Virginia M Oberholzer vandergon
Norman E Herr
Brian J Foley
Matthew A d'Alessio
Li Ye
San Fernando Valley Science Project NCLB 12
Project Type:
Project
Project Sponsors:
- UC Regents
Project Award:
- $730,715
Project Timeline:
2015-07-01 – 2016-06-30
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Project Team:
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California science education has entered into exciting times with the roll out of Common Core State Standards (CCSS) and Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS). The successful implementation of these new curricular standards, as well as new pedagogies, and other reforms depends largely on the professional development (PD) of educators. Unfortunately, in-service teacher training or professional development does not always achieve the desired changes in teacher practice. Based on 15 years of providing PD through California Science Project (CSP) and No Child Left Behind (NCLB), we have explored using clinical teaching experiences embedded within the PD that help overcome that challenge. Although clinical teaching is a standard practice in the preparation of pre-service science teachers (student teaching), similar clinical methods rarely appear in PD used to train experienced teachers. We find that the clinical teaching helps focus teachers on the activities and helps them develop confidence in their ability to use new techniques and tools. The focus of our PD continues to be the pedagogy of Computer Supported Collaborative Science (CSCS, Foley & Reveles, 2014). CSCS is a collection of techniques and tools that teachers can use to create a more authentic science experience in the classroom. It relies on the presence of technology in the classroom and internet connections which are not always available in the classroom. This has limited the implementation in some schools, but increasingly schools are seeing the value in these tools and the technology infrastructure is continually improving throughout the district.