NEA grant provides mentoring for future science teachers
 Dr. Kathleen Lesniak (left) and Milissa Albano, ’99, meet with prospective science teachers who will benefit from the NEA grant. |
A $5,000 Learning and Leadership Grant to create better science teachers has been awarded by the National Education Association Foundation to Dr. Kathleen Lesniak of the College of Education and Milissa Albano, a Fredonia alumna and mentor chemistry teacher at Southwestern High School in Lakewood, N.Y.
Budding science educators in Fredonia’s accelerated Master of Arts in Science Teaching program will benefit from a study group of veteran secondary teachers, led by Dr. Lesniak and Ms. Albano, ’99, who will mentor student teachers. The study group will learn about topics and issues related to successful mentoring of preservice science teachers by building on mentors’ knowledge and experiences, and studying best practices.
In addition, collaborative lessons using digital video will allow the mentors to confer explicitly with students to improve their teaching knowledge and instruction. Insights gained from this research-based practice will be shared to enhance the teaching knowledge of mentors and students.
