Rice’s institute attracts teachers from around the globe

CONTACT: Jessica Stark
PHONE: 713-348-6777
E-MAIL: stark@rice.edu

With more than 2,265 registered participants hailing from more than 225 school districts, Rice’s Advanced Placement Summer Institute is the largest of its kind in the country. Middle and high school teachers from 29 U.S. states and countries, including Honduras, Jordan, Mexico, Thailand, Columbia, Italy and Egypt, came to Rice this week to begin taking classes for the institute. 
 
The institute prepares middle and high school teachers for the challenges of teaching pre-AP and AP courses by addressing content, structure, pedagogy and assessment.
 
Now in its 13th year, the institute offers more than 100 courses for new and experienced AP and Pre-AP teachers, building on Rice’s mission to collaborate with other organizations and improve K-12 education.  The institute has grown steadily over the years and includes courses in English, mathematics, science, foreign languages, social studies, art and music.
 
The AP Summer Institute is administered by the Glasscock School of Continuing Studies and endorsed by the Southwestern Region of the College Board. This year’s institute is supported in part by Washington Mutual.
 
In collaboration with Rice faculty members, courses are led by experienced College Board-endorsed consultants who have a broad range of knowledge and proven ability presenting to their peers. Lead consultants for 2007, who come from 14 different US States, include AP test development committee members, AP exam readers, winners of special recognition awards from the College Board, and winners of regional and national teaching awards.
 
“The Rice institute is known for its quality,” said Siva Kumari, associate dean at Rice’s Glasscock School of Continuing Studies. She noted that many teachers come back several times to the institute to refine and develop their teaching techniques under the guidance of different consultants.
 
“The master teachers who lead our courses share the best techniques and materials for achieving results when teaching AP courses to a diverse set of students,” Kumari said.
 
The institute runs from June 25 through Aug. 3. The first week of courses features Academies for AP Teachers — a course format that provide teachers with the opportunity to delve into more specific course content and connect to their discipline’s current work.
 
In response to requests from experienced AP teachers and lead consultants, Rice began offering advanced topic academies three years ago. Rice’s academy course format is the only of its kind endorsed by the College Board and the International Baccalaureate program.
 
“Because AP courses are created to be the equivalent of a college-level course, the academy format connects teachers to higher education faculty members from Rice and elsewhere in in-depth content explorations to expand the teachers’ knowledge base,” Kumari said.
 
One new academy this year is the Advanced Topics in Music Theory in the Shepherd School of Music. Participants explore ideas and techniques for teaching music theory and develop strategies for integrating these materials into the AP Music Theory curriculum.
 
The program aims to give AP music theory high school teachers a concrete sense of expectations for college freshman music majors.
 
“As a professor in the Shepherd School, it is important for me to be in touch with the teachers who are preparing college-bound students for study in music,” said Karim Al-Zand, the Lynette S. Autrey Assistant Professor of Composition and Theory. “That sort of dialogue will make the transition from the high school to the college level smooth and effective.”
 
Al-Zand is joined by his Rice colleague Anthony Brandt, associate professor of composition and theory, and other accomplished music theoreticians — guest lecturer Alan Gosman (from the University of Michigan), Sterling Cassaboom (St. Louis, Missouri) and course facilitator Terry Eder (from Plano High School). Eder is a consultant and reader for the AP Music Theory Exam.
 
“In watching one of the sessions, it was so exciting to see the interchange between the high school teachers and Dr. Gosman and Dr. Eder,” said Janet Rarick, artist teacher of woodwinds and professional development at Rice. “Hearing the responses to an engaging lecture and seeing how that stimulated a thoughtful discussion on teaching strategies showed me that this was the beginning of a wonderful new connection in music education.”
 
In six other academy courses, 15 Rice faculty members participated along with collaborators from the Baylor College of Medicine, Houston World Affairs Council, MD Anderson Cancer Center, Population Reference Bureau and Houston Psychiatric Association. Faculty from eight other universities including the University of Oregon and Villanova University also participated in the courses.