THE ST. LOUIS REGIONAL ENHANCEMENT
COLLABORATIVE FOR EXCELLENCE
IN THE PREPARATION OF TEACHERS
(RECEPT)

The St. Louis Regional Enhancement Collaborative for Excellence in the Preparation of Teachers (RECEPT) is a true collaborative effort of both intra-and inter-institutional cooperation involving five major teacher preparation institutions, two public and three private, and five large school districts, four urban and one suburban.

The purpose of the 5-year RECEPT project is to design, develop, implement, test, modify, and institutionalize a comprehensive, regional K-6 teacher preparation program to increase the effectiveness of mathematics and science instruction.

Exemplary practicing teachers, content experts and pedagogy specialists have cooperated and created new course offerings that integrate subject matter rather than compartmentalizing it and designed complementary parallel methods courses not found in traditional programs. The learning theory upon which the curriculum engineering and instructional strategies are based originates with the molding together of the propositions of Ausubel and Piaget into a neo-constructivistic approach. The course work is based on NCTM, NRC, NSTA and AAAS standards and guidelines.

The mechanical classroom manifestations of Ausubel's learning theory materialize in the form of concept map-based lesson designs as developed by Joseph Novak and others. Implementation of Piagetian learning theory into the classroom takes the form of the Karplus learning cycle. The philosophical bases of these strategies are amplified and extended to incorporate conceptualization of a learning spiral rather than a cycle and a historical-based natural sequencing theory.

The learning spiral symbolizes the continuity of informational bytes and their systematic stringing together, web style, for meaningful concept formation and continuous association, a four dimensional, dynamically expanding cognitive map. The historical-based natural sequencing theory proposes that informational bytes should be engineered and delivered in the same order in which they were originally discovered, disregarding artificial categorization by traditional academic disciplines. Together these concepts form the naturalistic learning theory and provide the theoretical underpinnings of the RECEPT program.

The components to be developed for preservice elementary teachers include: 9 semester hours of integrated science; 12 hours of mathematics; 6 hours of methodology courses dovetailed with the content courses; and 6 semesters of field experiences that systematically increase in complexity and responsibility, and are congruent with the students' acquisition of content and methodology expertise.

Field experiences will be designed as an integral part of the undergraduate program that will allow preservice teachers to apply their newly-acquired teaching skills as they progress through both the content and methodology courses. All aspects of the program will be field tested and evaluated both formatively and summatively according to accepted procedures.

During the five year period, 600 preservice teachers will experience the RECEPT program. Some 300 practitioners will guide students and be part of the teacher preparation faculty as well as learn new instructional strategies themselves and review their own background knowledge. During the fifth year the program will be institutionalized by the five teacher preparation institutions of higher learning that educate 98% of the elementary teachers in the St. Louis area.

In the third year of the grant the reform of the 7-12 pre-service teacher preparation curriculum will be initiated. New course work and program activities that are consistent with the NCTM, NRC, NSTA and AAAS guidelines will be developed.

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