MAINTAIN MOMENTUM

Develop mechanisms to make people aware of the efforts of others (website, newsletter, list serv)
Develop mechanisms to focus and coordinate efforts of many interested but busy stakeholders

Many dedicated, talented, and generous students, teachers, and administrators have energized the first ten years of the Epidemiology Education Movement. We hope this website continues to grows as a venue where ideas, progress, connections, and achievements can be shared and widely viewed.

Please consider the various ways to maintain the momentum of the Movement. The ideas below mirror the other four areas of the strategic Framework for action (see Movement Concept map):

EPIDEMIOLOGY CURRICULA

Create new curricula and adapt existing curricula for K-12

Form teacher/epidemiologist teams to develop curricula

Develop a cadre of epidemiology curriculum developers

Encourage epidemiologist/teacher teams to develop/adapt curricula

Encourage PH students to participate in curriculum development

PREPARE TEACHERS

Implement teacher training workshops in a variety of venues

• Three-five-day workshops
• One-two-day workshops
• Summer Programs for teachers
• Combination teacher/student workshops/classes
• University / School of Education Programs
• Museum Program

Implement demonstration projects in a variety of school and non-­‐school venues (more)

• Regular middle school course
• Regular high school course
• Units integrated into science classes
• Units integrated into health classes
• Units integrated into mathematics classes
• After-school programs
• Home schooling
• Competitions
• Museum programs
• Web-­‐based interactive programs
• Weekend/Summer programs
• University-­‐based programs
• Advanced Placement (AP) course
• Youth media

Integrate units into school classes

Infuse web-­‐based programs into classes

Support or create weekend or summer programs

Support or create university-based programs

Establish incentives for training experts in epidemiology and public health to participate in training (e.g., speaker’s bureau)

Provide incentives for teachers (e.g., continuing education credits)

Solicit support of schools of education

Establish minimum professional development standards for epidemiology teaching

Create a registry of professional development opportunities

Develop follow-up strategies after training

CREATE DEMAND

Infuse into educational structure

Obtain support of stakeholders (educators, epidemiologists, public health community, professional organizations, scientific journals, government)

Identify target groups and stakeholders

Promote epidemiology and public health subject areas: identify benefits; tie to education outcomes; impact at national, state, county, city, and local levels

• Governmental educational agencies / stakeholders
• Federal and state education administrators
• State and local school boards
• School administrators
• Teacher organizations at national, state, and local level
• PTA organizations and members
• Epidemiology and public health organizations
• Curriculum developers and textbook publishers

Potential Strategies / Activities

• Educational Standards
• Increase epidemiology content in National Standards (many standards already can be generally applied to epidemiology; there could also be more direct references to the science of public health)
• Increase epidemiology content in State (many standards already can be generally applied to epidemiology; there could also be more direct references to the science of public health)
• Document how various areas of epidemiology reinforces current curriculum standards (e.g., in problem-­‐solving); emphasize that alignment with standards is an important factor in attracting school administrator and teacher interest


• Textbooks
• Increase / insert epidemiology content in middle school textbooks
• Increase / insert epidemiology content in high school textbooks


• Testing
• Integrate epidemiology content into PSAT and SAT testing
• Integrate epidemiology content into grade school standardized tests (e.g., GEPA -­‐ Grade Eight Proficiency Assessment)
• Introduce epidemiology as an AP course and/or specialty exam


• Media / Outreach
• Obtain / prepare / disseminate materials about jobs / career paths
• Identify and impact newspaper / television / radio / magazine media -­‐ find champions (e.g. NPR, People Magazine, Sesame Street)
• Utilize College Board video
• Explore avenues in developing countries


• Professional Involvement / Support
• Increase involvement in appropriate committees in professional organizations such as the American College of Epidemiology (ACE), National Science Teachers Association (NSTA), and the American Public Health Association (APHA)
• Give presentations at the above organizations and other regional and local groups
• Continue to support and encourage epidemiologists to participate in school science competitions, local college lectures, etc.
• Hire epidemiologists to work in school

ASSESS SHORT AND LONG TERM GOALS

Perform assessments of short-­‐term outcomes (e.g., knowledge in epidemiology, problem-­‐solving skills)

Perform assessments of key long-­‐term metrics of success (e.g., time trends in science scores, science enrollment, careers)

Develop and validate instruments to measure impact of epidemiology curricula regarding interest, perceived value, self-­‐efficacy, and beliefs about science