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VI. KidSat and Education

The education of middle school students in fifth to eighth grade was the foremost aim of the KidSat project.  This was achieved through the enhancement of middle school disciplines such as science, math, social studies, language arts, and art.  The Education element of KidSat was designed by Johns Hopkins University's Institute for the Academic Advancement of Youth (IAAY). IAAY has an office in Glendale, California, providing proximity to JPL and UCSD.  IAAY's primary responsibilities were to create a flexible and content-rich curriculum for educators, conduct educator training workshops with follow-up support, provide a quantitative assessment of the value of KidSat in middle school education, and provide mission support.

The goal of the Education element was to develop multidisciplinary, hands-on curricular modules that both respect students' individual academic needs and encourage them to maximize their intellectual potential.  The implementation of the KidSat curriculum assisted educators to advance learning, knowledge, and inquirty of students through the use of science and space technology.  High academic expectations in students were fostered and promoted through the curriculum.

To meet these responsibilities, IAAY provided educators with resources that met individual student needs and that addressed distrcit, state, and national standards:

• developed an infrastructure and curriculum that fostered student intellectual exploration and discovery

• designed teacher training and follow-up support

• provided continuous evaluation and improvement of the curriculum as needed.

The Education team was led by Johns Hopkins University and IAAY and included the Core Curriculum Design Team made up primarily of teachers.  The team was led by Elizabeth Jones Stork of IAAY.  For more information on KidSat education, see Stork et al., 1999.

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