Exemplary Science: Best Practices In Professional Development

This collection of 16 essays is ideal for staff development providers (university faculty, district supervisors, lead teachers, and principals) as well as preservice science methods instructors. Each essay describes a specific program designed to train current or future teachers to carry out the constructivist, inquiry-based approach of the Standards. These professional development programs are in universities and school districts around the country—from Florida to Alaska, in rural and urban areas, and in contexts ranging from summer institutes to on-site support programs. The essays in this volume range from “Filling the Void in the Professional Development Continuum: Assisting Beginning Secondary Science Teachers” to “Emphasizing Inquiry, Collaboration, and Leadership in K–12 Professional Development” to “Hey! What’re Ya Thinkin’? Developing Teachers as Reflective Practitioners.” In addition to describing how the program works, each essay also provides evidence of effectiveness—how teachers grow more confident using inquiry approaches, in integrating technology into the classrooms, collaborating with their colleagues and local resource persons, and developing as science education leaders in their schools and districts.