UC Davis students and professors will partner with teachers in four Northern California communities -- Dixon, Folsom, Sacramento and Vacaville -- to improve the teaching and learning of science and mathematics with a $1.5 million plus grant from the National Science Foundation.

The award, totaling almost $1,548,000 over three years, is from the foundation's Graduate Teaching Fellows in K-12 Education Program.

Beginning in September, the project will be active in the classrooms of about 10 teachers in the Dixon, Folsom-Cordova, Natomas and Vacaville Unified School Districts.

"The UC Davis project will benefit the students and teachers in these communities now," says Evelyn Silvia, a professor of mathematics at UC Davis and the project leader. "In addition, our participating graduate students will gain insights that will help them to become better teachers for their college students."

Seven graduate and seven undergraduate students from UC Davis will bring their knowledge of the latest research in their math and science disciplines to the classroom; the teachers will contribute their expertise in teaching and their knowledge of their students as learners. A focus of the collaboration will be conducting classroom-based research to inform their teaching.

"With the use of university resources, teachers can extend their instruction to include real-world applications of scientific and mathematical concepts," says Barbara Goldman, a project participant and associate director of teacher education in the UC Davis School of Education. "With connections to the university, the students will have the opportunity to learn what scientists and mathematicians do and even see themselves becoming one."

In addition to Silvia and Goldman, seven UC Davis faculty members from the School of Education and other academic units will serve as consultants and lead summer institutes on curriculum design and classroom research techniques.