In response to the need to develop leaders to guide the implementation of the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS), the Carnegie Corporation of New York provided funding to WestEd to develop a framework that defines the leadership knowledge and actions needed to effectively implement the NGSS. The development of the framework entailed…

In this paper, the author aims to share some of the efforts, successes, challenges and lessons learned over approximately two decades of professional development projects both large and small. In retrospect the author contends that efforts toward change, improvement and advancement were always bumping against culture. So, this address attempts to…

In the last decade, the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan has made a substantial commitment to improving the quality of its public education system. The main vehicle for this work has been the Education Reform for Knowledge Economy (ERfKE) initiative. To date, key investments have been made in early childhood education, school infrastructure,…

High school students in the United States have been taking more challenging courses in recent years, but academic achievement has been stagnant. At the heart of the matter is the quality of curriculum, instruction, and assessment. Some courses tend to be more challenging in name than in practice. High schools also have a history of autonomy that…

In 2003, the Mathematics and Science Unit of the South Carolina Department of Education developed the Mathematics and Science Coaching Initiative. The model--one coach, one school, one content area--requires participating schools to commit to a three-year partnership. The three-year commitment ensures sufficient time for coaching to become an…

This document contains the cumulative report of the WestEd Eisenhower Regional Consortium for Science and Mathematics Education (WERC) for the fiscal years 1996-2000. WERC regional and national activities involve collaborations with other Eisenhower regional consortia and the Eisenhower National Clearinghouse (ENC). The WERC region includes four…

The application of history of science to inform the design/curriculum, implementation/instruction and learning/assessment of science education is a process full of choices. What history and whose history to select and for what purposes ultimately defines the models of curriculum, instruction and assessment employed. Three organizational approaches…

This guide is part of a series of curriculum guides for the middle grades that use a special framework to examine and implement standards-based curricula. In this guide, for developing science curricula for the middle grades, a set of critical questions is posed for curriculum decision making that corresponds to a framework of three components of…

This collection of essays describes practices in environmental education and points to possibilities in the field. The intention is to appraise selected practices in order to prepare the ground for a consideration of alternative images of environmental education that may shape future action. The following articles are included: (1) "A…

Good elementary school science engages children in wonder and the study of the natural world. It makes links to technology and gives children the opportunity to explore how things work firsthand through activities and experiences with a wide variety of materials. This book was written for decision makers. While some of these decision makers hold…

This science framework is about connections. Each section draws on and contributes to those that precede and follow it. The framework opens with a discussion of the nature of science and the need for science educators to model the attributes of scientific investigation including objectivity, testability, and consistency. The framework also calls…

This article examines the impact of the "new professionalism" on the culture of professional development of science teachers. In the era of "new professionalism" there is an expectation that teachers will engage in professional development, but rather than encouraging an intrinsic desire to learn as professionals, it promotes…

Title II of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, reauthorized under the Hawkins Stafford Amendments, provides federal funds for the improvement of mathematics and science teaching at all levels of elementary and secondary education, targeting improvement of teacher skills, instructional quality, and student access to instruction. In 1993-94…

In the 1990s, the nation's educational focus turned to troubled schools in the nation's poorest cities. Under the leadership of Luther Williams, then Assistant Director of the National Science Foundation (NSF), the Urban Systemic Initiative was created to improve the teaching and learning of science and mathematics. Recognizing that high-needs…

Schools are the only universally accessible institutions where there are enough adults to provide continuous support for children's growth, development, and success in life. Using the process pioneered by renowned child psychiatrist Dr. James P. Comer and his colleagues at the Yale School Development Program (SDP), this unique field guide offers…