NEWS RELEASE

Contact: Leigh Flynn (flynnl@alpha.nsula.edu)
News Bureau
Northwestern State University
Natchitoches, LA 71497
(318) 357-6466

5/16/2000

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

NATCHITOCHES -Local school districts, the Louisiana Middle School Association, the Louisiana Department of Education, the state Board of Regents and Northwestern State University have collaborated in an effort to improve teacher preparation for middle level education.

The Middle School Online Staff Development Initiative will serve as a valuable resource to educators in preservice/inservice teacher training and will be available online.

Educational partners in the project have developed a web-based workshop series which addresses the areas of change identified with successful middle schools. Those three areas are the middle school concept, technology integration and new academic curriculum standards implementation.

"This initiative will make available those keys to successful teaching in a convenient manner," said Dr. Robert Gillan, associate professor of education and director of the educational technology program at Northwestern State University.

Undergraduate students in elementary and secondary education, special education, alternative certification and graduate programs in educational leadership, educational technology and adult education will benefit from the online staff development initiative as well as middle school teachers and administrators throughout Louisiana.

More than 20 workshops are available online in the three focus areas.

Those addressing the middle school concept include "Teaming in Middle Schools," "Curriculum Integration," "Assessment of Middle School Students," and "Study Skills for an Inclusion Class."

Technology has become an integral part of life in the educational community. In a learning environment where technology is truly integrated and not taught as a separate class, students and teachers use technology tools to enhance all areas of the teaching and learning process.

Those workshops regarding technology integration include "The Connected Classroom," "FrontPage 2000," "Teaching with Technology," "Video in the Classroom," and "Learning Online."

Louisiana's Public Education Accountability System is based on the concept of continuous growth. Workshops addressing accountability include "Content Standards," "LEAP 21," "LEAP Preparation" and "Standards Based Assessment."

WebBoard conferencing and facilitators' guides are available for support and implementation of the workshops.

An intensive workshop will be conducted June 8 and 9 to assist school districts' coordinators and college faculty in the planning and implementation of selected modules or an entire workshop series. The workshop consists of 25 workshops and represents more than 100 hours of staff development training.

Online registration for the June workshop, which will be held at Northwestern State University, is available at www.nsula.edu/region6. To preview the workshop series, visit www.msol.org.

For more information on the initiative, contact Gillan at (318) 357-5516 or via e-mail at gillan@alpha.nsula.edu.

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