06/08/2007 09:18 AM
Beginning this fall, New Orleans-area students will have the chance to work closely with students and researchers at the university level as part of a pilot charter school project. The new charter school will be a K-12 program that gives students a math and science-based education with a focus on using state-of-the-art technology. Students also will work collaboratively with universities and will be mentored by experienced scientists to enter into national and international science project competitions. This new concept for education was developed through a workgroup composed of LSU, Southern University, Southeastern Louisiana University, Southern University of New Orleans and the LSU Health Sciences Center in New Orleans and led by Tevfik Kosar, a professor with the Center for Computation & Technology, or CCT, and Department of Computer Science at LSU. “Louisiana tends to be weaker in education indicators overall, but particularly in math and science,†Kosar said. “Several of us who do research in these fields at the universities in Louisiana wanted to study ways we could contribute to the education of students in elementary and secondary schools to improve these rankings. We believe that our experience in these specific areas, as well as the resources that universities can provide, will make a great contribution to the overall K-12 education in the state.†CCT Director Ed Seidel said that training students in the younger grades to use this technology will benefit the state as well as those students. “Part of CCT's mission is to provide service-oriented science, where people can use the technology available today to improve people's lives,†Seidel said. “If we can start by instructing students at a very early age how to take advantage of computing, we will be helping the next generation enter both universities and the workforce ready to develop projects. This way, their work can benefit not only Louisiana residents, but people nationally and internationally as well.†Kosar and the initial workgroup formed the Pelican Educational Foundation, which now includes members of the universities listed above, in December 2005. The group researched innovative education methods that had worked in other states to improve students' educational outcomes, and learned schools that focus on math and science had worked effectively. The Pelican Foundation decided to implement such a school in Louisiana, and received approval in January from the State Board of Elementary & Secondary Education to begin the first school in the New Orleans area in August 2007. New Orleans will be the site of Pelican's first school in Louisiana, but Kosar said he hopes the New Orleans-area school will be a successful model that can be replicated in other parts of the state. The group has received the initial approval to turn an existing public school, Marion Abramson Senior High School at 5552 Read Blvd. in New Orleans East, into this charter school. The school will be renamed Abramson Science and Technology Charter School. For the first year, students from kindergarten through eighth grade can enroll, although the school eventually will go through the senior year of high school. Students will be admitted based on availability and do not need to already have experience with a technology-based education. The school will admit 360 students in its first year. “People do not always recognize that Louisiana is very advanced in computer science. This new school concept, along with other projects going on here at LSU, is part of an effort to raise awareness about the innovative work we are doing here,†said Sitharama Iyengar, chair of the LSU Department of Computer Science. The school will be overseen by a governing board, of which Kosar serves as president. It will emphasize integration of technology into curriculum and constructivist learning and use of cross-disciplinary education, use of multiple intelligences in learning, use of digital arts in education, as well as providing Web-based training, examination and monitoring and encouraging student collaboration with universities to participate in national and international science competitions. The school is even planning to implement a pilot online real-time classroom observation for parents via Internet, pending legal verification of the system by approved regulatory agencies. “Our students will be working on projects that require cooperative teaching efforts in language arts, fine arts, math, social studies and science. Teachers will make cooperative lesson plans and student product will consist of material covered in different subjects. We believe that future education as well as science moves toward cross-disciplinary boundaries,†Kosar said. In the new school, fine arts programs will be integrated with technology. Students will be able to take classes in graphic design, web design, multimedia, animation, photography, digital drawing, video production, media arts and studio art. “The idea is to use high-end computing in education and give students a technology-focused, math and science-based education,†Kosar said. “We are really optimistic about it. I believe that in a few years, it will be the top ranking K-12 school in the state.†The group is also planning to pursue federal funding opportunities from agencies such as National Science Foundation and Department of Education to boost the collaboration between universities and K-12 institutions in Louisiana. For more information on this new charter school initiative, please contact CCT Manager of Public Relations Kristen Sunde at 225-578-3469. -30-
Beginning this fall, New Orleans-area students will have the chance to work closely with students and researchers at the university level as part of a pilot charter school project. The new charter school will be a K-12 program that gives students a math and science-based education with a focus on using state-of-the-art technology. Students also will work collaboratively with universities and will be mentored by experienced scientists to enter into national and international science project competitions. This new concept for education was developed through a workgroup composed of LSU, Southern University, Southeastern Louisiana University, Southern University of New Orleans and the LSU Health Sciences Center in New Orleans and led by Tevfik Kosar, a professor with the Center for Computation & Technology, or CCT, and Department of Computer Science at LSU. “Louisiana tends to be weaker in education indicators overall, but particularly in math and science,†Kosar said. “Several of us who do research in these fields at the universities in Louisiana wanted to study ways we could contribute to the education of students in elementary and secondary schools to improve these rankings. We believe that our experience in these specific areas, as well as the resources that universities can provide, will make a great contribution to the overall K-12 education in the state.†CCT Director Ed Seidel said that training students in the younger grades to use this technology will benefit the state as well as those students. “Part of CCT's mission is to provide service-oriented science, where people can use the technology available today to improve people's lives,†Seidel said. “If we can start by instructing students at a very early age how to take advantage of computing, we will be helping the next generation enter both universities and the workforce ready to develop projects. This way, their work can benefit not only Louisiana residents, but people nationally and internationally as well.†Kosar and the initial workgroup formed the Pelican Educational Foundation, which now includes members of the universities listed above, in December 2005. The group researched innovative education methods that had worked in other states to improve students' educational outcomes, and learned schools that focus on math and science had worked effectively. The Pelican Foundation decided to implement such a school in Louisiana, and received approval in January from the State Board of Elementary & Secondary Education to begin the first school in the New Orleans area in August 2007. New Orleans will be the site of Pelican's first school in Louisiana, but Kosar said he hopes the New Orleans-area school will be a successful model that can be replicated in other parts of the state. The group has received the initial approval to turn an existing public school, Marion Abramson Senior High School at 5552 Read Blvd. in New Orleans East, into this charter school. The school will be renamed Abramson Science and Technology Charter School. For the first year, students from kindergarten through eighth grade can enroll, although the school eventually will go through the senior year of high school. Students will be admitted based on availability and do not need to already have experience with a technology-based education. The school will admit 360 students in its first year. “People do not always recognize that Louisiana is very advanced in computer science. This new school concept, along with other projects going on here at LSU, is part of an effort to raise awareness about the innovative work we are doing here,†said Sitharama Iyengar, chair of the LSU Department of Computer Science. The school will be overseen by a governing board, of which Kosar serves as president. It will emphasize integration of technology into curriculum and constructivist learning and use of cross-disciplinary education, use of multiple intelligences in learning, use of digital arts in education, as well as providing Web-based training, examination and monitoring and encouraging student collaboration with universities to participate in national and international science competitions. The school is even planning to implement a pilot online real-time classroom observation for parents via Internet, pending legal verification of the system by approved regulatory agencies. “Our students will be working on projects that require cooperative teaching efforts in language arts, fine arts, math, social studies and science. Teachers will make cooperative lesson plans and student product will consist of material covered in different subjects. We believe that future education as well as science moves toward cross-disciplinary boundaries,†Kosar said. In the new school, fine arts programs will be integrated with technology. Students will be able to take classes in graphic design, web design, multimedia, animation, photography, digital drawing, video production, media arts and studio art. “The idea is to use high-end computing in education and give students a technology-focused, math and science-based education,†Kosar said. “We are really optimistic about it. I believe that in a few years, it will be the top ranking K-12 school in the state.†The group is also planning to pursue federal funding opportunities from agencies such as National Science Foundation and Department of Education to boost the collaboration between universities and K-12 institutions in Louisiana. For more information on this new charter school initiative, please contact CCT Manager of Public Relations Kristen Sunde at 225-578-3469. -30-
Publish Date:
06-08-2007
