PROVIDENCE – The University of Rhode Island, in partnership with Rhode Island College, has been awarded a five-year, $12.5 million National Science Foundation grant to improve the effectiveness of science and mathematics lessons at Rhode Island middle and high schools, state officials said today.

The NSF grant was one of only 23 awarded nationwide, Gov. Donald L. Carcieri said.

The announcement, in a 10:30 a.m. news conference at Johnston High School, comes a day after state officials acknowledged that only about one in four Rhode Island students attained “proficiency” in the first statewide science tests given in May to grades 4, 8 and 11.

The grant is for an initiative – entitled the R.I. Technology Enhanced Sciences (RITES) program – designed to assist all 686 Rhode Island middle and high school teachers and all 83,339 of their students.

The money will allow URI and RIC educators to develop an extensive series of short courses for teachers. The goal is to have schools establish effective teaching strategies and research-based content, tied to the 64 state standards for secondary science and applied mathematics.

Other “core partners” in the grant program include the Johnston School Department, the R.I. Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (RIDE) and the Concord Consortium, a nonprofit educational research and development organization based in Concord, Mass. that creates interactive materials. Supporting partners are Brown University, the Community College of Rhode Island, and the R.I. Economic Development Corporation (EDC).

Officials said the project will focus on learning through guided inquiry and extensive use of technology. Pairs of middle and high schools will develop a unified science improvement plan.

The short courses for teachers will feature computer-based materials, laboratory investigations, models of virtual environments and software to access science databases. Additionally, teachers will be given materials to quickly assess students’ progress in meeting each state standard.

“It’s gratifying to me that Rhode Island received 1 of 23 grants awarded from a highly competitive pool of 181 proposals,” Carcieri said. “We should all be very proud of this accomplishment, especially those who worked so hard to enable us to receive these funds. This grant will enable us to develop a unified science improvement plan which includes resources for school leaders, professional development for teachers, electronic materials, and opportunities for students to enroll in virtual high school advanced math, science and technology courses. This effort will contribute to our ongoing efforts to assist our schools in aligning their education program to the state’s science standards.”

The project focuses on learning through guided inquiry and extensive use of technology. Pairs of middle and high schools will develop a unified science improvement plan to address student needs. The courses for teachers will feature computer-based materials, using laboratory investigations, models of virtual environments and software to access science databases.

Daniel P. Murray, a University of Rhode Island geosciences professor, is the principal investigator. The co-principal investigators are Glenisson de Oliveira, associate professor of chemistry at Rhode Island College and director of the Rhode Island Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) Center at RIC; Kathryn Crowley, assistant superintendent in charge of science and technology in the Johnston schools; Peter McLaren, science and technology Specialist with RIDE; and Robert Tinker, president of the Concord Consortium. Other partners are David Cedrone, the Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics program manager for the EDC, and Deborah Collins, director of research and evaluation at The Education Alliance at Brown University.

“The goal of this grant is to change science, technology, engineering and mathematics education in the state,” Murray said. “We will offer programs for public school teachers with specific topics that are appropriate for each grade. This project is not only designed to improve science and mathematics teaching and learning, it is designed to serve as a template for other districts around the country. Because of the state’s small size, it’s ideal for this type of an experiment.”

De Oliveira said URI and RIC scientists, mathematicians and engineers will offer content expertise to teachers, while the schools’ education faculty will ensure consistency in the program. Education Professor David Byrd, director of URI’s School of Education, will oversee the URI teacher education faculty as part of the project at URI; and Roger Eldridge, dean of RIC’s School of Education, will oversee teacher education faculty at RIC.

“Middle and high school teachers will assess what their needs are relating to curriculum and then play keys roles in developing tools for the classrooms,” de Oliveira said, “Teachers are essential to the decisions that are being made. This grant is going to strengthen the entire system.”

“We are also looking carefully at infrastructure we already have in the state, such as partnering with EPSCOR, another major science education grant awarded to Jeff Seemann, dean of URI’s College of the Environment and Life Sciences,” de Oliveira said.

As a supporting partner in RITES, Brown University will assist Providence and other urban school districts in training science and math teachers.

“The need is clear: With the science scores so low, we all must do whatever we can, and contribute however we can, to better educate students in the math and sciences. Brown is committed to the RITES program and to helping students learn math and science in the largest school district in the state,” said David Targan, associate dean of the College for Science Education at Brown.

R.I. Education Commissioner Peter McWalters said RIDE had focused on designing a project that would allow to self-evaluate and identify needs in their science instruction, curriculum and assessment, using the state’s standards and the results of the New England Common Assessment Program (NECAP) Science Assessment.

“Using this information, the project will provide opportunities for teachers to engage in science courses taught by URI and RIC faculty to reinforce and enrich their content knowledge while, at the same time, have education faculty provide guidance in best-practice instruction,” McWalters said. “The end result will be an aligned program that supports Rhode Island teachers in a consistent manner.”

Additional information from the R.I. Department of Elementary and Secondary Education is available at www.ride.ri.gov.