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1
Introduction
I believe that scientists have a crucial role to play in precollege science educa-
tion reforms. But it is not easy to know how or where to begin.... The
scientists . . . can come from either industry or academia, but in either case they
must be well-informed and prepared in order to play an effective part.... The
problem we face is a huge one, and there will be no quick solutions. But I
believe that a properly organized group of scientists can be effective in cata-
lyzing meaningful and lasting changes in this badly neglected area. [Bruce
Alberts, 1991]
Stimulated by concern for the state of biology education nationally, the
National Research Council in 1987 appointed a committee of scientists, K-12
teachers, teacher educators, science publishers, and school administrators to ex-
amine the scope of biology education. That committee's 1990 report, Fulfilling
the Promise: Biology Education in the Nation's Schools, highlighted the need for
sustained educational reform, rather than idiosyncratic efforts. The centerpiece
of the report was the call for leadership from the scientific community "as both
guide and goad, both resource and participant" (p. 103) to promote sustained
reform in science education at all levels. The report offered strong recommenda-
tions for improving biology curricula, laboratory activities, tests and testing,
school administration, teacher preparation, licensing and certification of teach-
ers, and leadership in science-education reform. It also recommended that im-
provements be made in "inservice" education-the activities of teachers as they
continue to learn.
9
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PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT OF SCIENCE TEACHERS
CHARGE
The present Committee on Biology Teacher Inservice Programs was formed,
in the Board on Biology of the National Research Council's Commission on Life
Sciences, to pursue the above recommendation by examining a broad sample of
programs for the inservice training of biology teachers. The specific charge to
the committee was as follows:
· To identify existing inservice programs (templates) that can readily be
used elsewhere with minimal changes and to provide guidance on establishing
new programs.
· To identify essential aspects of inservice programs.
· To identify elements of inservice programs that address the needs of
different cultural and ethnic groups.
.
To recommend a desired level of teacher participation, including advice
about the level of necessary funding and means of increasing teacher participa
tion.
.
To examine ways to increase the involvement of the scientific-research
community and research universities in providing and supporting inservice pro-
grams, including ways of institutionalizing this involvement.
.
To provide recommendations about the design of inservice programs that
include both content and pedagogy and are conducted with the collaboration of
experienced science teachers, teacher educators, and scientists.
· To develop criteria for evaluation of inservice programs.
· To examine innovative ways to incorporate research on how students
learn biology into inservice programs.
· To review the emerging fields of biology with a view to what teachers
should know in coming years.)
THE COMMITTEE'S METHODS
In response to its charge, our committee examined a sample of almost 200
professional-development programs to determine how they work, to identify char-
acteristics of effective programs, and to recommend how the effective elements
can be replicated elsewhere. The programs were identified in several ways. We
requested information by advertising in a variety of journals and newsletters of
iSince this committee began its work in 1991, the American Association for the Advancement of
Science has further developed its Project 2061, and the National Research Council has developed
and published the National Science Education Standards, which provide the criteria and framework
for high-quality science programs and the policies necessary to support them. Our report does not
discuss biology content but defers to the other reports, which have been prepared by committees
dedicating all their effort to defining science content.
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INTRODUCTION
11
professional teacher and scientific organizations. The same request was sent
directly to the members of many organizations and to principal investigators of
programs sponsored by federal agencies and private foundations. It was also
posted on electronic bulletin boards. Some of our committee members had first-
hand experience with the programs examined.
Almost 200 programs responded to our requests for information. They in-
cluded a wide range of activities: short topical workshops, 1- to 3-week institutes
during the summer, lecture series during the academic year, and programs de-
signed to influence systemwide reform. And they were in a variety of locations:
university science departments, schools or colleges of education, community
colleges, museums and science and technology centers, nature preserves, profes-
sional societies, and industry. The programs that responded are listed and de-
scribed in Appendix A; not all programs responded, but the ones that did consti-
tute a sample of the types of programs active across the country.
A questionnaire (Appendix B) was sent to all programs that responded to our
initial request for information. It was designed to collect specific information
about each program and to help identify exemplary programs for further study. It
was not feasible to conduct a thorough review of all programs that responded to
the questionnaire. Instead, committee members reviewed the responses and se-
lected 15 programs for followup telephone calls and seven to visit. Programs
were selected for further review on the basis of the following characteristics:
each had been in existence for a number of years, each had a continuing evalua-
tion process, and each used the results of the evaluations to revise and improve
itself. Few programs met the criteria; most did not because they had not been in
operation long enough or did not have adequate evaluation programs. During a
visit to a selected program, committee members met with both program directors
and teachers who had participated in the program and collected copies of written
evaluations. In several instances, committee members talked directly with teach-
ers separately from program directors. Positive responses of the participating
teachers and their description of how the professional-development program had
improved their teaching and student learning were important in defining "effec-
tive" programs in the eyes of the committee.
The generalizations about professional-development programs found in this
report are derived from the information gathered from the program review and
from the committee members' professional experience. The committee could not
quantify the results of the program review for statistical analysis, because the
programs were diverse, because few programs had quantifiable evaluations,
because few programs had been in operation for more than a few years, and
because a program often changed as participants gained experience with it. None-
theless, there was sufficient consistency in the reports from the teachers, program
directors, and scientists about factors that made their programs effective for the
committee to be confident about its findings and the recommendations that
emerged from them.
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PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT OF SCIENCE TEACHERS
As we examined programs for secondary-school biology teachers, we also
learned about successful programs for elementary-school teachers, some of which
programs were structured differently from those for secondary-school teachers.
We also saw excellent programs for teachers in the other sciences whose struc-
tural components would work well in biology. And like the preceding Research
Council committee, we discovered that the "ecology of science education" con-
sists of complex relationships among all levels and components of the school
system
how failure of learning in high-school science has its origins in elementary
school, how texts, tests, teacher education, colleges and universities, and politi-
cal and economic assumptions all contribute to the status quo, and how difficult
it is to alter any one element alone and expect any meaningful change in the
entire system. There is of course a history, too how the nation's educational
system got into its present state, and why previous efforts at reform of science
education have been so ephemeral. [National Research Council, 1990, p. vii]
We interpreted the charge to the committee to be that we produce not another
study of science-education reform, but a report that would serve as a handbook-
a resource and practical guide for professional-development programs. This
report's first goal is to guide scientists who want to become involved in profes-
sional-development programs and to serve as a resource for scientists who are
already involved; it gives scientists practical information on how to participate
effectively in such programs and initiate constructive communication between
scientists and teachers. Its second goal is to help teachers and administrators,
both in schools and in universities, to develop, promote, and use effective profes-
sional-development programs. Its third goal is to describe the breadth and scope
of professional-development activities for science teachers; to show where more
information, attention, and funds are needed; and to recommend how to target
funding to innovative and sustainable programs that work.
In the "Issues in Professional Development" section of this chapter, we
present our understanding of the status, needs, opportunities, and problems in
science education and in the professional development of science teachers. Chap-
ter 2 offers detailed descriptions of characteristics that make programs effective.
Chapter 3 is a guide for scientists to get started and participate effectively in
professional-development programs. Brief vignettes of the daily activities of an
elementary-school, a middle-school, and a high-school teacher are included to
illustrate some of the realities of classroom teaching and to set the stage for
scientists who want to become involved in professional-development activities.
Chapter 4 is addressed to university administrators and scientists who try to
encourage more scientists to participate in professional development. Chapter 5
describes ways to initiate and promote effective interactions for professional
development between scientists and elementary- and secondary-school educa-
tors; it also highlights the need for administrative support for science-based pro
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INTRODUCTION
13
fessional-development programs for teachers. Chapter 6 discusses the differ-
ences between programs that focus on improving the professional lives of indi-
vidual teachers and systemic programs that are parts of a broader effort toward
reform of science education. Chapter 7 focuses on program evaluation. Chapter
8 is a vision of how professional-development activities could support science
education in the future.
In addition to the already-cited Appendixes A and B. this report contains
appendixes to assist those interested in learning about education-reform efforts
and about specific professional-development programs around the country. The
appendixes include a glossary of terms used in this report (Appendix C); an
annotated list of suggested readings for scientists to help them to learn more
about schools, teachers, students, and their needs (D); copies of guidelines related
to science education from two institutions of higher learning (E); a list of profes-
sional organizations actively involved in science education (F); a National Sci-
ence Teachers Association (NSTA) statement on teacher professionalism (G);
examples of laboratory exercises (H); and information about the funding of pro-
fessional-development programs (I).
INSERVICE AND PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT
Teaching involves life-long learning. The professional education of teachers
should be a seamless experience, beginning with college preparation, extending
through the first few years of teaching, and providing opportunities to extend
knowledge and skills throughout a career. Teachers with this professional expe-
rience will be equipped to meet the needs of all students. [National Research
Council, 1993, p. 3]
At the beginning of our deliberations and in accord with our charge, we used
the term inservice to describe the broad range of teacher involvement in out-of-
school professional-development activities. Other terms commonly used for
those activities are staff development and teacher enhancement. In the process of
examining programs in a variety of institutions across the country, we found that
we needed to think about not only isolated inservice activities, but the continuing
process of professional development of teachers. We use the term professional
development in this report to mean a long-term commitment on the part of scien-
tists and teachers. Improving professional development, not just inservice activi-
ties, is the goal of this report. For scientists, participating in professional-devel-
opment activities that are useful for teachers involves taking the time to learn
about teachers' educational backgrounds and teaching environment, recognizing
teachers' needs, helping to articulate clear programmatic goals and ways to
achieve them, and learning more about teaching and education. For teachers,
effective professional development means recognizing the importance of partici-
pating actively in professional-development activities, including the design of
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PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT OF SCIENCE TEACHERS
programs. We also see teacher professional development as an integral compo-
nent of science-education reform.2
We use the term teacher preparation (instead of preservice) to describe
prospective teachers' formal coursework at the undergraduate level. We use the
term teacher to refer to a K-12 classroom teacher, scientist to refer to someone
professionally trained in science who might also be engaged in scientific re-
search, research scientist to refer specifically to persons whose main occupation
is the practice of scientific research, and science educator to include anyone
involved in science education, including teachers, scientists, and school science
coordinators. The terms are not exclusive. We recognize that many people play
several of those roles concurrently scientists teach and teachers do research.
Those and other terms are included in the glossary in Appendix C.
NSTA has published a statement on teacher professionalism that points up
the importance of professional-development programs. It is excerpted in the
following box and presented in detail in Appendix G.
ISSUES IN PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT
Throughout its deliberations and review of programs, the committee repeat-
edly discussed its perceptions of the current state of science education. It identi-
fied key problems, needs, and opportunities for improving professional-develop-
ment programs. Our framework for thinking about these issues is presented
below.
Goals for Students
Preparation for Life
Students will face continual changes in society, technology, families, health,
and the workplace. Professional-development programs might vary in their im-
mediate goals but should have the common goal of enhancing teachers' abilities
to improve student learning so that students will be prepared to deal with those
challenges. If teachers are prepared to teach well-designed science courses, all
students might acquire the tools to think creatively; to gain an appreciation of the
2This report focuses on science and leaves considerations of such general topics as school structure
and student readiness for schooling to others. Because of its charge and expertise, the committee
concentrated on professional development of teachers with little attention to the specifics of teacher
preparation or science curriculum. The focus on professional development is complementary to the
work of other groups, including the National Research Council's National Committee on Science
Education Standards and Assessment, the American Association for the Advancement of Science's
Project 2061, the National Research Council's Committee on Undergraduate Science Education, and
Project Kaleidoscope.
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INTRODUCTION
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PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT OF SCIENCE TEACHERS
natural world; to appreciate the role of humans in the biosphere; to understand
fundamental scientific concepts; to become familiar with the processes of science
and scientific thinking; to collect, organize, synthesize, and interpret data; to
solve problems; to make decisions on the basis of analysis and interpretation of
information; and to know about science-related career choices. These goals are in
accord with those of the National Science Education Standards.
Opportunity for AII Students
The committee believes that all professional-development programs should
support teachers in maintaining high expectations for all students while consider-
ing the individuality of each student and the diversity among groups of students.
For the purposes of this report, student diversity refers to sex, language, ethnic,
racial, cultural, and economic differences.
The committee recognizes that some professional-development programs
address "diversity and equity in individual classrooms" (Little, 1993, p. 3), but it
believes that greater attention must be given to those issues by teachers, adminis-
trators, and scientists. Because the committee lacked adequate expertise to ad-
dress appropriately the important question of how diversity among teachers and
students affects classroom teaching and learning, we refer the reader to special
readings on the subject. The references are included in Appendix D, in a section
on "Diversity and Equity in Science Classrooms." In the words of Dennis
Tierney, professor of teacher education, San Jose State University,
both pre-service and in-service teacher education can benefit from increased
attention to the challenge of providing effective content instruction to a multi-
cultural student population. This will likely require that instruction in multi-
cultural issues be more closely tied to instruction in lesson planning so that
teacher education students understand that cultural pluralism is simply one of
the variables that must be addressed in every part of every lesson.... Clearly,
more research is needed to determine the full scope of this issue. [Tierney,
1988, p. 15]
Goals of Professional Development
The primary goal of professional-development programs is to improve teach-
ers' interest in and ability to teach science. Programs vary in their emphasis.
Some of the aims are
· To improve teaching skills (pedagogy).
· To increase teachers' knowledge about subject matter in science or to
update teachers' knowledge about current issues and practices in science, includ-
ing effective ways to teach particular subjects.
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INTRODUCTION
17
· To offer laboratory or field opportunities to participate in scientific re-
search so that teachers will understand more about the process of science.
· To build discipline-based scientific collaboration that provides K-12 sci-
ence teachers and scientists with opportunities to meet regularly for collegial
discussion about scientific ideas and materials.
· To assist teachers in learning about and implementing school- or curricu-
lum-reform efforts.
.
To prepare mentors to train other teachers in subject matter, teaching
strategies, or ways to adapt teaching strategies to the curriculum.
Many programs have more than one of those objectives. Specific descrip-
tions of various kinds of programs are found in Chapter 3.
Relationship Between Teacher Preparation and
Professional Development
The kind of professional development needed by teachers today depends not
only on their teaching assignment but also on the kind of science and science
teaching that they had as undergraduates. Teacher preparation in American col-
leges and universities has generally consisted of three elements: study of disci-
plines that teachers will teach (subject-matter preparation), study of teaching and
learning (pedagogy), and a brief classroom apprenticeship (student teaching).
Science Subject-Matter Preparation
Only 26 states require any science courses for persons preparing to be
elementary-school teachers, and only 29 require these persons to complete course-
work in both science and mathematics teaching methods (Blank and Dalkilic,
1992~. As noted by Raizen and Michelsohn (1994), "both quantity and quality
are lacking in the science-content and science-education components of teacher-
preparation programs for prospective elementary-school teachers." In contrast,
nearly 80% of secondary-school science teachers majored in a scientific disci-
pline; it varies from 58% in Alaska to 91% in Maryland (Blank and Gruebel,
1993~. As science majors, they took standard science classes with no particular
attention to whether they intended to teach. Many of their science courses pre-
sented science as a body of factual knowledge that was usually taught in didactic
lectures rather than in a spirit of inquiry. The need for improving those science
courses and suggestions for changes in college and university rewards for teach-
ing that will be necessary to induce improvement are discussed in Chapter 4.
Pedagogy
Preparation in educational theory and teaching strategies (pedagogy) varies
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PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT OF SCIENCE TEACHERS
from state to state. In most states it is still possible to major in elementary
education. Only six states now require elementary-school teachers to major in a
field other than education (Raizen and Michelsohn, 1994, citing Mastain, 1991~.
In most institutions a science-methods course is required for elementary-educa-
tion majors although it is not coordinated with science-content courses (Mechling,
Stedman, and Donnelan, 1982~. Some elementary-school teacher candidates are
taught science with teaching methods in a college of education. Elementary-
education teachers are prepared to teach other subjects as well, including meth-
ods, which are also useful for activity-based science teaching.
Secondary-school teachers usually have had a course in curriculum and in-
struction or science methods. They studied inquiry-based teaching but often had
little teaching experience to correlate with the theory. A single course in teaching
pedagogy that stresses hands-on inquiry and problem-solving is not enough for
most people to supplant their own experience in college lectures and demonstra-
tion laboratories. The high-school science curriculum resembles the biology,
chemistry, and physics taught in college. But elementary-school, middle-school,
and integrated high-school science combines concepts and activities quite differ-
ently from college offerings. Because few science courses are designed with
teacher candidates in mind, they usually do not provide effective models of
teaching strategies or concept development that can be used in teaching in K-12
teaching. All too often, undergraduate science majors have no research experi-
ence and so are unprepared to teach an open-ended inquiry activity or course.
Greater communication between teaching faculties in the sciences and teacher
preparation could result in more effective teaching and learning in both K-12 and
college science. Many scientists "discover" teaching methods and curriculum
materials in professional-development activities even though the knowledge of
the teaching methods and curriculum materials had been readily available else-
where on their own campuses.
Student Teaching
Student teaching or internship in a classroom setting usually occurs in the
final undergraduate year or during a fifth year of specialized teacher preparation.
It might be limited to one or two periods of teaching for one term or semester or
culminate in full-day teaching for several weeks. Few efforts assess the teaching
practices of mentor teachers with whom student teachers work. And few colleges
or universities have mechanisms for involving master teachers officially in stu-
dent teaching or assessing student teachers. There is little coordination of the
education and science curricula with the real-life situations that will be faced by
future elementary- or secondary-school science teachers. It is difficult to include
enough appropriate experience in a 4- or 5-year teacher-preparation program.
For that reason, several teacher-preparation programs continue to assist teachers
for a few years if they take positions near the university.
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INTRODUCTION
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Content and Process in Science Teaching
It has long been debated whether elementary- and secondary-school science
teaching should be mostly content-oriented or process-oriented. At present, much
of secondary-school science teaching consists of lecturing on science content, a
situation that is a direct reflection of how science is taught in most undergraduate
courses in colleges and universities. Lectures might be an efficient way to com-
municate with a large group of students, but lectures alone do not reveal the
excitement of the process of doing science.
It is here that scientists can perform a unique service by helping teachers to
experience the solution of scientific problems through research. By using intu-
ition and methods of approaching a problem, a scientist can both illustrate the
processes of science and introduce content. Such professional-development ac-
tivities could model, to the extent possible, the most appropriate instructional
methods for best teaching both science process and content. For content, the
National Science Education Standards are an excellent source. Teachers tend to
teach the way they were taught, and scientists who use inquiry-based teaching
will communicate the value of this method to their students.
The focus on inquiry-based learning is not new. Paul Hurd, professor of
science education, emeritus, at Stanford, has reviewed science-education reform
efforts over the last century and noted how similar are their recommendations for
inquiry-based science (see box). Thirty years ago, in reaction to overambitious
content-based curricula, inquiry-based approaches were developed. Inquiry-
based means teaching science in ways that emphasize the process of doing sci-
ence. In some inquiry-based curricula, content became almost irrelevant. That
goes too far: the content of science is indeed essential. But content is most easily
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PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT OF SCIENCE TEACHERS
understood if connected to process and to the student's own inquiry. The two
laboratory exercises shown in Appendix H illustrate the differences between a
traditional, teacher-directed laboratory exercise and a student-generated, inquiry-
based laboratory exercise. The former allows a student to follow directions,
collect data, and learn laboratory techniques, but it does little with analysis and
application of information. The latter allows the teacher to help students to
generate hypotheses and encourages the students to cooperate in designing ex-
periments to test their hypotheses and then, in interpreting the results, to decide
which hypotheses are most promising.
Other approaches to balance process and content in science teaching include
the science-technology-society (STS) approach, which was developed in the
1980s. Current problems and societal issues directed the content with emphasis
on science and technological processes that students could use in everyday life
(including decision-making skills and cost-benefit analysis) (Yager and Zehr,
1985~. Another approach, the "conceptual-change perspective," suggested that
the goal of science education is to help students to develop a meaningful, concep-
tual understanding of science and its ways of describing, predicting, explaining,
and controlling natural phenomena (Roth, 1989~. Proponents of the conceptual-
change perspective argued that science teaching should integrate conceptual
knowledge and science processes in ways that better reflect the richness and
complexity of science itself. These approaches have laid some of the ground-
work for the current renewed efforts in science-education reform.
Needs of Individual Teachers
Teachers' needs for professional development vary with their backgrounds,
school environment, motivation, experience, and resources. Teachers have the
complex task of integrating teaching methods and science content mandated by
state and local curricular frameworks for science. Often, the mandated content
and curricula are presented differently from the way they were taught in college;
and sometimes, they cross customary disciplinary lines. Here we address the
needs of individual teachers.
Teacher Isolation
Irrespective of educational or scientific background or level of experience,
science teachers in both elementary and secondary schools suffer from isolation.
They have no regular contact with the rest of the scientific community. They
often work in buildings with no peers who teach similar courses. Many teachers,
at all grade levels, work long hours with inadequate resources, insufficient funds
for laboratory materials, and large classes. One report estimates that, on the
basis of an average of five classes per day, high-school biology teachers (grades
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INTRODUCTION
21
9-10) are responsible for an average of 217 students and middle-school science
teachers (grades 7-8) 177 students (Blank and Gruebel, 1993~.
Proximity fosters the sharing of ideas and materials, but innovative and
successful teachers find ways to establish communication with kindred spirits,
either at their own school, with teachers in other schools, or even with teachers in
other parts of the country. Professional-development activities can provide im-
mediate and cost-effective opportunities for teachers to communicate with each
other both informally and formally about subject matter and teaching and learn-
ing techniques and can help to develop professional relationships and informa-
tion-sharing among teachers and scientists.
Increasing Teachers' Knowledge About Science
Many teachers try to stay current in science by reading scientific publica-
tions, but elementary- and secondary-school teachers are responsible for such
broad fields of science that they cannot hope to be at the cutting edge of any
discipline. Nor do they have to be. But they must be familiar enough with
current science to incorporate topics and applications that are of current interest
to the general public into the curriculum, especially laboratory investigations.
The fields of molecular biology and biotechnology, for example, are moving so
quickly that the information available to the general public exceeds what a biol-
ogy teacher learned in college just a few years ago.
Elementary-school teachers become certified with little or no undergraduate
preparation in science, and many do not teach science, often because of a lack of
confidence. Many middle- and high-school teachers are asked to teach courses
for which they are inadequately prepared. A teacher who majored in biology, for
example, whose undergraduate chemistry courses also certify him or her to teach
chemistry might need to take a refresher course when assigned to a chemistry
class. A general-biology teacher who is assigned to teach a second-year physiol-
ogy course might also want to upgrade his or her background in the more special-
ized field. Many middle-school teachers of life or physical science are now being
asked to teach integrated or general science and need additional work in the other
sciences.
Some teachers (and some scientists) hold misconceptions about science, and
some hold unscientific beliefs. For example, some believe pseudoscientific ex-
planations and misconceptions about evolution, and others equate scientific theo-
ries with guesses. It is often difficult to motivate those teachers to participate in
professional-development programs, because the programs introduce informa-
tion that challenges their unscientific beliefs. Unlearning and replacing miscon-
ception is more difficult and time-consuming than learning about something new
and can be a challenge for professional-development programs.
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PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT OF SCIENCE TEACHERS
Elementary-School and Secondary-School Science Teachers
Many argue that the needs of elementary-school and secondary-school sci-
ence teachers are fundamentally different because of their preparation and class-
room responsibilities. However, both kinds of teachers can improve their teach-
ing skills and their students' learning by engaging in professional-development
programs. In most elementary schools, the teacher is responsible for teaching all
subjects, including science. Because most elementary-school teachers have had
little or no preparation in the sciences, they do not consider themselves science
teachers. In some elementary schools, a "science specialist" is responsible for
teaching science to all classes. That reinforces the idea that science is a "special"
subject rather than a core subject, or that science is not accessible to the average
teacher. Most secondary-school teachers' undergraduate preparation included a
grounding in science content. However, many teachers at this level have not
experienced inquiry-based laboratories or individual research projects. Some
might have knowledge of this approach but have chosen not to use it, because of
lack of class time, preparatory time, and resources.
Beginning Teachers
Effective professional-development activities in the first few years of teach-
ing can help teachers to adapt their generic undergraduate preparation to concrete
teaching situations. Activities can help new teachers to develop effective teach-
ing strategies, supplement their knowledge of both content and pedagogy, and
link them with experienced teachers. Each activity can help to reduce the frustra-
tion and dropout rate of beginning teachers. As noted earlier, some teacher-
preparation programs include followup activities that extend through the first few
years of teaching. Often, however, teachers take positions far from the institu-
tions that prepared them and are left without this support.
Secondary-school science teachers might teach general science, biology,
chemistry, or physics. They might also teach other subjects and coach a sport
during each season. Beginning secondary-school teachers are most likely to
draw diverse subject-matter assignments and to have little control over their
schedules. They might teach several subjects each day, each requiring a different
class preparation, and have extracurricular duties, such as monitoring the halls,
cafeteria, or student activities. They might or might not have their own class-
rooms; many must cart materials from classroom to classroom every day.
Whether the elementary- or secondary-school teacher's undergraduate pro-
gram was stellar or mediocre, it was not adequate to prepare the beginning teacher
for all his or her duties during the first few years. For example, one of the most
difficult tasks for new teachers is to set up and sequence classroom activities in an
efficient manner. Preparation for class takes time time that teachers do not
have. In addition, teachers need to know a variety of techniques to teach students
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INTRODUCTION
23
with different abilities. Teachers often learn these and other skills through on-
thejob training. Many become overwhelmed by all the teaching and nonteach-
ing tasks that they must juggle and with which they are unprepared to deal and
drop out after a few years of teaching.
Experienced Teachers
In addition to learning the needs of individual new students each year, teach-
ers often master a repertoire of classroom-management strategies and school
politics. Like other professionals, experienced teachers need to stay up to date in
their subjects. They also need to learn new teaching techniques and practice
incorporating them into their classroom activities.
With the explosion of new scientific information, the veteran biology teacher,
for example, has had to incorporate new information about DNA and recombi-
nant-DNA techniques, accelerated extinction rates and endangered species, re-
productive technology for humans and other organisms, and the discovery of
much older fossils that has led to taxonomic reordering. The new information has
been added, often with little integration, to curricula and to science textbooks.
New information has also affected the development of teaching materials and
local or state initiatives directed at improving science education.
Some teachers watch educational television and read scientific periodicals
and professional journals. Others attend professional meetings and courses where
they learn new subject matter. Still others work with scientists and other educa-
tors to develop ways to incorporate new information into K-12 curricula. In
addition to learning new scientific information, teachers need to learn how to use
the information in inquiry-based activities that stress critical thinking by students.
Science Enthusiasts and Other Teachers
Teachers who are science enthusiasts participate actively in professional
development to increase their knowledge of science and to improve their teach-
ing. A large percentage of both enthusiasts and less-involved teachers, however,
do not engage in professional-development opportunities, because of other school
duties, family obligations, prohibitive cost, lack of time, lack of interest, or burn-
out. Of the nearly 47,000 high-school biology teachers and 46,500 middle-
school science teachers in the United States (Blank and Gruebel, 1993), only
about 10% belong to professional science teachers organizations. Most profes-
sional-development programs do not address the less-involved teachers, but these
teachers must be taken into account if efforts to improve science education are to
reach the majority of students.
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24
PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT OF SCIENCE TEACHERS
PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT AND
SCIENCE-EDUCATION REFORM
Science-education reform is not being pursued on the basis of an integrated
set of changes designed to enhance the learning of science by all students. Pro-
fessional development designed to promote reform would need to be more exten-
sive than traditional programs. Effective professional-development programs
can prepare teachers to participate in reform or empower them to become leaders
of reform. It takes time to adjust to the major changes in curricula and instruc-
tional materials called for by standards-based reform and to learn to use them
effectively. The changes called for by the major science-education reform ef-
forts most notably the National Research Council's National Science Education
Standards, AAAS's Project 2061 and its Benchmarks, and NSTA's Scope Se-
quence and Coordination Project require individual teachers to adopt new cur-
ricula and teaching strategies. In particular, standards-based reform requires
teachers to be involved in the changes that result in new curricula and instruc-
tional materials and to implement those changes. Teacher leaders can become
advocates of change and assist in the professional development of their col-
leagues. Although we do not consider curriculum development specifically in
this document, we acknowledge that participation in curriculum development,
implementation, and evaluation is in itself a rich professional-development expe-
rience for teachers.
INDIVIDUAL AND SYSTEMIC PROGRAMS
Most programs that we examined in our review of programs fit a particular
profile they were designed for and attended by teachers who were self-select-
ing. They are individual-based. A fundamentally different kind of program is
designed to affect a connected group of teachers in a school or school district.
The eventual goal of systemic reform is to extend exemplary teaching and learn-
ing to the entire educational system. Although there is no consensus on its
definition among educators, a common theme is that systemic reform efforts
must address all students, encompass all components of the educational system,
be understood and supported by people from all segments of the community, and
cascade through all levels of education and school governance (Kober, 1993~.
We use systemic in a sense that applies to smaller elements of the system such
as departments, individual schools, and school districts because professional-
development programs designed for related groups of teachers have common
elements irrespective of the size of the group. Examples are presented in Chapter
6.
Science education can be a starting point for systemic reform, and several
efforts around the nation are working toward that end. Professional-development
activities can be designed to help science teachers to participate in systemic
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INTRODUCTION
25
reform. If scientists choose to become involved in this kind of professional
development, they must have clear goals and understand how their efforts fit into
the larger context of school reform. Scientists must know about the needs of
teachers and students, be aware of the level of commitment required, and solicit
the support of both school and university administrators for systemic activities
within universities, schools, and school districts.
USING EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH
Scientists who want to become involved in K-12 education have much to
learn from the educational-research community. Research on teaching and learn-
ing has identified numerous techniques and strategies that influence how teachers
teach and how students learn, for example, the benefits of cooperative and col-
laborative learning, the importance of active learning, and the value of recogniz-
ing different learning styles. Scientists and most other university faculty are not
aware of this literature as it applies to their own college or university teaching and
not aware of its value to elementary- and secondary-school teachers and their
students. There are several reasons for that. Most scientists do not have the
inclination or training to be directly involved in educational research themselves,
nor are they motivated to read the available literature. They have difficulty in
assessing the quality and applicability of the research. There is also a widespread
misperception that "there is no good educational research out there anyway."
That misperception is particularly strong in experimental scientists who design
and interpret controlled experiments; they find it difficult to evaluate outcomes of
research that deal with the complexity of the real classroom.
Although we do not explore educational research in detail in this report, we
have compiled an annotated reading list in Appendix D that provides a starting
point and resource for scientists who want to become more informed about re-
search in science education.
Representative terms from entire chapter:
science teachers
