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<TITLE>IGES Now Accepting Proposals to Participate in ESSEA</TITLE>
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<FONT FACE="Verdana, Helvetica, Arial"><SPAN STYLE='font-size:12.0px'><B>IGES Now Accepting Proposals to Participate in ESSEA<BR>
</B>Educational Institutions Can Apply to Offer Online Earth System Science Courses<BR>
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Arlington, Va.--The Institute for Global Environmental Strategies (IGES) is accepting proposals from colleges, universities and other educational institutions to participate in the Earth System Science Education Alliance (ESSEA), an innovative professional development program for pre-service and in-service middle and high school teachers.<BR>
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Selected institutions will receive funding and training to offer a series of online Earth system science courses geared toward teachers of specific grade levels and aligned to national science education standards. Working in collaborative groups, teachers who enroll in an ESSEA course can earn undergraduate, graduate or continuing education credit while learning to teach Earth system science using inquiry-based classroom methods.<BR>
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ESSEA is funded through a cooperative agreement with the National Science Foundation. The NSF-funded program will build and expand on the original ESSEA program funded by NASA and administered by IGES from 2000 to 2005. IGES is currently updating the existing courses with additional online tools, modules and materials, and the number of educational institutions offering the courses is expected to increase from 17 to 40.<BR>
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IGES will assist participating institutions by helping them create a sustainable infrastructure for delivering the courses, and by providing evaluation tools to ensure that, upon course completion, teachers have a strong understanding of Earth system science and how to effectively teach the subject. In addition, IGES will inform ESSA participants about the latest Earth system science research and teaching practices through presentations at conferences, Web seminars, teleconferences and e-mail updates.<BR>
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Institutions can propose to become either full partners, funded at $40,000 over a 29-month period, or associate members. Differences between the two levels of participation are described in the request for proposals document on the ESSEA Web site. ESSEA teams that were previously funded under the NASA-sponsored program are eligible to apply for partner status.<BR>
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A notice of intent to propose, which is strongly recommended but not mandatory, is due by March 19, 2007. Proposals are due by April 18, 2007.<BR>
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Located in Arlington, Va., IGES was established in 1994 and is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization supported by public and private entities. IGES is a trusted leader in Earth and space science education, communication and outreach, and in fostering national and international cooperation in observing the Earth.<BR>
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For more information, including proposal instructions, technology requirements and to view the current ESSEA courses, please visit:<BR>
<a href="http://www.strategies.org/essea.">http://www.strategies.org/essea.</a><BR>
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CONTACT<BR>
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Theresa Schwerin<BR>
Associate Director, Education<BR>
Institute for Global Environmental Strategies<BR>
Email: theresa_schwerin@strategies.org<BR>
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