The Highline School District has announced a $460,000 grant awarded to Cascade Middle School and the Evergreen campus to help teachers improve instruction in the STEM disciplines (science, technology, engineering and mathematics).

Here are the details from HSD:

Four Highline schools will be part of a project this school year aimed at improving instruction in science and math. The project will be led by the University of Washington and funded by a grant of $460,000 over two years from Washington STEM.

Washington STEM is a statewide nonprofit dedicated to improving education in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM). Three Renton schools are also part of the project.

Participating Highline schools are Cascade Middle School and the three small high schools on the Evergreen campus: Health Sciences and Human Services High School (HS3), Arts and Academics Academy (AAA), and Technology Engineering and Communications High School (TEC). Science teachers at those schools will be part of a professional development network promoting high quality teaching practices.

The model has shown promising gains in student achievement. “The University of Washington project… has helped rapidly transform low-performing schools into places where students achieve,” according to Washington STEM. The grant aims to expand the model and spread the ideas and practices around the state.

“We are happy to be working with the UW to further develop this promising model,” said Superintendent Susan Enfield. “This work will benefit Highline students in the short term and could boost achievement for students across the state in the longer term as it is adopted in other districts.”

UW Associate Professor Elham Kazemi, the project lead, said, “We are excited to work with a talented group of educators and leaders to create a strong network of schools where students experience success and joy in doing mathematics and science.”

The West Seattle Herald/White Center News has reached out to Professer Kazemi for more details on approaches to science and math instruction they plan to employ. We'll update when we hear back.