Points of View: Effective Partnerships Between K-12 and Higher Education

Abstract

hen I was a high school science teacher, my interactions with university faculty members were limited. Occasionally, depending on the district in which I was teaching, university faculty members in the region or state would send us letters inviting us to summer workshops and classes. My science teaching colleagues and I generally valued these opportunities because we believed the classes kept us up to date in our fields and knowledgeable about contemporary ideas and big questions in biology. We viewed these occasions largely as opportunities for ongoing professional development. Our relationship was based on our perceptions that the university faculty had expertise and knowledge from which we could benefit.