Science for Every Elementary School Child: The Ball State University/Ft. Wayne Plan

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This Leadership Activities project will increase the science and the teaching competence of 80 public and private school teachers of grades K-5 in the Fort Wayne area. The project's principal goals include developing and assessing a model for increasing the quality and quantity of science taught by all regular elementary school teachers within a school district. The teacher education will occur within an investigative context; the teachers will receive support in consultation while they incorporate investigative science activities in their own classrooms; subsequently the lead teachers will work with the other teachers within their buildings and reach into all classrooms in the 36 elementary schools in the Fort Wayne community school system and in the Lutheran private school system. A team of 2 excellent teachers, one from grades K-3 and one from grades 4-5, will serve as catalysts for the improvement of science teaching within each school. The project is based upon a needs assessment, pilot study, and recommendations from the science education literature. The model includes significant cost sharing and partnerships with the cooperating school district, the university, and local industry. The leadership team includes scientists, science educators, and school administrators. The model includes the development and support of plans and programs designed to sustain the results of this project well beyond the period of funding from NSF. Plans are also underway for thorough documentation and the dissemination of results. The project includes summer activities involving academic work in science and in curriculum development and a series of activities throughout the academic year that build upon these summer activities. The model also includes special workshops conducted for administrators working with the teachers in their schools.