Spring Break
URI takes part in grant to save math, science in RI
Chris Curtis
Issue date: 10/1/08 Section: News
10/01/08 - The University of Rhode Island, in partnership with various institutions, has been awarded a $12.5 million National Science Foundation (NSF) grant to improve science and math education at Rhode Island high schools and middle schools.
The grant will fund a program called R.I. Technology Enhanced Sciences (RITES), as a cooperative effort among institutions like URI, Rhode Island College, the Johnston School Department and the Rhode Island Department of Elementary and Secondary Education.
Glenisson de Oliveira, a RIC associate professor of chemistry and one of the project's seven co-principal investigators, sees this cooperation as an opportunity for improvement.
"The amount of cooperation that we are developing as a result of this project will help us to maximize the use of our resources and personnel across the state," de Oliveira said.
The goal of RITES is to improve education by helping schools and teachers to develop effective teaching strategies and research-based programs of study, according to a press release issued by R.I. Gov. Donald Carcieri's office.
The announcement of the grant comes on the heels of the release of the first statewide, standardized science test results. The test was administered in May to students in grades four, eight and 11. Results showed that only 24 percent of students tested attained proficiency.
Daniel Murray, a retired URI geosciences professor and principal investigator in charge of the RITES program, said he and the other creators of the program had anticipated the test's results in writing the grant proposal.
"When you write a proposal like this, the first thing you have to do is define a problem," Murray said. "We defined the problem around the expected results of these tests."
Murray said the results were depressing but not surprising, and that he did not know of an exact cause for the low scores.
"If I could answer that question, not only could I tell you what causes it but how to fix it," Murray said. "I would be the secretary of education for the country, if not the universe, because it is an endemic problem."
The grant will fund a program called R.I. Technology Enhanced Sciences (RITES), as a cooperative effort among institutions like URI, Rhode Island College, the Johnston School Department and the Rhode Island Department of Elementary and Secondary Education.
Glenisson de Oliveira, a RIC associate professor of chemistry and one of the project's seven co-principal investigators, sees this cooperation as an opportunity for improvement.
"The amount of cooperation that we are developing as a result of this project will help us to maximize the use of our resources and personnel across the state," de Oliveira said.
The goal of RITES is to improve education by helping schools and teachers to develop effective teaching strategies and research-based programs of study, according to a press release issued by R.I. Gov. Donald Carcieri's office.
The announcement of the grant comes on the heels of the release of the first statewide, standardized science test results. The test was administered in May to students in grades four, eight and 11. Results showed that only 24 percent of students tested attained proficiency.
Daniel Murray, a retired URI geosciences professor and principal investigator in charge of the RITES program, said he and the other creators of the program had anticipated the test's results in writing the grant proposal.
"When you write a proposal like this, the first thing you have to do is define a problem," Murray said. "We defined the problem around the expected results of these tests."
Murray said the results were depressing but not surprising, and that he did not know of an exact cause for the low scores.
"If I could answer that question, not only could I tell you what causes it but how to fix it," Murray said. "I would be the secretary of education for the country, if not the universe, because it is an endemic problem."
