 |
|
|
|
Project description. The "Building Bridges to the Future" project
seeks to bring about systemic change in the teaching of science in 40
elementary schools in 14 mostly small and rural school districts in
northeastern Indiana. A major component of the strategy being tested in
this project is development of a core of teachers in each school who are
well versed in elementary school concepts, competent in an
inquiry-centered approach to science teaching, prepared to teach other
teachers, and able to provide leadership in their schools and districts in
concert with administrators.
To this end we began work in the summer of 1995 with Cadre A,
consisting of a teacher in grades K-3 and an upper elementary grade
teacher from each school. The three-week summer institutes, separate
for primary and intermediate teachers, organized instruction around
broad concepts, identified from Benchmarks and the National Science
Education Standards, with teachers exploring the concepts in-depth
through lessons from exemplary modules such as those produced by
STC, Insights, and FOSS. During the 1995-96 academic year, teachers
met once a month for classes, practiced teaching inquiry-centered
science in their classrooms, were visited twice by project staff, planned
and presented a "make-it, take-it" session at the annual conference of
the Hoosier Association of Science Teachers, and documented progress
in a portfolio.
In the second three-week summer institute, in 1996, Cadre A
teachers explored additional science concepts and began to focus on
leadership skills with the preparation of hands-on workshops which they
presented at the state science convention the following winter and to
their school staff. The academic year of 1996-97 followed a pattern
similar to the first year, but leadership responsibilities grew with the
identification and mentoring by each Cadre A teacher of a Science
Associate, another teacher from the school who also attended academic
year classes. In the summer of 1997, the two-week institute included
more work on concepts, but also preparation for teachers to participate
during 1997-98 in leadership activities such as those associated with the
every sixth-year, state-mandated textbook selection process, and
participation on a leadership team within each school which is charged
with putting a school plan for science improvement into place. An
advanced leadership institute of one week in the summer of 1998 will
prepare about half of the Cadre A teachers for additional leadership
tasks.
In the summer of 1997, a second cycle of teacher enhancement
began. Cadre B experiences will be patterned after those of Cadre A,
with the new set of teachers receiving three years of in-depth
instruction, working with additional Science Associates, exercising
leadership within the schools, and providing a critical mass for sustaining
improvements within the schools.
|
|
