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The Science Education Leadership Fellows (SELF) program promotes high quality science teaching and learning in elementary schools. The program prepares teams of experienced teachers and scientists (graduate students and postdoctoral fellows) over two-year periods to guide decision-making and capacity building in schools, districts and higher education partners. SELF also is capitalizing on the power of the Internet to provide peer-reviewed K-5 science teaching resources and teacher development through Baylor College of Medicine's (BCM's) award-winning website, BioEd Online (www.bioedonline.org).
SELF participants are called "fellows" because of the project's strong emphasis on advanced study and sharing of expertise. SELF leadership teams have joint learning experiences in schools and labs, co-teach lessons in schools, and complete short summer research projects at BCM. In their second year, teams present at local science teacher meetings and coordinate school-wide science festivals.
This ongoing program already has reached more than 50 schools in Houston, Texas, with enrollments exceeding 30,000 students. It is being expanded to reach an additional 50 elementary schools. The program also is making professional development and teaching resources available on BioEd Online (www.bioedonline.org) to local and national audiences of science teachers.
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