Madison Metropolitan School District Superintendent Art Rainwater has informed the Board of Education that he will retire at the end of next school year — June 30, 2008.

View these announcements from the district and local news:

MMSD Press Release – January 8, 2007

Channel 3 News Article and Video

These videos require

On November 10, 2006, the Interdisciplinary Training Program in Education (ITP) at the Wisconsin Center for Education Research, University of Wisconsin-Madison, sponsored a panel discussion entitled, “Who Needs Education Research? Perspectives from the ‘Consumer’ Side.” The participants explored the practical value of education research for school districts. Specifically they addressed the usefulness and practical barriers to research as well as the importance of establishing productive relationships with researchers. The individual panel video portions include the introduction by Adam Gamoran and panel speakers Norma Baker, Lisa Wachtel, and Steve Kailin:

One major component of SCALE’s work is the development of Immersion Units and the accompanying professional development for teachers. The units are a coherent series of lessons designed to guide students in developing deep conceptual understanding that is aligned with the standards and key concepts in science. Further, Immersion Units are intended to build a learning culture in the classroom and sustain students' enthusiasm while they learn rigorous science content.

In the Los Angeles basin, SCALE formed a strategic partnership with the California State University Dominguez Hills (CSUDH) through the Quality Educator Development (QED) project and the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) to develop this vision. These videos are a record of that ongoing collaborative development process, professional development for teachers, and implementation of science immersion units in the classroom.