STUDENTS PARTNERING FOR UNDERGRADUATE RHETORIC SUCCESS

(SPURS)

 

Madison High School and the University of Texas at Austin’s Department of Rhetoric and Composition are partnering in an academic reading and writing program directed toward the top 15% of junior level English classes.  Our junior level English teacher is partnered directly with a UT instructor to develop and model the writing of the rhetorical analysis paper.  The UT instructor will visit our campus at least twice during the semester and  Madison students should visit the UT campus once.  This class is electronically connected to a UT freshman class in order for our students to learn how to analyze rhetoric and the process of writing a rhetorical analysis paper mirrors the UT curriculum.  The SPURS program will help close the gap in academic writing skill and increase rigor in the high school curriculum.  In addition our students will learn critical reading and thinking skills.  These essential skills will be beneficial on TAKS, SAT and AP test.   The SPURS program will give our students a better understanding of the writing process thereby enabling them to be more successful in college.

 

Learn more here: http://www.utexas.edu/vp/csr/ocr/SPURS/

 

 

 

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CHEM-BRIDGE

 

Chem-Bridge is a collaborative program between The University of Texas at Austin College of Natural Science, UT-Austin's Office of Community and School Relations, and participating high schools in Texas. The program allows high school students to earn three hours of college chemistry credit upon satisfactory completion of the course, while earning concurrent high school credit for an advanced science class that serves as an Advanced Measure under the Texas Education Agency Distinguished Achievement Program.  Fall 2006 starts the fourth year of the program and will serve over 400 students from 22 high schools in the Austin, Beaumont, Houston, Laredo, and San Antonio school districts. 

The primary objectives of Chem-Bridge are:

· to engage students in high-need learning communities in a rigorous science curriculum that will better prepare them for college-level science coursework;

· to deliver a range of professional development activities to improve the instructional ability of chemistry teachers in the partner schools through interactive curriculum design and collaboration with national experts in the field.

 

Learn more here:   http://www.utexas.edu/vp/csr/ocr/ChemBridge/

Special Programs—University of Texas at Austin