Kauai Community College (University of Hawaii, Department of Information and Computer Sciences)

Faculty and librarians at the University of Hawaii (UHM) will design, implement, and assess a team-based model of professional development for high school librarians and teachers collaborating to help high school students construct rigorous, inquiry-focused, capstone research projects. The UHM team will cooperate with the Hawaii Department of Education and the Hawaii P-20 Partnerships for Education to address the “expectation gaps” between the standards students must meet to earn a high school diploma and the knowledge and skills they need to be successful in their post-high school pursuits. The gaps identified include many 21st century skills such as critical thinking, problem solving, interpreting information, and analytic reasoning. The project will produce a training guide that can be used to create similar professional development programs, including training agendas, instructional materials, and recommended resources. The end goal of this three-year initiative is to produce a replicable model of professional development that may be used in other training contexts.