Center has its first teacher-in-residence

By Charlotte Crystal

The U.Va. Center for Science, Mathematics and Engineering Education has begun an Educator-in-Residence program that gives an elementary school teacher the opportunity to take time off from regular classroom duties to research new instructional methods and share them with other area teachers. As part of the program, co-sponsored by the Alcoa Foundation and Albemarle County, Jill Cragg, the first teacher to hold this post, is co-teaching a course at the Curry School of Education with professor Maria Timmerman, as well as studying there. She'll also attend state and national mathematics and science education conferences.

Stephanie Gross

Working on effective teaching methods are engineering professor Kathryn Thornton (left), and elementary science teacher Jill Cragg.

Cragg, the lead science teacher at Agnor-Hurt Elementary School, is spending her year-long leave of absence traveling to elementary schools throughout Albemarle, offering suggestions, procuring new materials, and fueling the fire of classroom teachers.

"The educator-in-residence is a bridge between the University and the community," said Kathryn Thornton, director of the Center for Science, Mathematics and Engineering Education. "Jill helps us strengthen ties between theory and practice by sharing her expertise and classroom experiences with college students, giving prospective teachers firsthand knowledge of how to apply their learning to actual classrooms. She also brings new ideas about teaching and learning to Albemarle County's elementary schools."

Working with third-, fourth- and fifth-grade math teachers, Cragg is helping to plan, implement and evaluate the best methods of teaching the math concepts and skills required by the state's Standards of Learning. Cragg is concentrating her efforts at four county elementary schools: Agnor-Hurt, Scottsville, Stone-Robinson and Yancey.

"Jill has been extremely helpful researching new materials and methods to share with classroom teachers who are stretched for time,² said Marlene Robinson, K-12 instructional coordinator in mathematics for Albemarle County schools. "She's done co-teaching and provided one-on-one professional development for teachers, helping them see where new ideas fit in with the curriculum and with the SOLs."

Half of Cragg's salary is paid by Alcoa, a quarter is paid by U.Va., and the other quarter is paid by Albemarle. "I hope we can expand this partnership between U.Va., Albemarle County and the Alcoa Foundation in the future," Thornton said.