TOPS will offer teachers college science endorsement

Contact: Kay Roybal, (505) 665-0582 (99-052)

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LOS ALAMOS, N.M., March 23, 1999 -- For nearly 10 years the Department of Energy's Los Alamos National Laboratory has served northern New Mexico science students by training more than 250 teachers in innovative science curricula and teaching methods through its Teacher Opportunities to Promote Science, or TOPS program. The same program will now offer participating teachers the opportunity to earn college credit and a science endorsement to their teaching licenses through the College of Santa Fe.

On March 4, the New Mexico Department of Education approved TOPS for a new 24-credit hour, science endorsement licensure program, the product of a two-year collaborative effort between the Science Education Team at the Lab and the College of Santa Fe. The college will add eight separate courses in math, science and education that can only be taken through participation in the TOPS program.

"This endorsement represents a significant acknowledgment of the quality of this well-established teacher development program," said Dolores Jacobs, Team Leader for pre-college science education at the Laboratory.

TOPS, the flagship program for pre-college education at the Lab, targets elementary and secondary math, science and technology teachers. Teachers must commit to participate over a three-year period, during which time they spend two weeks each summer at LANL and attend three two-day workshops during each of the two school years between these summers.

"There is a great need to train and retrain science teachers in New Mexico," said Jacobs. "School districts in New Mexico and nationally need to find more good K-12 science teachers who are knowledgeable about science and how to teach it, and who are up-to-date in their use of educational technology. LANL has been addressing this need since the creation of TOPS in 1990."

TOPS participants form teams comprised of elementary, middle school and high school teachers who cooperatively develop a science-related course of study using time-honored methods that encourage students to think and solve problems. The curriculum also must integrate math, science and technology. LANL scientists act as mentors who can tie the curriculum directly to ongoing Lab science and research.

The program is designed to promote communication among schools and school districts and to develop networks of teachers, students, scientists and community members. The TOPS website at http://set.lanl.gov/programs/tops/ was designed as an on-line environment that allows participants to exchange information by viewing finished projects, and it provides a comprehensive view of the program.

"Through TOPS, teachers learn and then teach the importance of math, science and technology to their students and communities, often becoming leaders and mentors at their schools," Jacobs said. "We hope they will share the materials and skills they acquire with their colleagues throughout their districts."