The document abstracted below answers two critical questions regarding the new approach to teaching: What does the research show about effective science teaching? What kinds of professional development opportunities exist for science teachers?
Office of Policy and Planning. (1993). Improving the Teaching of Science: Staff Development Approaches. Resource Document, Washington, DC. (ED 360-162)
Abstract: Science educators and the communities they serve have made the improvement of student achievement a high priority, and they have identified more effective teaching as part of the solution to this problem. This document answers the following two questions: What does the research show about effective science teaching? and What kinds of professional development opportunities exist for science teachers? Eight collaboration ventures incorporating one or more of the principles of effective professional development are described in this document; in each case the name and address of a contact person is supplied. These collaborations are: 1. Teachers Academy for Math and Science; the Orr School Science Connection, Chicago, Illinois; 2. Dayton Public Schools and the University of Dayton, Dayton, Ohio; 3. Delta Teacher's Academy, Lower Mississippi Delta Region; 4. Juniata College and the Central Pennsylvania Association of Chemistry Teachers, Huntington, Pennsylvania; 5. Scope, Sequence, and Coordination Project (SS&C) Houston, Texas; 6. Tri-State Education Initiative, Iuka, Mississippi; 7. Jefferson County Public Schools, Louisville, Kentucky; and 8. Science for Early Education Development, Caltech Pre-college Science Initiative, California Institute of Technology and Pasadena Unified School District, Pasadena, CA.