Participants in the institute will focus on developing strategies, methods, and materials that will facilitate stronger student academic mastery of concepts such as rates of change, accumulations, and functions. The use of technology is integrated throughout the curriculum. Institute participants will be prepared to return to their schools and help other teachers learn to use these strategies, methods, and materials.

And it works! School districts such as Fleming County in Kentucky wholeheartedly believe in this approach. In fact, since their initial training when the institutes were first offered, they have devoted one day every other month for team collaboration and training updates. Gifted and Talented Coordinator Joy Gooding stresses the critical impact the vertical team training has had in their school system. In fact, one of her goals each year is to find funding for the teams' meetings. The nearly sixty participants from the institutes last year concur on the success of the Vertical Team training. They made such comments as "The collaboration with our peers is invaluable" and "The training provides me with a new perspective for instruction, affords practical ways to apply the instruction to my classes, and has given me the opportunity to share with colleagues."

Applications are available from The Center or you may download an application by clicking on this Application Form. (In order to download and view the application form, you will first need the Adobe Acrobat Viewer. If you do not already have it, you can download it for free here.)

On Tuesday, July 9, institute registration will be held from 8:00 a.m. to 9:00 a.m. CST with sessions meeting from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Workshop sessions will meet from 8:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Wednesday, July 9 and Thursday, July 10 and 8:30 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. on Friday, July 11. Time for team planning will be an integral part of each day's schedule. Teachers will bring texts and other curriculum materials as well as scope and sequence plans from their schools and districts. The Center for Gifted Studies will host a dinner for participants on Wednesday evening.

Send applications and requests for further information to:

The Center for Gifted Studies Western Kentucky University 1 Big Red Way Bowling Green, KY 42101-3576

Phone: 270.745.6323 Fax: 270.745.6279 Email: gifted@wku.edu. Web: http://www.wku.edu/gifted .

Who is the instructor? Patricia Walker is the lead consultant for Mathematics Vertical Teaming in the Southern Regional Office of The College Board. She is the co-author of both the Vertical Teams Cornerstones Manual and the Teachers' Guide for Advanced Placement Calculus. This Building Success trainer has also conducted several National Consultants' Training Workshops for Mathematics Vertical Teaming. With an Ed.S. from Georgia State and her MAT from Emory, she has taught on both the high school and middle school levels. Patricia has been a Reader for the AP Exam and currently serves as an AP Calculus Consultant for The College Board. This Presidential Award Nominee and STAR Teacher was selected as Teacher of the Year at the Temima High School for Girls in Atlanta, GA, where she currently teaches. "When I was recruited to work with Mathematics Vertical Teams, I saw the opportunity to enable more students to meet the challenge of reaching their academic potential and participate in advanced level mathematics classes. Much later, when I observed a seventh grade teacher and an AP Calculus teacher planning together the mathematics curriculum for both the middle and high school grades during a Vertical Teams Institue, I knew that vertical teams were what I had believed for years needed to exist. Vertical teaming provides the opportunity to create a seamless curriculum which eliminates unnecessary repetitions so that additional time can be spent on new and more challenging material. Team meetings allow colleagues to discuss important content issues and enable teachers to develop a fuller understanding of the curriculum's scope and sequence. In the words of one middle school teacher, 'Now that we have been meeting as a vertical team, I finally know where they're going with what I'm teaching.'" -- Patricia Walker

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