The Alabama Regional LASER Site serves eighteen school districts representing about 20% of the population of the students in the state and varying in character from rural to suburban to small city. AL LASER is headquartered at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, with partners throughout the state dedicated to implementing, supporting, and sustaining science education reform in Alabama.

Within the statewide structure for reform, AL LASER targets school systems, providing the foundation for top-down support for the changes required to comprehensively implement inquiry-based science in elementary and middle school classrooms and bottom-up support of well-prepared, enthusiastic teachers.

AL LASER partners with diverse organizations to implement reform throughout Alabama, incuding:

• The Hands-on Activity Science Program (HASP). HASP is a collaborative effort of nine school districts in northern Alabama and the University of Alabama in Huntsville. HASP has been supported by Eisenhower funds, grants from the Marshall Space Flight Center, grants from the Alabama Space Grant Consortium, and the school districts it serves.
• The Alabama Hands-on activity Science Program (ALAHASP). ALAHASP is a collaborative effort of 30 school districts throughout Alabama an the University of Alabama at Birmingham. ALAHASP has been supported by Eisenhower funds, grants from the Marshall Space Flight Center, grants from the Alabama Space Grant Consortium, and the school districts it serves.
• The Alabama Math, Science, and Technology Initiative (AMSTI). The State Department of Education's reform initiative provides teachers with exemplary materials and high-quality professional development in inquiry-centered science and math curricula. AL LASER provides leadership development and strategic planning to lay the groundwork for districts before AMSTI is implemented in those districts.
• The Gulf Coast Exploreum Science Center. The Exploreum in an informal science center with a strong outreach effort that supports 4 school districts in southern Alabama with strategic planning guidance, materials, and professional development for reform. Exploreum activities are funded through the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, local corporate partners and foundations, and the school districts it serves.

For additional information about the Alabama Regional LASER Site and its programs and activities please contact:

Lee Meadows
University of Alabama at Birmingham
Associate Professor, Dept. of Curriculum and Instruction
901 South 13th Street
Education Building, Room 119
Birmingham, Alabama 35294-1250
Email Address: [email protected]

Regional Site Link
http://www.uab.edu/laser