Pictures from 2006-2007 Exchange

History of Partnership

China/USA Comparison

 

Connecticut-Shandong Partnership

 

Xiuying Chen's Visit to Coventry 06-07

 

A delegation of twenty-two Shandong teachers from Connecticut's partner schools will arrive in Connecticut in September. The plan is for a ten-day homestay/internship with their host school to explore teaching methods. The following Shandong schools are scheduled to participate in the first of two delegations scheduled to arrive in the fall of 2006:

Qingdao No. 1 Middle School -- Farmington High School
Qingdao No. 58 Middle School -- Darien High School
Qingdao Zhicheng Middle School -- Coventry High School
Qingdao Art School -- Ledyard High School
Qingdao No. 9 Middle School -- Windsor High School
Jinan Licheng No. 2 Middle School -- New Milford High School
Zaozhuang No. 15 Middle School -- Troup Magnet Academy of Sciences, New Haven
Zibo No. 18 Middle School -- William Johnson Middle School, Colchester
Weifang Linqu Experimental Middle School -- E.O. Smith High School, Storrs
Weifang No. 1 Middle School -- Branford High School
Taian Experimental Middle School -- Timothy Edwards Middle School, South Windsor
Taian No. 1 Middle School -- Glastonbury High School
Taian No. 2 Middle School -- Daniel Hand High School, Madison
The Middle School Affiliated to Taishan University -- Mansfield Middle School
Linyi Yinan No. 2 Middle School -- Tyrell Middle School and Wolcott High School
Jinan No. 2 Middle School Affiliated to Shandong Normal University -- To be determined

High School of Jinan Steel Factory -- To be determined

Coventry will be hosting Xiuying Chen who is a senior teacher of English at the Qingdao Zhicheng Middle School in China. Xiuying will be visiting with us from September 20 through September 29.

 

         

 

History of the Connecticut-Shandong Partnership:

 

The idea for partnerships between Connecticut schools and schools in Shandong Province, People's Republic of China is an outgrowth of a trade and economic partnership formed between the Chinese province and our state in 1986.  Twenty years ago, then Governor William O'Neill and the Governor of Shandong Province signed a pact to form a business relationship. As a result of the agreement, the Connecticut China-Shandong Province Council, an organization involving community leaders, educational institutions and businesses in Connecticut, was created to foster friendship, trade and other relationships between the two regions. 

In 2002, the Connecticut State Department of Education received funding from the U.S. Department of Education to send a delegation of 17 teachers to conduct field study in China and Shandong Province.  The Shandong Provincial Commission on Education hosted the delegation.  Out of that experience the idea for establishing a relationship that would encourage collaborative programs, exchange and joint educational activities was formed.  Daniel W. Gregg, Social Studies Consultant, Connecticut State Department of Education, was appointed to facilitate educational exchanges.  In January 2003, the Connecticut State Department of Education signed a Memorandum of Understanding agreement with the Shandong Provincial Commission on Education, and from that the Sister School Exchange Project and many related educational exchanges were launched. 

 

Goals of the Teaching Methods Program:

1. To understand the United States and Connecticut education system;
2. To understand the research-based strategies that have the greatest affect on student achievement and when and how to apply them during instruction (Marazano, R.J., Classroom Instruction That Works, 2001);
3. To understand teacher factors that increase student achievement (instructional strategies; classroom behavior; curriculum design); and
4. To reflect on Connecticut classroom experiences and culturally adapt teaching methods observed to Chinese classroom settings.

 

 

Comparison Between Chinese and U.S. Education Systems