• The greatest challenge we continue to face is future funding for STAT and the Chemistry and Architecture of Life courses. For many years, with support from HHMI, these programs have provided innumerable benefits for the K-8 students, teachers, and UCSF volunteers involved. The demand for STAT on the part of both teachers and scientists has grown dramatically for several years and these short-term classroom-based partnerships have positively impacted the science teaching and learning experiences for thousands of students while also providing numerous benefits to UCSF volunteers and SFUSD teachers. SEP's courses for teachers, the Architecture of Life and the Chemistry of Life, are models for integrating inquiry-based science teaching with adult-level content. We are fortunate that we have funding for this work for 2008-2009 but we continue to seek a multi-year commitment to support these programs.
• The amount of work space SEP has remains a challenge and one that is growing more acute. SEP has been able to continue the majority of its programs while also initiating new ones, with a resulting expansion in staff. SEP is currently hiring for two positions and expects to hire again in the spring 2009. With the spring hiring, SEP will face the hurdle of providing adequate space for all staff. Additionally, as reported herein, usage of the Resource Center continues to grow each year as does the amount of materials included in the Resource Center. Space in the Resource Center is quite limited and impacts how well we can support teachers and scientists in their teaching of science lessons. Finally, securing adequate classroom space for program orientations and courses such as the Architecture and Chemistry of Life is time consuming, difficult, and costly. SEP's leadership, in conjunction with UCSF leadership, will be developing short and long-term solutions to these issues.

• "Girls in Science: A Framework for Action" NSTA Press, 2008 by: Elizabeth S. Chatman, Katherine Nielsen, Erin J. Strauss, and Kimberly D. Tanner Behind the stereotype of girls' not doing well in science are some reasons, mostly based on one fact: They are often - and most often inadvertently - treated differently in the classroom. The authors of "Girls in Science" engaged in years of working under a grant funded by the National Science Foundation on this all-too-real problem of gender-equitable science teaching. What they found through working with students, teachers, and scientists - the three elements of the Triad community in which their research started - can change the way you teach and level the playing field of science education for girls. The Triad refers also to the Student Goals, the Teaching Goals, and the Science Goals: there are five in each area that lie at the heart of the book. Each of the 15 goals is supported by an essay, strategies, and brief vignettes that will help teachers and students reach the goal. The vignettes, written by teachers and scientists involved in the project, illustrate the strategies. They illuminate problems and provoke the reader to find remedies through the use of reflection questions and links to similar vignettes. "Girls in Science" is valuable for more than issues of gender equity. As their work progressed, the authors realized what they were learning could be adapted to help with equitable teaching for other groups of students; special-needs students, English language learners, and ethnic and racial minorities, for example. ISBN:978-1-93353-104-5 http://www.nsta.org/store/product_detail.aspx?id=10.2505/9781933531045
• Survey Monkey has been an invaluable resource for our evaluation work - eliminating the need for time consuming transcription of handwritten surveys. We are now able to efficiently and effectively administer surveys to our more than 500 teacher and scientist participants each year, and can concentrate on understanding the outcomes of our programs. www.surveymonkey.com

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