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Posted 12-28-99
James Bader -- the father of six children from age 4 four to 15 -- has firsthand knowledge about science and math education in the schools. He understands the challenges of assisting science and math teachers in his new role as director of CWRU's Center for Science and Mathematics Education.
Bader -- who succeeds Lawrence Badar, the center's first director who retired this year -- has volunteered his science skills in several of his children's classrooms, where lack of equipment or know-how has led children's teachers to call for help.
The two-year-old center is the umbrella organization for many campus outreach activities for primary and secondary school teachers and students. Some of its more visible programs are the Science Olympiad and the Jason Project, which each bring hundreds of school children to campus for science activities.
A new program, to be offered July 10-21 to elementary teachers, is "Schoolyard Ecology," a joint program from CWRU's Department of Biology and the Cleveland Botanical Garden, with support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute.
"When teachers need assistance in science or math, I want them to think that the University is the place to go for it," says Bader.
Proficiency tests in science and math have forced teachers to rethink how they teach these subjects. Bader says the University, as a major research institution, can lead the region in supporting classroom learning.
He adds that many faculty have long-established outreach programs in place to boost student achievement and teacher training.
With President David Auston's interest in having the University become more active with K-12 education, Bader sees the University as being able to address this subject with new energy and direction.
Since assuming his new role January 1, Bader will work half-time as manager of the graduate and undergraduate biology teaching laboratories in the Department of Biology. He has held that position since 1985.
Bader has served as the biology department's assistant director for the Center for Biology Education, which oversees the department's outreach programs. They include the workshop in Biotechnology for High School Teachers, the summer program for Biotechnology for Gifted and Talented High School Students, the Biotechnology Equipment Resource Center, and the Summer Ecology Program for High School Teachers.
His future goals for the center include using the biology department's equipment loan program as a model to establish equipment programs for chemistry and physics to support Advanced Placement courses, design a listserve through which local teachers can direct questions to CWRU faculty, and seek funding from the National Science Foundation and other grant sources to support and broaden the center's role at CWRU.
He also wants to enlist help from faculty who are already working in area schools, but who may not yet be associated with some of the established programs like the Physics Summer Institute, Science Olympiad, Hands On Universe, Summer Program in Undergraduate Research, and the Biotechnology Program.
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