This collection of articles discusses the realities of Professional Development Schools (PDS) from the perspectives of school teachers, college faculty, college administrators, and other educational administrators. The articles focus on the five dimensions of PDS work (institutionalization, equity, standards and quality, inquiry, and financing).…

This study evaluated a science professional development initiative developed by the Delaware State Department of Education, examining the nature of professional development activities, their effect on science classrooms, and their impact on teachers, students, and schools. The Science Van Project integrated technology and inquiry into Delaware's…

This collection of papers focuses on teachers' personal and professional development, showing what teachers' learning, hopes, desires, struggles, and instruction look and feel like from inside the lives of effective teachers and in their classrooms. Topics include the types of resources and experiences effective teachers use, how these resources…

This study is an extension of an on-going longitudinal study, the Girls Engagement With/In Science (GEIS) Project. The GEIS Project was designed to understand how girls who are poor, minority or both, engage in science. The two teachers who form the focus for this study are these girls' 7th and 8th grade teachers. Data for this interpretive…

This report summarizes evaluation results from AISD's Austin Collaborative for Mathematics Education (ACME) and campus support initiative during school year 2000-2001.

Students ranked 15 subjects separately by importance, usefulness, and interest. As expected, academic subjects were rated highly and agriculture was rated poorly. Students in experimental classes using the discovery approach rated agriculture significantly more highly, indicating that an experimental curriculum can change the image of school…

Presents an account of a week of learning and instruction from a high school physics course to provide a context for discussion of the role and demands of teacher inquiry. Argues coordination of student inquiry and traditional content is a matter of discerning and responding to students' particular strengths and needs. (Author/KB)

Describes an inquiry-based project on kinematics piloted at a rural middle school in 1996 by a Maine collaboration of university faculty, graduate students, and K-12 teachers. The group examines the new science standards, develops new curricula based on physics education research, helps middle-school teachers implement that curricula, and assesses…

The Standards for Teachers of Science address the preparation, provisional practice, continued practice, and support that teachers will need to ensure that students are prepared for life and to be lifelong learners. The background of educational reform, vision behind the Standards, goals for science teachers, and suggestions for sustaining…

Discusses 15 years of experiences and lessons learned teaching in multicultural settings in the United States, Puerto Rico, and 2 foreign nations. Argues that schooling should be based on a diversity model of education. Asserts that it is difference that engages student minds. (CFR)

Compares results of the Barth Shermis Social Studies Preference Scale given to groups of preservice teachers in five countries over several years. Reports that social studies has evolved through three patterns of teaching citizenship education: citizenship transmission, social science, and reflective inquiry. Concludes that teachers are confused…

Describes two activities for helping elementary and middle school students develop energy consciousness: (1) Energy Chains and (2) The Energy Tank. The Energy Tank is an activity that has students build and race a two-liter soda bottle to reinforce the basic laws of energy conservation. (PR)

The Health Science and Technology Academy (HSTA), a partnership between West Virginia University and primarily rural communities in West Virginia, provides after-school science clubs for financially disadvantaged and minority students and encourages their interests in science, technology, and health science careers. Science teachers participating…

Three studies examining the interrelationship of science, language, and cognitive strategies involved limited-English-speaking and mainstream fourth-grade students and culturally congruent teachers. Findings indicate that integrating science inquiry with literacy development required an explicit-to-inquiry continuum for promoting science inquiry,…

A challenge for urban systemic reform initiatives in science education has been to achieve local, state, and national standards for teaching and learning. We have collaborated with teachers in the Detroit Public School System to design project-based curriculum materials that contextualize the learning of science in meaningful real-world problems,…