Bringing Engineering into the Elementary Classroom: A Bechtel K-5 Educational Excellence Initiative

Partnership Structure As part of the Bechtel K-5 Educational Excellence Initiative, funded by the Bechtel Foundation, graduate students in mathematics, science and engineering are placed in support of elementary school teachers from Adams County District 50 and their students for up to fifteen hours each week during the academic year. Teachers are recruited to the program in cohorts. Each cohort consists of a kindergarten, first, second, third, fourth and fifth grade teacher, all drawn from the same elementary school. One graduate student from the Colorado School of Mines is assigned to support each cohort, while another graduate student provides half-time support between two cohorts or two schools. Using this structure, each participating school receives approximately 22 hours of support each week throughout the academic year. Sharing a graduate student across grade levels is possible because elementary teachers are generalists who provide instruction on multiple subjects and typically spend as little as 45 minutes each day on mathematics and/or science. In 2010, 24 teachers participated in this program, impacting approximately 750 elementary school students throughout the academic year.