early America, including cooking, are the focus of Barbara Smith's unit that integrates social history and home economics. Native American women of the East Coast are the subject of Malini Prabakar's unit for fifth graders; she has objectives for students' language arts, social studies, and social development. A staff developer at an elementary school where 80 percent of the students are native speakers of Spanish, Erica Forti takes up the cultural practices of the Plains Indians of the West. Lorna Edwards, who is a colleague of Jameka Sayles, examines African Americans' experiences of slavery, with the aim of involving other teachers at their arts magnet school. And two units, by Thomas O'Connor and Sheila Wade, evoke the early history of New Haven. O'Connor aims to teach his high school students about local history in the 17th and 18th centuries, while Wade's unit is directed at a middle-school audience and focuses on England, the colonies, and New Haven in the 17th century. |
Readings comprised both secondary and primary sources, including material artifacts brought both by the seminar leader and by the Fellows.
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Poems on Pictures, Places, and People |
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Participants in this seminar studied poems on the topics of its title in roughly that sequence, supplemented by poems suggested by the Fellows. After introductory sections on the definition, overall history, and technical aspects of poetry, the group devoted one meeting entirely to children's poetry from the eighteenth to early twentieth centuries chiefly selected from The Oxford Book of Children's Verse. The seminar continued with three weeks each devoted to traditional and contemporary poems on pictures and other art objects (ecphrastic poems), on places (or the sense of place), and on people (and animals or other things or ideas speaking or addressed as people). These categories allowed consideration of broad themes, including: the orientation of poetry to other modes of expression; the orientation of poetry to the surrounding world; the orientation of poetry, as voiced utterance, to its audience and to social themes. As occasion arose, participants discussed the genres and forms of poetry. During the last two sessions, the group discussed additional poems brought in by Fellows and returned to a list of technical terms that the seminar leader had distributed at the outset.
Participants considered ways of reading and understanding poetry, as well as technical terms such as metaphor, alliteration, and personification. Still, Fellows' main concern from the beginning was the practical business of preparing material that would be suitable for their students and their state-mandated teaching objectives. From the time the first drafts were submitted, the seminar reserved substantial time for the presentation by each Fellow of his or her unit material. The seminar leader commented that "the degree of cooperation, mutual interest, and constructive suggestion among the Fellows was truly remarkable" during this component of their sessions. |
Participants considered ways of reading and understanding poetry, as well as technical terms such as metaphor, alliteration, and personification.
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The resulting volume of curriculum units, Teaching Poetry in the Primary and Secondary Schools, includes the work of a team from Beecher Elementary School as well as other curricula for students at the elementary, middle, and high school levels. Using voice puppets to animate the material, Geraldine Martin presents a unit for first graders on the poems of Jack Prelutsky. Beecher music teacher Thomas Sullivan uses a sequence of Mother Goose rhymes to introduce the rudiments of musical understanding to third graders. Jean Sutherland, who completes the Beecher Team, offers a unit on Shel Silverstein for slightly older students, emphasizing not only the poetry but the books of prose and illustration; she shows how one poem can be adapted to a variety of teaching purposes. | |
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The seminar on "Poems on Pictures, Places, and People." (Left to right: Fellows David N. Reynolds, Thomas D. Sullivan, seminar leader Paul H. Fry, and Fellows Dina K. Secchiaroli, Geraldine M. Martin, Jean E. Sutherland, and Zoila M. Brown.)
Other participants developed work for students ranging from third grade to high school. Christine Elmore's unit examines three women who write children's poetry--Karla Kuskin, Valerie Worth, and Patricia Hubbell--and teachers may find her references to the secondary literature on teaching the reading and writing of children's poetry especially helpful. Zoila Brown teaches fifth grade in an arts magnet school environment that emphasizes teaching across the curriculum, and accordingly her unit emphasizes potential connections among poetry and science, history, social studies, and performance. Amber Stolz, teaching in a small high school that emphasizes character development, calls students' attention to the work of Maya Angelou, a complex role model. Mindi Englart's unit on teaching rap music to grades 9-12 emphasizes positive, socially constructive lyrics, without overlooking the socially aggressive side of rap (giving advice on how to approach the raw language and violence), and connects this form with other traditions of dissonant poetry. Susan Santovasi's unit for grades 11-12 concerns poems of protest and political commentary, focusing especially on reactions to war, from the Revolutionary War to Vietnam and the Gulf Wars. Finally, Dina Secchiaroli--preparing her students for the Advanced Placement exams--developed a unit modeling how this might be done, offering a wide variety of poems and genres (traditional and recent), keeping in mind actual questions asked on recent exams, and giving examples of "close reading" techniques. |
"The degree of cooperation, mutual interest, and constructive suggestion among the Fellows was truly remarkable."
--Seminar Leader
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Water in the 21st Century |
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This seminar explored the history of water availability and quality, and the laws and policies that govern access to water and acceptable levels of pollution. Water is necessary to sustain life on earth, yet it is increasingly scarce, and highly vulnerable to pollution. Nearly 70 percent of the planet's surface is comprised of water, yet nowhere on earth is water now considered safe to drink unless treated. The availability and quality of water will become increasingly important during the 21st century, as population grows, especially in arid regions. Pollution, waste, and other contaminants increasingly threaten water quality and human health. The World Health Organization estimates that nearly four million children die each year in poorer nations from preventable water-borne diseases alone. Nearly three million others die from vector-borne diseases such as malaria caused by a parasite carried by mosquitoes that thrive in wet environments. | |
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Human use and abuse of land shapes both water availability and quality. Tropical deforestation reduces the forest's sponge effect, allowing more water to remain on the surface, providing breeding grounds for mosquitoes that may carry diseases such as malaria and dengue fever. Agricultural irrigation when combined with the use of fertilizers and pesticides contributes to the contamination of both surface waters and underground aquifers. Dense residential and commercial development create problems with sewage and storm water runoff that normally contain oil, gas, solvents, tire and brake fragments, and other residues emitted or leaking from the hundreds of millions of vehicles. In many coastal communities, heavy rains now carry a toxic cocktail of chemicals and bacteria through storm drains that empty into rivers, estuaries, lakes and marine environments, threatening the health of those live, work or recreate in the area. | |
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This seminar considered many histories of water contamination, around the United States and in other countries such as Bangladesh. Participants observed that the consistent source of each problem was the absence of a culture that considered the environmental implications of incremental human development. Leaders failed to think ecologically about the effects of development. The neglect of the relations between water, development, and human health has proven costly and avoidable.
Among the cases of water contamination that participants reviewed was one concerning the island of Vieques in Puerto Rico, where U.S. naval bombing occurred for 62 years and where the landscape has been severely affected. Bomb fragments and residues are washed by heavy seasonal rains toward the beaches, mangrove lagoons and reefs that surround the island. Marine crabs and fish carry higher than normal levels of some metals released to the environment. Many of the islanders are fishermen who regularly consume their catch. Given these factors, it is no surprise that preliminary tests of human tissue samples collected from the population demonstrate a similar matrix of metals as those contained in the bombs. Water is the vehicle that transports the metals across the landscape to the ocean. And water is the solvent that makes these persistent elements available to move up the marine food chain, to the Viequenses' dinner tables, and into their bodies. |
This seminar considered many histories of water contamination, around the United States and in other countries such as Bangladesh.
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Informed by common readings and discussion of these cases, Fellows prepared and shared with one another their own curriculum units. Joanna Ali developed a unit for students in eleventh and twelfth grade that explores the history of science and policy regarding acid precipitation, including a pollution trading rights game that allows students to trade sulfur dioxide rights in response to federal regulations. Raymond Brooks, who specializes in helping middle-school students to develop science fair projects, designed a unit that explores the source, movement and fate of New Haven's drinking water. A teacher of seventh-grade science, Wendy Hughes prepared a unit that includes descriptions of the water cycle, an overview of chemical threats to drinking water (microbes, radionuclides and pollution), treatment options, a comparison of point versus non-point source pollution, and concludes with practical advice to students and teachers regarding what they can do to conserve water and protect its quality. Deborah James created a primer on hydrology, and a concise overview of the key threats to water quality, for fifth- and sixth-grade students. | |
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Sharron Solomon-McCarthy's unit is designed to be multi-sensory for middle-school students in special education, who will prepare a PowerPoint presentation that describes a specific water management problem. Roberta Mazzucco uses a question-based method to teach third graders basic science about global water availability and cycling, the source of local drinking water, treatment options, basic problems of pollution, and the strengths and limits of government attempts to manage water quality. A teacher of visually impaired students, Joanne Pompano created a unit that includes overviews of hydrology and ecology while focusing on the oyster industry of Long Island Sound. Laura Pringleton designed a unit for fourth and fifth graders that explores ways in which the marine environment may provide a scientific laboratory to search for new pharmaceutical agents that could treat serious human illness. A teacher of high school history and international relations, Ralph Russo notes that disputes about water availability or quality have been common in human history, especially in arid parts of the world, and that environmental and demographic pressures will intensify conflict over water resources; his unit includes a water rights game and strategies for conflict resolution. |
"These units are impressive in their breadth of topical coverage [and] creativity in strategies to directly engage students."
--Seminar Leader
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"Collectively," the seminar leader concluded, "these units are impressive in their breadth of topical coverage, creativity in strategies to directly engage students in the materials, and their thorough documentation."
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The seminar on "Water in the 21st Century." (Left to right: Seminar leader John P. Wargo and Fellows Laura F. Pringleton, Deborah A. James, Joanne R. Pompano, and Raymond W. Brooks.)
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The Fellows' Application and Admissions Process |
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Having worked with teachers in their respective schools during the preceding months, the Institute Representatives met on January 7 to receive for distribution in all schools copies of the Institute application form, brochure, and descriptions of the seminars to be offered. At this meeting a general presentation of the subjects of the seminars ensured that all Representatives could explain to their colleagues the purpose of each seminar. | |
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On January 14 the Institute held an open house for prospective applicants where any teacher might learn more about the planned seminars from the Representatives and from the seminar leaders, who attended and conducted discussions in small groups with interested teachers. | |
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On January 21 the Representatives met to discuss their progress in working with prospective applicants and to hand in their own completed applications. The final deadline for teachers applying to the Institute was January 28. This date was selected so that teachers would apply in advance of the February school vacation. The office would then have the vacation period to process application materials, and the review of applications could be completed during February to provide the earliest possible notification to teachers who were accepted.
There are four principal criteria for teachers to be eligible for consideration as Fellows: | |
- The applicant must be a current New Haven school teacher who will be teaching in New Haven also during the school year following Institute participation.
- The applicant must agree to participate fully in the program by attending and coming prepared to all scheduled meetings and by completing research and meeting due dates in the preparation of a curriculum unit.
- The teacher must demonstrate in the application that his or her specific interests are directly related to the seminar as it has been described by the seminar leader.
- The applicant must also show that the seminar and the curriculum unit that he or she proposes to write are directly related to school courses that he or she will teach in the coming school year.
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For some years it has been the policy of the Institute to allow no more than twelve teachers to enroll in any seminar. The small size of the seminars is necessary both for the collegiality of the Institute experience and for the individual attention that each teacher's work in progress receives from the seminar leader and from other teachers in the seminar.
During the planning process 91 teachers expressed definite interest in participating in one of the seminars to be offered. Of those teachers, 37 were from high schools, 27 from middle schools, 21 from elementary schools, and 6 from K-8 schools. By the application deadline, the Institute Representatives, assisted by the school Contacts, had obtained applications from 61 elementary, middle, K-8, and high school teachers in the humanities, social sciences, and sciences. |
The small size of the seminars is necessary for collegiality and for the individual attention that each teacher's work in progress receives.
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The individual application form calls for the interested teachers to specify the subjects and grade levels they teach, the course or courses in which they plan to introduce the material they study in the Institute, and their willingness to meet each of the Institute's requirements for full participation. The applicants also write a brief essay describing why they wish to participate in the seminar to which they are applying, and how the curriculum unit they plan to write will assist them in their own teaching. Writing this essay is, in effect, their first step in formulating a curriculum unit through which they will bring the material they study from the seminar into their own teaching. | |
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The team application form requires the interested teachers to demonstrate how the team envisions working together in inter-grade and/or interdisciplinary ways and to outline plans for a culminating activity in the school. Teams may receive preference during the admissions process, and are required to submit a final report on their work together during the following school year. If a team is not admitted as such, however, the members of the team may be admitted to the program as individual Fellows. And the Institute encourages such Fellows to work as informal teams in their schools. | |
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To support the school district's efforts to attract and retain qualified teachers the Institute placed special emphasis in 2003, as in 2002, on identifying appropriate ways to assist individuals in their first year of teaching in New Haven. Late in 2001, to explore how the Institute might support teachers new to the district, and to determine whether participation as an Institute Fellow was feasible or desirable for these teachers given the substantial demands on them, the Associate Superintendent and the Institute Director convened two meetings at Yale. Teachers from five New Haven schools, all of which have Institute Centers for Curriculum and Professional Development, took part. Connecticut's Beginning Educator Support and Training (BEST) program requires that new teachers prepare a portfolio-including extensive lesson plans, videotaped class sessions, and reflection-in their second year in order to be fully certified. The teachers who met in November and December 2001 with district administrators and the Institute Director brought a range of experience with the BEST program: first- and second-year participants in the program as well as individuals who had recently completed it and one who was serving as a program mentor. Four of the teachers had been Institute Fellows. |
To support the school district's efforts to attract and retain qualified teachers the Institute placed special emphasis on assisting individuals in their first year of teaching in New Haven.
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As a result of these discussions, the Institute determined that we should mount a pilot effort to recruit first-year teachers. We aimed to learn from their experiences whether the collegiality of the Institute and the development of a curriculum unit could assist them in entering the New Haven Public Schools and in completing the portfolio that teachers in Connecticut are required to prepare during their second year. An experienced Fellow agreed to be the coordinator of the pilot, which included presentations at district-wide meetings for the BEST program as well as the dissemination of informational literature designed especially for first-year teachers. Ultimately, twelve first-year teachers applied to participate in the Institute's seminars in 2002. Nine first-year teachers applied to participate in 2003, when the pilot was continued. | |
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All applications were reviewed by three groups: seminar leaders, school principals, and seminar Coordinators. The seminar leaders examined the applications for their relationship to the seminar subject. This afforded each seminar leader the opportunity, as well, to tailor or enlarge the bibliography for the seminar so that it would address the specific interests of the teachers who would be accepted. | |
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Application Review meeting. (Left to right: Seminar Coordinators Joanne R. Pompano, Yolanda G. Jones-Generette, Jean E. Sutherland, Sandra K. Friday, and Carolyn N. Kinder.)
At the same time, the applications were reviewed in the applicant's own school, in keeping with the decentralizing of administrative functions and decision-making in the school district. The Institute's Representative for each school contacted the school principal or the principal's designee, who is asked to review each teacher's application. The intention is to increase awareness within each school of the projects that teachers wish to pursue in Institute seminars, to afford an opportunity for the principal and other educational leaders to examine the relationship between teachers' applications and school plans, and to increase the likelihood that the teachers will have a course assignment in which they can use their curriculum unit. In this review, the following questions are posed: |
The applications were reviewed by three groups: seminar leaders, school principals, and seminar Coordinators.
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- Is the applicant's proposal consistent with, and significant for, the curricula and academic plans for your school?
- List the courses and/or the grade levels where the proposed unit will be used; if there are none, state "none."
- Will the applicant be assigned next year one or more of these courses in which to teach the unit?
- Please indicate any special merits or problems you find with the application.
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When this procedure was introduced in 1998, Reginald Mayo, Superintendent of the New Haven Public Schools, had written to all principals: "We believe this is a highly promising way for ensuring that the assistance that the Institute provides to individual teachers and to teams of teachers has the best prospect for advancing each school's academic plans." This process informs the consideration of each application, provides each applicant pertinent guidance, and often provides a significant opportunity for Institute Representatives to talk with their principals about the Institute.
It is important that principals appreciate the nature and the significance of the curriculum units that teachers in their school will be designing, and we include here some excerpts from principals' comments on the Fellows' applications: |
Principals appreciate the nature and significance of the curriculum units that teachers in their school will be designing.
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This will be a good addition to our curricula--especially because it is science.
This applicant must model for other teachers, and this unit will be very conducive to the purpose of modeling and demonstrating.
This teacher is extremely valuable in terms of curriculum development, and I know he will be an asset as well.
This proposal fits nicely into our school's global theme.
This proposal will give our ESL students an opportunity to share their culture.
This unit will familiarize students with the history of New Haven and the Native Americans. It will help the students differentiate between primary and secondary sources.
This will enhance the curriculum; students will get more than the usual.
This teacher leads by example and is consistently looking for enriching opportunities for her students.
This unit is aligned with our curriculum standards and will enhance the curriculum.
I am very excited about the proposed curriculum. It will speak to our students, and I expect they will learn the skills required of them in an exciting and captivating course.
Poetry is often a difficult curricular area in terms of capturing student interest. The teacher would benefit from exploration of this area.
As an arts and academic school with an interdisciplinary focus, her examination of both the visual and poetic dimensions of rap should fit well into our arts curriculum.
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As in the past, the Institute formed a group of teachers who served as Coordinators to assist with the organization and smooth operation of the seminars. The Director, with the assistance of the Steering Committee, selects these Coordinators from the group of Representatives who had earlier helped to plan the program of seminars. The Steering Committee is routinely involved in cultivating teacher leadership and identifying the positions for which individual teachers are most qualified. | |
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There is one Coordinator in each seminar. They act as liaisons between the seminars and a Coordinators' committee to facilitate the exchange of information and to provide teacher leadership without diminishing the collegial rapport within each seminar. A seminar Coordinator must be, and must intend to continue as, a full-time teacher in one of New Haven's public schools. A Coordinator accepts the following responsibilities: |
Coordinators provide teacher leadership without diminishing the collegial rapport within each seminar.
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- To work with school Representatives at the conclusion of the application process, to serve on an admissions committee to consider proposals for curriculum development submitted by teachers applying to become Fellows, and to make recommendations to the Director about whom to accept as Fellows.
- To monitor the progress of a seminar through observation and conversation with participants, and to give progress reports at weekly seminar Coordinators' committee meetings.
- To report to the seminar members any organizational information which should be circulated, such as the schedule of any visitors and notice of Institute-wide activities.
- To act as a resource for members of the seminar, providing information about unit-writing deadlines, guidelines for writing curriculum units, computer assistance available to Fellows, copyright procedures, and University facilities Fellows may use.
- To be available to the seminar leader to provide information on Fellows' perceptions of the seminar and on Institute policies generally, and to offer assistance as may be needed.
- To assist with the smooth operation of the seminar by keeping track of Fellows' promptness and attendance and the timeliness of their written submissions, and by encouraging Fellows to make and keep appointments for individual meetings with the seminar leader.
- To attend and come prepared to weekly committee meetings with the Director/Associate Director and to take professional days as needed for the above purposes.
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When the seminars began, each Coordinator would participate as a Fellow in a different seminar. At this earlier point they served as an admissions committee. They met after school on February 5 to conduct a first reading and discussion of the applications to their respective seminars. They then contacted all teachers whose applications needed to be clarified or amplified. On February 12 the Coordinators met for a full day, by taking professional leave, for their final consideration of the applications and their decisions. They met again two days later to resolve issues remaining in some applications. | |
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During their review, the Coordinators considered the findings of the school administrators and seminar leaders and made recommendations to the Director about which teachers the Institute should accept. By these means, the Institute seeks to ensure that all Fellows participate in seminars that are consistent with their interests and applicable in the courses they teach. The Institute accepted as Fellows 55 New Haven teachers, 35 in the humanities and 20 in the sciences. One team of teachers, in the humanities, was admitted from Beecher Elementary School with the expectation that team members would coordinate their curriculum units and work together during the school year, planning cross-grade and cross-subject instruction and school-wide activities. A meeting of seminar leaders and Coordinators was held on February 25 to discuss the admissions process just completed, and to review the seminar and unit writing process and the policies and procedures of the Institute. |
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Joint meeting of seminar leaders and Coordinators. (Clockwise from center: Director James R. Vivian, Carolyn N. Kinder, Paul H. Fry, Dudley Andrew, Sandra K. Friday, John P. Wargo, Joanne R. Pompano, Daniel E. Prober, Jean E. Sutherland, Yolanda G. Jones-Generette, and Associate Director Josiah H. Brown.)
Consistent with the Institute's aim to serve the largest possible proportion of all New Haven teachers, 27 (or 49 percent) of the teachers accepted in 2003 were participating in the Institute for the first time. Of these first-time Fellows, 20 were in the humanities and seven were in the sciences. More than one quarter of all the Fellows accepted (14 of 55, or 26 percent) were Black, nearly two thirds (36 of 55, or 65 percent) were non-Hispanic White, 6 percent were Hispanic, and 4 percent were of South Asian descent. Eight individuals were in their first year of teaching in New Haven. |
A meeting of seminar leaders and Coordinators was held to discuss the admissions process just completed, and to review the seminar and unit writing process and the policies and procedures of the Institute.
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The Fellows Who Were Accepted |
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Fellows came from half of the district's 44 schools (which grew to 46 with the opening of two new schools in the fall), including all of the eight New Haven high schools, four of the six middle schools, and three of the seven K-8 schools. Of the 19 elementary schools, seven had teachers participating. The Institute first admitted elementary school teachers in 1990; this year 16 (29 percent) of all Fellows were elementary school teachers. Twenty (36 percent) were middle or K-8 school teachers, and 19 (35 percent) were high school teachers. Two schools had seven or more Fellows; four schools had four or more, and seven schools had three or more. | |
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The participants included teachers from all stages of their careers. Perhaps reflecting the effort to recruit new teachers as well as demographic trends among the district's teaching force, 33 percent of Fellows were age 30 or younger. Overall, 24 percent of the Fellows were 41-50 years old; 42 percent were younger, and 33 percent were older. | |
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Consistent with the Institute's effort to involve beginning teachers, as Chart 2 shows, for the second consecutive year more than one third of the Fellows (40 percent, following 35 percent in 2002) had four or fewer years of total experience in teaching. This was twice the proportion of Fellows at that stage of their careers during the years 1998 through 2001, when the annual average was 20 percent. In 2003 almost one quarter (24 percent) of the Fellows had 20 or more years of total experience in teaching. Yet nearly one half (48 percent) of the Fellows had four or fewer years of experience teaching in the New Haven school system. | |
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Indicative of the need for the professional development that the Institute provides, more than two thirds (73 percent) of all Fellows have been in their present teaching position four or fewer years; almost nine in ten (89 percent) have taught in their present position for nine years or less. Thus, even though half (51 percent) of the Fellows have ten or more years of total teaching experience, a substantially larger proportion (73 percent) have four or fewer years of experience in their present position. These figures help to explain why many teachers say they need to develop their knowledge in subjects that they have been recently reassigned to teach, or curricular materials for students of a different age or background from those they have taught before. The data suggest that teachers' learning must keep pace with their often changing responsibilities.
(Chart 2 available in print form)
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Moreover, as in past years--and as is the case in the school system generally--many of the 2003 Fellows did not major in college or graduate school in the subjects they currently teach. | |
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As Chart 3 shows, only in the fields of bilingual and foreign languages, biology and special education did all Fellows teaching a subject have a graduate or undergraduate degree in that subject. In four fields--art, mathematics, earth science and general science--no Fellows had a graduate or undergraduate degree in a field they taught. Only one of seven teachers of social studies had a graduate or undergraduate degree in that area.
(Chart 3 available in print form)
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Many of the Fellows did not major in college or graduate school in the subjects they currently teach.
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Chart 4 shows the subjects Fellows taught in the 2002-2003 year of their Institute participation. Overall, more than two fifths (43 percent) of Fellows in the humanities and nearly four fifths (78 percent) of Fellows in the sciences had not majored either in college or in graduate school in one or more of the subjects they taught in that year.
(Chart 4 available in print form)
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Understandably, therefore, when the 2003 Fellows were asked about the incentives that attracted them to participate in the Institute, they responded (as Chart 5 shows, reading left to right from the most to the least important) that the most important incentives were the opportunities to develop curricula to fit their needs (100 percent), to develop materials to motivate their students (98 percent), to increase their mastery of the subjects they teach (93 percent), to exercise intellectual independence (91 percent), and to work with university faculty members (91 percent). Indeed, incentives that might be imagined to be important for teachers with access to Yale University--credit in a degree program and access to Yale athletic facilities--were much less important for Fellows in the Teachers Institute.
(Chart 5 available in print form)
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As past Institute studies have shown, Fellows are in most respects highly representative of all New Haven teachers. So, for example, this year's Fellows continue to reflect the gender and ethnicity of all New Haven teachers, though there are great disparities overall between the ethnic and racial characteristics of New Haven teachers and those of their students. (See Table 1 below.) Similarly, the Yale faculty members who have led Institute seminars generally reflect the wider faculty at Yale.
Table 1
Ethnicity and Gender of Participants
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White
non-Hispanic
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Black
non-Hispanic
|
Hispanic
|
Other
|
| All
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Male
|
Female
|
All
|
Male
|
Female
|
All
|
Male
|
Female
|
All
|
Male
|
Female
|
| Institute Fellows, 2003
|
65%
|
20%
|
463%
|
26%
|
2%
|
24%
|
4%
|
2%
|
2%
|
4%
|
0%
|
4%
|
| Institute Fellows, 1978-2003
|
69%
|
20%
|
48%
|
26%
|
6%
|
20%
|
4%
|
1%
|
3%
|
1%
|
0%
|
1%
|
| New Haven Public School Teachers, 2003 |
73%
|
19%
|
54%
|
18%
|
4%
|
14%
|
7%
|
1%
|
6%
|
1%
|
0%
|
1%
|
| New Haven Public School Students, 2003
|
11%
|
5%
|
6%
|
54%
|
28%
|
26%
|
31%
|
16%
|
15%
|
3%
|
2%
|
1%
|
| Institute Coordinators, 2003 |
67%
|
17%
|
50%
|
33%
|
0%
|
33%
|
0%
|
0%
|
0%
|
0%
|
0%
|
0%
|
| Steering Committee, 2003
|
50%
|
25%
|
25%
|
25%
|
0%
|
25%
|
25%
|
25%
|
0%
|
0%
|
0%
|
0%
|
| Representatives and Contacts, 2003
|
67%
|
21%
|
45%
|
23%
|
6%
|
17%
|
11%
|
2%
|
9%
|
0%
|
0%
|
0%
|
| Institute Seminar Leaders, 2003
|
100%
|
100%
|
0%
|
0%
|
0%
|
0%
|
0%
|
0%
|
0%
|
0%
|
0%
|
0%
|
| Institute Seminar Leaders, 1978-2003
|
88%
|
73%
|
14%
|
7%
|
6%
|
1%
|
5%
|
2%
|
2%
|
0%
|
0%
|
0%
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Yale Faculty, 2003
(includes tenured and term ladder faculty)
|
86%
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63%
|
23%
|
3%
|
2%
|
1%
|
3%
|
2%
|
1%
|
9%
|
6%
|
3%
|
Totals may not add to 100% due to rounding.
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Activities for Fellows |
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At the first organizational meeting of each seminar, held on March 4, 2003, the seminar leader distributed an annotated bibliography on the seminar subject and presented the syllabus of readings that he or she proposed that the seminar would consider. The Fellows described the individual curriculum units that they planned to develop. This afforded the members of each seminar an overview of the work they were undertaking together and the projects they would pursue individually. The bibliographies both introduced the seminar subject and guided Fellows as they began research on their curriculum units. With only a few exceptions, Fellows explained that this stage-setting procedure had worked well.
Several noted the value of their seminars' reading lists. One said, "Although the readings were lengthy and dense at times, they provided me with knowledge that supported my discussion in the seminar. The organization and content of material covered in the seminar was widespread and useful in helping to guide me." A participant in a different seminar spoke of "the brilliant curriculum and compelling syllabus that our leader put together for us," describing him as "a wealth of knowledge and information." | |
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According to another Fellow, | |
The readings were very informative, and I found myself buying a number of the books on the syllabus so as to get each author's full point of view. The readings amounted to about 80 pages per week, a substantial investment in time but well worth it. My own collection of readings relating to my curriculum unit proved very interesting, as well.
Before the second seminar meeting all Fellows met individually with their seminar leader to discuss their projects. The Institute requires that Fellows schedule at least two such conferences as part of the unit writing process; many Fellows, however, meet more frequently with their seminar leader. At the end of the program, most Fellows (82 percent) said that they had ample opportunity to discuss their choice of readings with the seminar leader. According to one veteran Fellow, "My meeting with [the seminar leader] was very helpful and his written comments on my drafts gave me the direction I needed to develop what I consider to be one of my best units." Another wrote, "I had an idea about what I wanted to do, but when I first met with [the seminar leader], he suggested a structure I might use. It was exactly what I needed."
(image available in print form)
The seminar on "Everyday Life in Early America." (Left to right: Fellows Sheila Wade and Malini Prabakar.)
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"The readings were very informative, and I found myself buying a number of the books on the syllabus so as to get each author's full point of view."
--Institute Fellow
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A seminar leader also characterized these individual meetings: | |
These were usually done at points in the term where we needed to meet--to define a topic, to review work, or just to think through some ideas. Most of the teachers used these meetings very effectively, and one of the effective modes was to sit at the computer and review information on various Web sites that the teacher wished to draw upon. | |
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During the period that preceded the regular weekly meetings, Fellows continued their reading, both preparing for the upcoming seminar discussions and working toward a brief prospectus of what their final units would contain. At the second seminar meeting, on April 8, Fellows submitted this prospectus, presented their revised unit topics, and began to discuss the common readings. The regular weekly seminar meetings began on May 6; thereafter Fellows continued to develop their units in stages, with a first draft submitted on May 27. The weekly meetings of the seminars continued through July 15, with Fellows submitting the second draft of their units on July 1 and their completed units by July 31. | |
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For several years, Fellows have been asked to submit the prospectus, together with a revised topic of the unit and a list of appropriate readings, at the time of the second seminar meeting. This allows them a full six weeks to write a first draft. The due date for the second draft is late enough to allow Fellows ample time to address the comments they received on the first draft from other Fellows and from the seminar leader. Some seminar leaders have urged that the revised topic, preliminary reading-list, and first draft be submitted somewhat later, and some have informally instituted yet another draft between the first and second drafts. Every year, too, some Fellows are concerned that the writing of the unit begins before they have entered well into the seminar topic, or that too much work must be done at the end of the school year, when many are especially busy. Still, a majority of the Fellows have been satisfied with this schedule and its methodical series of deadlines during the spring and into the summer. Overall 87 percent of the Fellows thought the unit writing deadlines occurred at the right time in relation to the school calendar, in comparison with 69 percent the prior year. | |
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One Fellow spoke of "a structured environment in which to develop a unit of study that will be beneficial to both the teacher and the students." According to him, "The Institute provides both a framework and resources that allow the teacher to research and develop a unit of study tailored to students' needs." Regarding the opportunity for planning and reflection, another Fellow said, "As public-school teachers, in overcrowded classes and with no time to prepare at all during the year, the Institute is an invaluable help in this matter." Another wrote, "During the school year it is very hard to put together a well thought-out unit and interesting interdisciplinary unit. The seminar sort of puts teachers ahead of the game. This results in a more confident teacher, better classes and more learning going on." |
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(image available in print form)
Fellow Deborah A. James and her students at Betsy Ross Arts Magnet School.
Others commented:
The unit I prepared and the seminar in which I participated has allowed me to research and develop a depth of knowledge which I did not possess before. Preparing a unit in advance allows me to be more creative in my approach in teaching the required curriculum. Spending time researching and listening to seminars, while not in school, afforded me the opportunity to get involved in the subject matter while not having to teach it the next day. I truly feel a specialist in the unit I developed and look forward to sharing with my colleagues ideas for projects.
I have done background work that will enhance my teaching in the coming year. Having created this unit, I will be able to spend less time on planning and more time on assessing students' progress. The schedule I have established in the unit will help me to present matter in a timely manner. I already know what resources I need and where to find them. |
"The seminar puts teachers ahead of the game. This results in a more confident teacher, better classes and more learning going on."
--Institute Fellow
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The Institute attaches great importance to the process through which Fellows develop their curriculum units, and many Fellows commented upon the benefits derived from following this process. One Fellow observed: "Since this year was my first experience with the Teachers Institute, I was feeling slightly overwhelmed when I first received my packet of the Institute schedule and curriculum guidelines and requirements. However, as the Institute progressed and time passed, it was clear how things were going to fit together and the unit would be developed." In this seminar, some time "was used to discuss our units, and share our troubles with our colleagues to see if they had any insight or useful resources/information." According to the Fellow, "This was extremely successful in giving me a sense of confidence and knowing that I was on the right track." She said that her seminar leader "provided great feedback on my unit and materials/resources that would be valuable to me." By the end of the process, this teacher "found the Institute to be a very positive professional experience" in which she was able to "develop a concise, highly polished unit that will not only assist me as a staff developer, but also those teachers I support and guide throughout the year." |
The Institute attaches great importance to the process through which Fellows develop their curriculum units.
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As her statement suggests, the discussion of Fellows' units-in-progress is an important aspect of the writing process and of many participants' seminar experiences. Another Fellow said, "I found working with my colleagues was very engaging. A number of them had nice suggestions for my unit. One suggestion was the inclusion of some alternative forms of assessment for my guided research project." Another wrote, "For me the most enjoyable part of the seminar came when Fellows shared their individual units. There was often lively discussion, including contributions from our leader. People shared ideas with the presenters and asked questions, which seemed to indicate that they might use some portion of the material themselves." A third "found it very helpful to have the input and some valuable suggestions of resources from members of the seminar." A fourth reflected, "Most of the school day is focused on reading and math. When developing this unit on physics I was able to incorporate other subjects into the lessons. I feel that the other participants in my seminar helped to direct my unit to the point it is at. I gained knowledge about an area I was unfamiliar with, which will help in my future teaching."
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(image available in print form)
The seminar on "Physics in Everyday Life." (Clockwise from left: Fellows Tina M. Diamantini, and Carolyn N. Kinder, seminar leader Daniel E. Prober, and Fellow Gwendolyn Robinson.)
Another Fellow called her seminar "wonderful," the seminar leader "an amazing source and guiding force for the seminar," and described it as "very intellectually stimulating." She said, "Most members were inspired to do additional research, and there was an atmosphere of sharing in that respect. I would LOVE to do it again!" |
"For me the most enjoyable part of the seminar came when Fellows shared their individual units. There was often lively discussion, including contributions from our leader."
--Institute Fellow
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At the conclusion of the seminars, most Fellows indicated that the program schedule (96 percent) and the guidelines for writing a unit (96 percent) had been useful to them to a great or moderate extent. This year 61 percent of the Fellows said they tried out the subject matter and 80 percent said they tried out the strategies of their units in their classroom. Of those who did, almost all Fellows (92 percent) said that this influenced what they included in the final units.
During the first two months of the program, which serve as a reading period, all Fellows also met together on Tuesday afternoons for a series of talks. These talks are designed to expose all Fellows to some of the work done in seminars other than their own, and in some cases to subjects and leaders of possible future seminars. Ordinarily, therefore, some current or prospective seminar leaders are included in this series. At the same time, some other faculty members are invited to speak on topics the school Representatives believe will be of particular interest to many Fellows, based on the interests expressed during the months of planning and canvassing the preceding fall. |
"Most members were inspired to do additional research, and there was an atmosphere of sharing in that respect. I would LOVE to do it again!"
--Institute Fellow
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In response to the teachers' interests as expressed to their Representatives, the current seminar leaders gave three of the five talks in 2003; two prospective seminar leaders also gave talks. | |
- On March 11, Daniel E. Prober employed scientific demonstrations to illustrate "Physics in Everyday Life."
- On March 25, John P. Wargo discussed the science and public policy of "Water in the 21st Century."
- On April 1, John P. Demos evoked the rhythms and culture of "Everyday Life in Early America."
- On April 15, Alessandro Gomez spoke of "Burning the Flame: A Fossil-Fueled Civilization or Else," with live Web site connections to illustrate engines and combustion.
- On April 29, Alexander Nemerov used War News from Mexico as his point of departure, giving the audience "A Close Look at Richard Caton Woodville's 1848 Painting."
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The talks were popular among the great majority of Fellows, indeed more popular than in some past years. The few criticisms primarily related to the use of precious time--whether that time might have been used more effectively in different ways within the Institute. One Fellow described the talks as "interesting" but said "they should not have been mandatory. We could have spent more time with our own seminar." | |
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Yet most Fellows saw in the talks the purposes for which they were organized. Ninety-six percent of Fellows said that to a great or moderate extent the talks provided them intellectual stimulation, while most said they provided a sense of collegiality and common purpose among Fellows (91 percent). Four fifths (82 percent) said the talks were successful to a great or moderate extent in providing an overview of Fellows' work in the seminars. A slightly larger proportion (86 percent) said that the Institute scheduled the right number of talks. | |
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According to one Fellow: | |
Attending all of the [lectures] on the different topics was a clear example of the etiquette, professionalism, and tremendous intellect all the professors have. In such a short period of time, I was able to learn so much about topics that have either never interested me before or topics I had no idea even existed. I feel that this part of the Institute was valuable in helping me to decide what seminar topic I would like to study next year or thereafter. | |
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One teacher "appreciated being exposed to other professors at Yale." Another said, "The lecture series was a good mix of very interesting subjects and the discussions that ensued after the lectures were often lively and thought provoking." Still another called the talks "very interesting," adding that "they provided a wonderful overview of the seminars that other Fellows were attending. I feel this is an important part of the Institute with the added benefit of allowing us to come together as a group."
(image available in print form)
Alessandro Gomez speaking on "Burning the Flame: A Fossil-Fueled Civilization
or Else. . ."
Many Fellows reported that the talks prompted them, to a great or moderate extent, to read about their topics (60 percent, compared with 51 percent in 2001 and 70 percent in 2002), discuss the topics with their students (53 percent), and discuss the talks with other teachers (85 percent). In the latter two respects, these figures were similar to reactions expressed in the two prior years. |
"The lecture series was a good mix of very interesting subjects and the discussions that ensued after the lectures were often lively and thought provoking."
--Institute Fellow
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As in other recent years, the Institute scheduled a session on curriculum unit writing, well before the regular meetings of the seminars began. Before starting on their curriculum units, the Fellows all need to understand the central role that the process of writing plays in Institute seminars. As part of their admissions folder, all Fellows had received Institute guidelines and mechanical specifications for preparing curriculum units, which outline the Institute writing process and the five steps for Fellows' formulating, reformulating, and enlarging their individual units. On March 18, the teachers serving as seminar Coordinators comprised a panel in leading a session on curriculum unit development. | |
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(image available in print form)
Workshop on Curriculum Unit Development. (Seminar Coordinators Jean E. Sutherland and Sandra K. Friday.)
The Coordinators spoke from their own experiences in researching and writing new curricula as Institute Fellows. Representing among them the elementary, middle and high school levels, the Coordinators spoke to all the Fellows on these topics: "Narrowing Your Topic and Considering Your Audience"; "Using the Institute's Reference Tools"; "Following the Institute Process for Unit Development"; "Using Technologies for Research and Writing"; "Aligning Your Unit with School Plans and District Goals"; and "Supporting New Teachers: The BEST Portfolio and Beyond." Then the Fellows were divided into seminar groups, where each Coordinator led a discussion of purposes and practices in writing Institute curriculum units. This afforded an opportunity for the first-time Fellows to learn about the guidelines and other aspects of curriculum unit writing from experienced Fellows. It also encouraged experienced Fellows to share that experience and allowed all to discuss how the completed volume of units might display a range of teaching strategies and contain a standard form of annotation. By leading these discussions, the Coordinators also identified themselves as being knowledgeable about the process of writing curriculum units, so that other Fellows might seek their advice. |
The Fellows all need to understand the central role that the process of writing plays in Institute seminars.
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At the Coordinators' weekly meetings with the Director and Associate Director, which were held on the day after seminar meetings, they discussed the progress of each seminar and gained an overview of the program. In addition, the Coordinators met with the seminar leaders immediately before the program began to provide them with information about the teachers who had been accepted and to begin to define their role in assisting with the conduct of the seminars. Both seminar leaders and Fellows acknowledged in their evaluations the essential role of the Coordinators. Ninety-seven percent of Fellows agreed that the Coordinators provided teacher leadership without diminishing the collegial relationship within the seminar. Fellows found the Coordinators to be helpful either a lot (93 percent) or a little (5 percent) in providing information about unit writing deadlines; helpful either a lot (84 percent) or a little (13 percent) in providing information about guidelines for unit writing; helpful either a lot (76 percent) or a little (20 percent) in providing information about the use of University facilities; and helpful either a lot (80 percent) or a little (18 percent) in facilitating discussion of Fellows' work in progress. In each of these areas, the percentage of Fellows indicating their Coordinators as helpful "a lot" reflected an increase over 2002. Few Fellows found the Coordinators unhelpful in any respect. One Fellow said: "I think our seminar Coordinator did an outstanding job. She kept us informed without being pushy." Another observed that the Coordinator's presence was one reason "I feel I was able to be as successful as I was"; the Coordinator provided "important details and guidelines for writing the curriculum and was very helpful in answering questions." |
Both seminar leaders and Fellows acknowledged in their evaluations the essential role of the Coordinators.
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Seminar leaders also expressed appreciation for the collegial support that their Coordinators offered. According to one seminar leader, the Coordinator "knows how to ease us all through the complexities of formatting, and is very conscientious in keeping everyone on task." The Coordinator, he continued, "helped me sort through" challenges that emerged "while issuing timely reminders to others as need arose." | |
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To maintain current information on the program and to address any problems that arose, the Institute Director and Associate Director met monthly with the seminar leaders as a group. This also afforded the seminar leaders, three of whom were conducting an Institute seminar for the first time, an opportunity to talk with one another about their approaches to the seminar and experiences in it. | |
Rewards for Fellows |
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The seminars are the core collaborative experience of the Institute, and each year the majority of Fellows' comments about the seminars have been strongly positive. Again this year their comments were often very enthusiastic. One said: "I had a great experience as a Fellow this year," adding, "The [materials] and the analytic methods I was exposed to are invaluable to me. They will absolutely make me a better teacher." Another said that "the positive energy was inspiring and stimulating in every single session." She observed, "Our seminars were largely semi-guided discussions and our biggest problem was that so many of had so much to contribute that time flew and left us wanting more." She said, "The Fellows seemed to love this chance to enhance our regular syllabus" and concluded, "Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed the seminar and worked hard to create my unit that was a challenge." Another Fellow wrote that the seminar "not only helped me to prepare an interesting unit for my students, but it really gave me tools to be a better teacher in general." A fourth said, "Participation in this year's Institute was a phenomenal experience, and [the professor] served an engaging seminar leader!" And a fifth wrote, "Engaging subject matter, a thoughtful seminar leader, guidance in using the Yale database, collegial colleagues, and field visits combined to make [this seminar] a very intellectually engaging and positive experience." |
"The positive energy was inspiring and stimulating in every single session."
--Institute Fellow
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Another Fellow described it as a "privilege" to participate in a seminar that was "enjoyable, stimulating and profitable," with a seminar leader who "has such an incredible depth of knowledge of all aspects of [the subject]." This Fellow elaborated: | |
The seminar sessions were run very punctually; no time was wasted. Sometimes, we could have gone beyond the time limit. All participants were expected to be prepared for the scheduled discussion topic but no one was ever pressured. There was a comfortable mix of academic responsibility and sociability. The topics were not so much the type which created lively interaction or debate but were more thought-provoking and contemplative. The topics were the kind that would be 'stuck in your head' on the drive home, which in turn would encourage you to seek more information. Although the seminar sessions have ended, the desire to understand more continues. | |
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Others said: | |
I had a great learning experience in the seminar this year. The instruction was compatible with my learning style. As a result, I felt relaxed, and although tired from a busy day at school, I was able to focus and maintain interest in the seminar. The seminar leader engaged the participants in both audio and visual presentations. | |
I thoroughly enjoyed the seminar. Right from the beginning we began sharing our plans for our curriculum units with the other participants. [The seminar leader] was very helpful in suggesting resources and helping us to narrow our topics. We also met individually with him and he always availed himself to us. The readings we did were given to us on disk so we could access them at home. Very early in the seminar [he] took us to a nearby computer lab where we had a presentation by a member of the Yale library staff. [The seminar leader] also shared some insights that were helpful about Web sites and ways to do searches on the Internet. We made a [field] trip. . . . As I look back now, I realize that we squeezed a lot into a short amount of time. |
"I thoroughly enjoyed the seminar. Right from the beginning we began sharing our plans for our curriculum units with the other participants."
--Institute Fellow
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The Yale faculty members who led seminars described their seminar in both specific and general terms. One seminar leader remarked, "The principle of meeting halfway is socially and ethically as well an intellectually the key." Another said of the Fellows, | |
The rapport of the seminar topic to their unit appeared as things progressed. About five weeks in, everyone (as far as I could tell) had bought the group project and prepared assiduously for each Tuesday session. It seems they all feel they have acquired a new discipline, passion, and indeed 'mission.' I feel that even those whose projects seem oblique to the topic of the seminar will make use of what they learned in a systematic way. |
"It seems they all feel they have acquired a new discipline, passion, and indeed 'mission.'"
--Seminar Leader
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A third seminar leader described how participants collaborated, beyond time devoted to lecturing and to individual teachers' presentations: | |
We also exchanged our unit write-ups in small groups, so each teacher received input from two colleagues who read her unit closely. In this I tried to pair a teacher with Institute experience with one or two newer teachers; this worked well. We also then discussed the reactions of the small group with the whole group, and I think this improved the written work a great deal. The seminar group felt comfortable with such self-criticism, and we had overall a very easy way of interacting, with little feel of failure in [the seminar]. | |
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By the end, this leader was "very happy with most of the written units. They contain useful information that another teacher would want in order to enter into that topic." He said, "The teacher-written narratives in this case will provide an easy point of entry and introduction."
Fellows themselves especially relished the opportunity to talk and work with other teachers across the artificial boundaries that often separate grade levels, schools, and disciplines. One Fellow regarded this "camaraderie" as "really priceless. I love spending time with my colleagues discussing film, literature, and school. It was a really nice experience." Another was pleased "to share things about curriculum, schools, classes and students. I found it exhilarating working with peers. I was happy to share my thoughts and ideas with them. It was neat working with adults on the same theme. The group work that we did for class was refreshing. There were open minds and an appreciation of everyone's observations. It was nice to see educators learning together." Another wrote: "One of the most important experiences was that I was able to meet lots of people from the district. We had several conversations about our daily teaching careers. We were able to discuss ideas, share materials, and vent if needed! It was encouraging to know that others were experiencing similar struggles." | |
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Several teachers commented on the inspiration and unity they discovered in working together. As one described: | |
I really valued the candor of [the other Fellows]. I also appreciated the hard work that they did in the Institute and in their classrooms. My fellow [participants] were very helpful and it was a very pleasant experience going to classes, learning, and making friends. There was a variety of people in the [seminar], about half female and half male. The grades we taught were elementary through high school. As teachers we shared many similar tasks and objectives as well as obstacles and strengths. Another strength of the Institute was the small to moderate-sized group made it easier for communicating and sharing ideas. It was also to our advantage that we were working on the same theme.
(image available in print form)
The seminar on "Teaching Poetry in the Primary and Secondary Schools." (Left to right: Fellows David N. Reynolds and Thomas D. Sullivan, seminar leader Paul H. Fry, and Fellow Dina K. Secchiaroli.)
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"I found it exhilarating working with peers. . . . It was nice to see educators learning together."
--Institute Fellow
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Over the years the Institute's participants and staff have been asked whether the co-professionalism among Yale faculty members and New Haven school teachers, for which the program is widely known, is authentic. The collegiality on which the Institute is founded is perhaps best illustrated by the mutual respect between Fellows and seminar leaders that the seminar experience engenders. One seminar leader said, "This experience certainly broadened my perspective and deepened my respect for school teachers." Another commented, "The balance of grade school, middle school, and high school teachers was very good, and on everyone's part there was a great deal of sympathy for and curiosity about the circumstances of others. During the last two thirds of the seminar, everyone expatiated in turn on their unit and on their teaching environment with immense mutual interest and concern." He characterized himself as "moved and heartened to be reminded that there are so many worthy, concerned, and professionally competent people in our classrooms." |
The collegiality on which the Institute is founded is perhaps best illustrated by the mutual respect between Fellows and seminar leaders that the seminar experience engenders.
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Fellows, too, expressed admiration for their Yale colleagues and for the collegiality that they helped to foster. One said, "As would be expected, [my seminar leader] is extremely knowledgeable in the field. At the same time, he is aware of the constraints that we have in teaching younger children and he willingly adjusted the seminar material. He is easy to work with and encourages contributions to the discussions from the Fellows." Another observed, "The seminar leader was very supportive and was always willing to offer assistance when asked. He was also very knowledgeable of the subject matter but not once was he intimidating or unapproachable. I have been rejuvenated by this intellectual exchange of ideas as I networked with other teachers. Knowing how to teach various topics has provided ways that promote effective teaching and learning. I felt very comfortable within the group and everyone's contribution was considered valuable." | |
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The seminar on "Water in the 21st Century." (Fellow Sharron Solomon-McCarthy and seminar leader John P. Wargo.)
Praise for seminar leaders was common among Fellows. According to one, the seminar leader "was very helpful. His knowledge and expertise were enlightening." Another "really enjoyed and appreciated" the seminar leader's "enthusiasm about the subject matter but also about our individual units." She credited him "for boosting my confidence as a teacher (and student) of science." | |
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Another said: "My experience in my Institute seminar has been very positive this year. [The seminar leader], an eminent scholar and master teacher, presented the subject matter in a very interesting way and I found myself taking detailed notes about the various [materials] we read with plans to reread and further explore these [materials] on my own in the future. He was always very well organized and it was apparent from the very beginning that he knew well and loved the subject matter." This teacher added that the seminar leader "always encouraged Fellow participation." | |
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A number of Fellows commented on the appeal of the Institute as a professional activity. One teacher, who was a Fellow for the second time, said, "I feel very positive about the Institute and its role in the New Haven school system. I think it is wonderful for teachers to be able to get together and work closely in an academic setting on projects that become very useful tools for teachers nationwide. The Institute is a great form of staff development." A Fellow in her third year in the Institute likewise called it "perhaps the best professional development I participated in this year." A longtime Fellow observed that the Institute, "provides the opportunity for teachers to meet and reflect on their own practice and to use the best practices in the teaching of students. Through the YNHTI teachers take ownership and responsibility of their work with students. They trust one another, feel confident about their work with each other and with students and are more apt to remain in the teaching profession." Another veteran Fellow--recognizing "accountability" as "imperative in the teaching profession"--wrote, "First of all, as a teacher, one must be committed. Along with commitment, a vision must develop that encompasses a constant reevaluation of one's teaching style and curriculum. We must be open to change, not only for the sake of trying something new, but also for trying to reach every child in the classroom." This Fellow called the Institute "a means for teachers to revitalize [their] teaching strategies and gain invaluable professional development." And a first-time Fellow, first-year teacher said, "One of the most important things the staff of [the Institute] does is to make public school teachers feel respected and acknowledged as creative, caring, educated colleagues. Teachers do not often receive this type of respect and value in our society, but it clear that [Institute] staff, professors, and participants truly see the value inherent in teaching today's youth." |
"I feel very positive about the Institute and its role in the New Haven school system. I think it is wonderful for teachers to be able to get together and work closely in an academic setting on projects that become very useful tools for teachers nationwide."
--Institute Fellow
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Relating Seminar Topics to Curriculum Units |
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Each Institute seminar must balance the complementary and inseparable but sometimes competing demands for studying the seminar topic and developing specific applications of that knowledge for school classrooms. The Fellows, coming from elementary, middle, and high schools, are obligated to develop curriculum units that have some demonstrable relation to the seminar topic, but they are free to work out curricula that enter territory not covered in detail by the seminar. The curriculum units, therefore, have a diversity of subject and approach that one would not expect in a regular university course on the seminar topic. As a result, discussions in the seminar, while doing justice to the common reading, can also range widely over substantive and pedagogical issues relating to the curriculum units. Some comments by seminar leaders and Fellows quoted earlier have already indicated that each seminar approaches these demands somewhat differently as seminar leaders strive to strike an appropriate balance. | |
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The Institute increasingly encourages Fellows to build into their curriculum units both subject matter and skills that are called for by the local curriculum framework--including a strong emphasis upon literacy--and the statewide Connecticut Mastery (CMT) and Academic Performance (CAPT) Tests, administered in grades four, six and eight, and ten, respectively.
One Fellow explained the context in which she created her unit as a tool for student learning:
The New Haven Public Schools' fifth-grade curriculum focuses on developing the students' ability to use active reading strategies to form an initial understanding of a literary work. 'Initial understanding' is a term that encompasses the ability to identify themes, character motivations and development, setting, main ideas, and the practice of before, during, and after reading strategies. The student must convey ideas both orally and through the written response. In addition, students should be exposed to experiences, vocabulary, and cultures that are unfamiliar with them. |
The Institute increasingly encourages Fellows to build into their curriculum units both subject matter and skills that are called for by the local curriculum framework--including a strong emphasis upon literacy.
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Other Fellows elaborated on the purposeful connections between their Institute curriculum units and academic standards: | |
The curriculum unit and my participation in the Institute will help me teach the students curriculum at a concise, timely pace. I have integrated many of the subjects that I teach. A few standards will be covered at the same time: social studies and science, math and science, and social studies and language arts were integrated. The Institute has also given me the time to look at my curriculum and see where I needed to make improvements. I have taken my weakest subject areas and placed them in this unit so that I would be able to teach them with more ease and success. I have also combined my strong subjects with the areas [where] I need reinforcement and I hope to be able to cover all the standards in my curriculum with more success this coming year. | |
This unit covers many performance standards in the Language Arts Curriculum Framework, from reading and writing skills to listening and speaking skills. I have come to appreciate the role that poetry study can play in enhancing writing and plan to develop activities joining the two types of writings and noting their similarities and the ways they complement each other. Clearly, this unit will enhance the school curricula.
Ultimately, more than two thirds of this year's Fellows (73 percent) said that there had been a successful balance in seminar between general study of the seminar subject and Fellows' work in progress on their units. As one Fellow described, "[The seminar leader] was enthusiastic about the subject matter, willing to share his own experiences and knowledge, and helped guide/edit and offer constructive criticism throughout the development of my curriculum unit." A seminar leader recalled how, early in the process, "I met each participant for an intense discussion of his/her project" while at the same time the group began pursuing "the common work I had planned for our sessions." As the weeks passed, "it became evident that attention needed to be turned to the successful and imaginative completion of the individual units." He concluded, "I think a good balance was achieved." |
"This unit covers many performance standards in the Language Arts Curriculum Framework, from reading and writing skills to listening and speaking skills. I have come to appreciate the role that poetry study can play in enhancing writing. . . .
Clearly, this unit will enhance the school curricula."
--Institute Fellow
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Fellow Lorna Edwards and her student at Betsy Ross Arts Magnet School.
After the units were completed in July, they were compiled in a volume for each seminar. In October the volumes were deposited in the libraries of all elementary, middle, K-8 and high schools, so that New Haven teachers, whether or not they have been Fellows, might use them in their own teaching. As in the past, the Institute prepared a Guide to the new units, based on authors' synopses and recommendations of the grade levels and school courses to which their units apply. | |
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The Institute also updated the Index of all the 1438 units contained in the 160 volumes the Institute has published since its inception in 1978. The Index and Guide also were deposited in all school libraries and distributed to the teachers who serve as Institute Representatives for the schools. A full set of the new curricular resources was provided to those school district administrators who have responsibility for curricula system-wide. | |
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Maintaining a library set of units has proved most difficult in those schools that do not have a full-time librarian or, in some cases, even a library. In 1993-94, the Institute therefore sought to determine the best location for Institute material to be deposited in every New Haven school. It has since continued to supply units missing from any collection, based on surveys distributed annually to schools, insofar as the volumes remain in print. As described below, the Institute has also created an electronic version that makes its curricular resources more widely accessible. | |
Results for the Participants |
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Fellows in 2003, as in past years, spoke of the results of their Institute participation, particularly in terms of intellectual growth and renewal. Just as the opportunity to increase mastery of the subject one teaches was an important incentive for most Fellows (93 percent) to take part in the Institute, nearly all (95 percent) said that they had gained knowledge of their subject and confidence to teach it by participating in their seminar. No Fellow disagreed with the statement that the seminar helped with intellectual and professional growth.
Many Fellows described the Institute experience--including the research and writing of curriculum units--as having increased their professional confidence and morale, while nourishing their curiosity. They spoke of this confidence both generally and in terms of greater mastery of a particular subject. One Fellow wrote of being "confident that I can put together interdisciplinary units much more readily after taking this seminar." According to another, "Teaching this unit is going to allow me to try some new teaching strategies and content. Physics is a challenging subject for me and implementing my unit will allow me to feel more confident about teaching science in a K-4 environment." Another observed, "Writing a [Teachers Institute] unit has given me a boost in confidence that will help me to feel more clear and confident in my teaching. I have also gained experience in research and crafting a curriculum, which I can use throughout my future in teaching." She added, "I'm proud of my unit and excited to bring it into my classes." |
Nearly all said that they had gained knowledge of their subject and confidence to teach it by participating in their seminar.
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Fellow Abie L. Benítez teaching her Institute curriculum unit to students at Columbus Family Academy.
Others said:
I feel that my curriculum unit will equip me in being a more effective teacher. In the past, my students have been very inquisitive. They often want to know more than the textbook provides. I feel that my research will allow me to fill in some of the areas that the book does not explain. I also feel that the unit will save time in the future. Before I teach a lesson, I often have to research the topic on my own to get a more complete picture of the events. I will be prepared in that search when the time comes to teach this unit. I will be more confident as I stand before my students knowing that my information is accurate. |
"Teaching this unit is going to allow me to try some new teaching strategies and content. . . . Implementing my unit will allow me to feel more confident about teaching science in a K-4 environment."
--Institute Fellow
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I am very excited about teaching my curriculum unit on poetry to my class in the fall. Through my research I have learned a great deal more about teaching the reading and writing of poetry to children, combining it with more creative movement and music. I have a new confidence in teaching free verse poetry and look forward to introducing it to my children. I have, for years, taught haikus, cinquains, limericks and the like and now I can add another type of poetry to my list.
Fellows spoke, too, of the access to Yale facilities they had gained from participation. From the Institute's inception, all Fellows have been full members of the University community, listed in the directory of faculty and staff, and granted use of facilities and services across the campus. For most Fellows (80 percent) access to Yale's academic facilities such as the library was an incentive for their participation, and 73 percent reported that membership in the Yale community had been greatly or moderately useful to them. | |
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In 2003 the Institute arranged four special campus tour and orientation events for Fellows, in addition to a computing workshop and to the program talks and seminars themselves. These special events, conducted by professional staff of the respective facilities, occurred on the following dates and in the following venues at Yale: | |
- April 2, Sterling Memorial Library
- May 1, Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library
- May 15, Yale University Art Gallery
- June 5, Yale Center for British Art
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Fellows reflected upon these and other opportunities. One said: "It was a great feeling attending class in the Yale University building, listening to Yale faculty and using the Yale facilities--library, computer labs and parking lot." According to another, "The resources that Yale provided were amazing. I made use of the film library as well as information provided by the Film Studies Program on the Internet." A third "particularly appreciated the extra visits set up to acquaint the Fellows with the Yale libraries and art galleries." And a fourth was "very pleased to have access to Yale's wonderful libraries, which I use all year long. It is indeed a privilege, which I value very much." | |
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Fellows visiting the Yale University Art Gallery.
On July 8, near the conclusion of the year's seminars, the Institute held a reception for Fellows and seminar leaders in the courtyard of Yale's Hall of Graduate Studies. Several Fellows commented about this event. One said, "I attended the reception and appreciated the opportunity to gather with friends over good food and drink." Another "especially liked the addition of the reception at the end of the program. It was nice to get back together as a group and remember we're all in this together." |
"It was a great feeling attending class in the Yale University building, listening to Yale faculty and using the Yale facilities—library, computer labs and parking lot."
--Institute Fellow
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Fellows see the results of the Institute as extending beyond their own classrooms, and beyond the teachers who have themselves personally participated in the seminars. Almost all Fellows said that they plan to encourage or assist other teachers in using the unit they prepared; more than half said they planned to do so with three or more other teachers. As a group, the Fellows planned to encourage or assist a total of 144 other teachers. | |
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Reception celebrating the end of the 2003 program held in the courtyard of the Hall of Graduate Studies.
As in the past, Fellows discussed the more extended influence the Institute has had, and will have, for themselves and their schools. One "believe[s] participation in the Institute has made me a better teacher. I feel I have new tools now to bring into the classroom." This Fellow "hope[s] my colleagues will join me in the implementation of the unit. This will make my principal happy as well, so the Institute will be touching people that have never even been members!" He concluded, "This seminar has also opened my eyes to other cultures"; it "was a wonderful and insightful seminar that makes me a wiser, more mature and a better teacher." Another said, "This year, in addition to classroom use, I intend to incorporate my unit into an after-school program. It is my hope that student enthusiasm will serve as a springboard for other colleagues to get on board in implementing the unit!" |
"Participation in the Institute has made me a better teacher. I feel I have new tools now to bring into the classroom."
--Institute Fellow
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Fellow Waltrina Kirkland-Mullins with her students at Davis Street School on the occasion of her being recognized as the New Haven Public Schools' 2003-2004 teacher of the year.
One Fellow "plan[s] on sharing my unit with the other first and second grade teachers in my school," while another said her unit "combines the science themes of my school," which "will greatly affect my students" and could "allow for my school to look at interdisciplinary instruction in a new way." Another "believe[s] [her] curriculum unit can assist other teachers with their subject matter"; this unit "has many facets that all teachers can take a portion of and expand on." She "believe[s] it is important to share my curriculum with my colleagues because not only can they learn from me but I can learn from them." |
"I will approach this topic with more confidence than in previous years because of the knowledge that I gained from the seminar leader, other colleagues, and by my conducting research."
--Institute Fellow
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Another Fellow elaborated: | |
I know that I will approach this topic with more confidence than in previous years because of the knowledge that I gained from the seminar leader, other colleagues, and by my conducting research. The teachers on staff who work with my students are aware of my plans and became involved while the curriculum unit was being developed. As a matter of fact, we have already tried out some of the subject matter and strategies in the classroom and are very anxious to refine the unit. Teaching interdisciplinary units encourages communication among staff as they work together for the good of their students. In preparing the unit, I also became conscious of the existence of other units created by Fellows of the Institute. . . [units] which will definitely be used in future lessons. | |
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Each year we are attentive to the responses of both first-time and veteran participants because we want a high proportion of New Haven teachers to become Fellows and we also want the Institute to become a regular part of Fellows' professional lives. Both groups cite their own rewards, with many first-time Fellows especially appreciative of the example and guidance of Institute veterans. | |
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One newcomer called her participation "a very rewarding experience. I was afforded the opportunity to work with Yale faculty and meet other teachers throughout the New Haven community." She wrote that her "intellectual curiosity has been re-ignited and I am very confident that both teachers and students will enjoy the topic I have researched. The seminar leader enjoyed working with us, and everyone in the seminar gained significantly." Another--who regarded "the other Fellows who had previously participated in the Institute" as "extremely helpful"--said, "Overall it was very positive. Although there was a lot of work, in the end it was all worth it--everything from the seminar leader to the [other] people in the seminar. It is a program that I will apply to again in the future." | |
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Similarly, a third said her seminar "allowed me to network with other teachers in my seminar that had previous experience in other seminars. So they were able to share their experience with the group and assist the new members in the procedural process of writing our curriculum unit. I found that to be favorable." She continued: | |
There was an organized agenda and many useful resources extended to us. At the beginning of the Institute we were able to partake in an array of all the seminars [through the lecture series]. I liked this because I could gather some information for future research and mingle with other colleagues within our district. Next, we attended our own seminar where we specialized in the area of our own interest. . . . Each week was a building block upon the week before. I really enjoyed the small group setting because everyone was able to share and not feel overshadowed. [The seminar leader] really listened to all of our ideas and he made us go to the next level of thinking. [He] was down to earth and an expert in his field. Not only did he lecture but we saw videos and went on field trips. . . . I loved this seminar. I would be honored to recommend the Yale Institute to any of my co-workers. |
"I really enjoyed the small group setting because everyone was able to share and not feel overshadowed. . . . I loved this seminar."
--Institute Fellow
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Other first-time Fellows wrote: | |
My experience in the Institute was very positive. Being my first year in the seminar I didn't know what to expect. The group of people I have met, including my seminar leader, were wonderful. Everyone was willing to help in any way possible. I was also able to discuss different aspects of teaching with a diverse group of people, which I would usually not get the opportunity to do. I would recommend the Institute to others in the future.
My experience in my Institute seminar was very positive this year. I have gained knowledge of several basic physics topics. I also will be taking many demonstrations and experiments back to my classroom in addition to the unit that I produced. Interactions with my leader and other Fellows was also beneficial to my continuing growth as a teacher.
I had a wonderful experience of the Yale Teachers Institute. My [seminar leader] is a very knowledgeable professor and an exceedingly kind person. I loved getting together each week with other teachers who are interested in continually learning and challenging themselves. I enjoyed our group of teachers. . . . [and] I learned some important classroom management skills from the way in which [the leader] kept the class moving along while addressing [one individual's] concerns. I actually learned a lot about classroom management from watching their exchanges. . . . [The seminar leader] is a careful reader and an expert editor. He helped me to craft and refine my unit in ways I feel good about. I wish he could look over all my writing! I did use Sterling Library and the Yale film library quite a bit. I really appreciated having these resources available. |
"I have gained knowledge of several basic physics topics. I also will be taking many demonstrations and experiments back to my classroom in addition to the unit that I produced."
--Institute Fellow
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Among the teachers who were participating in the Institute for the first time were the eight individuals in the Beginning Educator Support and Training (BEST) program who were in their first year of teaching in Connecticut, as well as several who were in their second year of teaching. | |
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As discussed above in the section of this report on the Fellows' Application and Admissions Process, the BEST program is a State of Connecticut requirement for new teachers. In 2004 the Institute continued a pilot effort to involve and support first-year teachers. At the conclusion of the program, one of them recalled, "Going through the Institute process was similar to BEST. That aspect was helpful. The learning and connections that are part of the Institute were very helpful also." |