Many elementary school teachers have little background
in science, and scant exposure to scientific habits of
mind. Helping teachers develop new ways of teaching and
thinking, as well as knowledge and skills in key science
content areas, is a major challenge in producing systemic reform.
Two-tier Approach. ESEP/Atlanta is training its
1,700 teachers in a two-tier approach in which an upper
tier of lead or "SKIL" teachers is largely
responsible for the training and subsequent support of
the remaining teachers.
The Upper Tier. As the modules are about to be
introduced into each grade, 10-15 teachers from that
grade are selected competitively to become lead teachers
(the first 24 teachers were selected in 1996 from 65
applications). The successful applicants are trained at a
summer Science Knowledge Inquiry Leadership (SKIL)
Institute operated by ESEP for 13 days. There, they learn
about hands-on, inquiry-centered, constructivist teaching
and learning; spend about 30% of their time working with
the modules for their grade level, and spend about eight
hours on questions of assessment. Their training
experience is designed to model the training they will
subsequently give to other classroom teachers. At the end
of this training, they are called SKIL teachers.
Regular Teachers. The training of regular
classroom teachers on each of the three modules begins
with a two-day workshop for 20-25 teachers, taught by an
ESEP staff member and one or two SKIL teachers. The
succession of workshops not only provides intensive
training to the regular teachers but also provides
additional training for the SKIL teachers, as, with each
succeeding workshop, the role of the ESEP staff
diminishes and that of the SKIL teachers increases.
Soon after the workshop, the regular teachers begin
teaching a module in their classrooms. Five weeks into
the module, the teachers either attend another half-day
session for debriefing (to talk about what has worked and
not worked and to learn more about inquiry approaches) or
they are visited in their classrooms by an ESEP staff
person or SKIL teacher.
Long-term Professional Development. It is well
recognized that the education or "professional
development" of teachers never ends. In terms of
the inquiry-based, hands-on approach to science
education, teachers first become competent in the
mechanical use of a module. But much more is required to
become a creative participant in the entire learning
process with a deep understanding of both the science
content and scientific habits of mind that children
should be acquiring.
ESEP/Atlanta is only beginning to address the
long-term professional development of teachers. The
major effort at present is to expand the APS capacity for
high-quality professional development in science by
training a cadre of lead teachers through the SKIL
Institutes and by creating a new Teacher-in-Residence
program. In addition, it is thought that the professional
development provided during the school year to classroom
teachers as well as workshops for administrators increase
the likelihood of lasting reform.
