Corporate Partners

We are currently seeking corporate partners to support future teacher cohorts in Target Inquiry (TI). The effectiveness of the TI program in impacting teachers' classroom instructional practices and student achievement has been thoroughly studied thanks to a $1.3 million dollar research grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF). Supporting science teachers is a sound investment in the people who educate our future leaders in science technology. Additionally, it is an important step toward a more scientifically literate populace.

TI has the support of public and private education and science partners and has already received over $1.5 million in funding (Tables 2-4).

Reaching Students Across West Michigan

Students in every possible educational setting from every walk of life in west Michigan can benefit from improvements in classroom instructional practices. Already, teachers in the program come from 18 high schools in west Michigan and Grand Rapids Community College (see Table 1). Keeping these schools involved in reform while recruiting new schools is critical to making an impact on how chemistry is taught. Furthermore, the wide diversity of schools deepens effectiveness of the TI program as well as the rigor of its study.

Making an Impact

As teachers who participate in professional development programs can be expected to average 10 years of teaching following the program, the direct impact of just the first two cohorts of TI teachers will extend to over 25,000 students. Each subsequent teacher cohort can reach over 12,500 students. Furthermore, studying participants with differing levels of teaching experience who teach diverse and traditionally underrepresented students will ensure that findings from the study of TI are widely applicable. Broad dissemination of the research findings will: (1) inform the development and implementation of high-quality professional development programs (2) create partnerships among colleges and universities focused on promoting teaching, training, and learning through the multi-site and multi-discipline dissemination of TI; and (3) provide teachers with much needed piloted and peer reviewed inquiry materials. Finally, the broad dissemination of this work will gratefully acknowledge TI's supporters.

Supporting Target Inquiry

A contribution of $14,300 supports one high school chemistry teacher for the duration of the TI program (2.5 years). This investment directly supports the teacher by providing graduate tuition and summer stipends. The contribution also provides $500 for travel to a national conference to present chemistry and/or education research and $500 for new classroom materials needed to support an inquiry-based curriculum. Providing these incentives and awards is necessary, as TI requires a great deal more of teachers than other graduate or professional development experiences.

Sponsoring five teachers in TI requires an investment of $71,500 for 2.5 years, or you can support one cohort (10 teachers) for 2.5 years for $143.000. In addition to the support of 10 teachers, the support of a cohort will also impact over 12,500 students. This is a small price to pay to improve science education in west Michigan and beyond.

Table 1. School Demographics for Target Inquiry Teachers

Table 2.  Financial Support for the Development of Target Inquiry

Table 3. Teacher Costs and Support

Table 4. Funds Supporting Target Inquiry Study