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The Ohio Board of Regents recently funded the Northeast Ohio Center of Excellence for Mathematics and Science Teacher Education (NEOCEx). The Center of Excellence is one of six such sites across Ohio. NEOCEx involved collaboration among faculty and administrators of the University of Akron, Kent State University, Cleveland State University, and Youngstown State University in conjunction with Cuyahoga Community College and school districts throughout the region. The primary goal of the NEOCEx is to improve teaching and learning of mathematics and science in schools and universities through collaboration among higher education institutions, school districts, professional development centers, and the Ohio Resource Center (ORC).

The national standards for mathematics and science stat that undergraduate courses for pre-service teachers must include knowledge-building experiences that engage prospective teachers in active learning. With this principal goal in mind, the objective of NEOCEx are to:

• Help adapt, redesign, and/or develop introductory undergraduate courses taken by students seeking to teach science and/or mathematics in the middle grades so that such course serve as a model for effective science and mathematics instruction
• Provide university instructors with resources and assistance to add inquiry-based learning opportunites to their courses to enhance students' concptual understanding.
• Coordinate professional development among the collaborating institutions and assist in developing resource materials and disseminating best practices to other Ohio educators.
• Develop and disseminate online resources on inquiry teaching and larning in mathematics and science (including presentaitons, content specific classroom assessment techniques, lesson plans, and topic modules) through the Ohio Resource Center for Science, Mathematics, and Readking (ORC).

To become involved in NEOCEx consider joining a campus team working in mathematics or on of the science disciplines, attending a NEOCEx sponsored seminar, or participating in a summer workshop/teaching institute. Alternately you may wish to have a NEOCEx representative make a presentation in your department, college, or university. Please contact the NEOCEx Director, Dr. William Donovan at the University of Akron (330-972-6064, wdonovan@uakron.edu) for further information.