2025 Philadelphia Institute: Teaching Students to Evaluate Sources and Claims – June 25-28

Posted by Temple University on February 25, 2025

This 3.5-day institute for middle and high school teachers will explore and connect two types of curricular materials that deepen students’ understanding of how to evaluate socioscientific issues, such as the climate crisis, energy use, and food security, using instructional scaffolds called Lateral Reading and Model-Evidence Link Diagrams (LR-MEL).

We are looking for school-based pairs of teachers who have overlapping student populations to apply as a team. Our vision is to partner one science teacher (particularly in Earth or environmental sciences) with either a social studies or English language arts teacher so the same student population experiences both types of curricular materials. Solo applicants from any of the three content areas will also be considered.

There will be two pre-Institute webinars (Mondays, May 5 and May 19, both 7-8pm EDT) and a 3.5-day Institute (June 25-27 at Philadelphia Performing Arts Charter School, 1600 Vine Street, Philadelphia, plus a 1/2-day virtual meeting on June 28). Complete participation in the webinars and the Institute will result in a stipend of $900 per teacher. Up to two additional webinars will be offered during the 2025-2026 school year which will provide up to an additional $100 stipend.

Applications are due April 4, 2025; notification of selection decisions are expected no later than April 21. Questions can be directed to [email protected].

Applications that include teams of 1 science teacher AND 1 social studies OR ELA teacher will be given priority for the institute, but solo applications from any of these areas are also welcome.

Apply here.