Goals and Objectives

What students know is intimately connected to how they are taught. How students are taught reflects teacher understanding of the subject matters they teach and how students learn. The overarching goal and objective of proposed activities is to improve student understanding of physical science concepts by providing teachers with intensive and sustained professional development that emphasizes content knowledge and active learning and involves thoughtful discussion of student learning of specific content in a specific setting.

The project can be broken down into discrete goals all of which contribute to improved student learning in science and which result from the needs assessments cited above.

1. To improve teacher knowledge and understanding of physical science concepts, especially those identified by the physical science strand of the revised NH Science Frameworks.

2. To improve teacher knowledge of the pedagogy needed to develop student understanding of the physical science concepts identified by the Grade Level Learning Expectations of the New Hampshire Science Frameworks.

3. To promote teacher understanding of the role of children’s ideas in science, how children develop scientific understanding, and the critical role of ongoing assessment in learning and teaching in science.

4. To establish a supportive and collegial professional development culture focused on teaching and learning in science, which includes the implementation of a Science Teacher Network and collaborative.

5. To establish an effective partnership and collaboration around teaching and learning in Science between Rivier College, an institution involved in science teacher preparation, and local elementary and secondary schools.

To help teachers implement the revised New Hampshire science frameworks and prepare for this new assessment in science we propose the following professional development activities: (1) a three-day Summer Science Institute; (2) a year-long series of monthly on-site professional development activities designed by and for classroom science teachers; (3) the development of a Science Teacher Network within and across school districts; (4) access to on-line course work in physical science (5) access to resources for science teaching. Each component is described below.

The proposal reflects our belief that moving to the new emphasis on deep understanding of key scientific concepts requires a shift in teaching practice. Such a shift in science teaching requires that teachers (a) have the requisite subject content knowledge, (b) understand the nature and components of scientific inquiry, (c) have meaningful experiences in science in which they are immersed in scientific inquiry experiences, and (c) understand the role of students’ ideas in science and the use of embedded assessments to elicit, support and follow developments in student thinking and understanding.

Each goal and objective along with its project component and possible assessments are found below.

To improve teacher knowledge and understanding of physical science concepts, especially those identified by the physical science strand of the revised NH Science Frameworks.
Goal / Objective	Project Component	Possible Assessments
A. To develop teacher content knowledge in physical science through inquiry pedagogy, embedded assessment, direct instruction (including on-line course work), and outside reading/homework. B. Content instruction will focus on the first three strands of the revised New Hampshire Science frameworks in physical science: 1. All living and nonliving things are composed of matter having characteristic properties that distinguish one substance from another (independent of size/amount of substance). 2. Energy is necessary for change to occur in matter. Energy can be stored, transferred and transformed, but cannot be destroyed. 3. The motion of an object is affected by force.	1. On-Line Coursework in Physical Science Content based readings Problem Sets Modeling 2. Summer Science Institute utilizing exemplary instructional materials Content based readings Modeling Data Analysis Experimentation 3. Monthly Meetings Examination of student work as evidence of student learning Viewing of classroom video tapes of science learning /teaching SharePoint Dilemmas of Practice	· Pre- and Post- Content-based assessment of Teacher/Participant knowledge of physical science. · Homework Assignments · Content based discussion · Predictions to scenarios posed · Ability to design experiments to answer questions posed. · Ability to recognize criteria to delineate and define the range of student understanding
To improve teacher knowledge of the pedagogy needed to develop student understanding of the physical science concepts identified by the Grade Level Learning Expectations of the New Hampshire Science Frameworks.
Goal / Objective	Project Component	Possible Assessments
Prepare teachers who have a demonstrated ability to: A. To develop student understanding of physical science content through inquiry pedagogy. B. To engage students as researchers who are able to use observations and materials to design and implement experiments that investigate physical phenomena. C. To engage students in whole class discussions around physical science concepts.	1. Summer Science Institute utilizing exemplary instructional materials 2. Monthly Meetings Sessions will provide opportunities for teachers to explore and become conversant with exemplary instructional materials and the appropriate pedagogy for using these materials in classrooms	Pre- and Post- assessment of instructional practice with respect to physical science content. Development of lesson plans aligned with the GLE and the NH Standards and utilize active learning with embedded assessment questions to follow student thinking. Videotapes and student artifacts generated in the classrooms of participating teachers will be gathered and analyzed for indicators of student learning.
To promote teacher understanding of the role of children’s ideas in science, how children develop scientific understanding, and the critical role of ongoing assessment in learning and teaching in science.
Goal / Objective	Project Component	Possible Assessments
Prepare teachers who have a demonstrated the ability to: A. understand the role of children’s ideas in science learning use embedded assessment to support student learning (why questions, prediction questions, free writes, focused writing, drawings, etc.); B. recognize and identify indicators of inquiry and learning in a science classroom; and C. develop questions designed to (a) assess students’ conceptual understanding of central ideas in physical science, (b) assess if students have the necessary knowledge necessary to formulate the central idea, and (c) assess students’ abilities to design and perform scientific inquiries.	o Private Universe Project o Selected readings involving research on the nature of children’s ideas about natural phenomena (e.g. Driver, et al: Making Sense of Secondary Science; Children’s Ideas in Science; Osborne and Freyberg: Learning in Science)	Pre- and Post- assessment of teacher awareness of children’s ideas about physical phenomenon. Analysis of teacher created lesson plans. Pre- and Post- assessment of the teacher’s use of embedded assessment as a means to support student learning.

To establish a supportive and collegial professional development culture focused on teaching and learning in science, which includes the implementation of a Science Teacher Network and collaborative.
Goal / Objective	Project Component	Possible Assessments
A. To bring both novice and experienced teachers together with college faculty in a professional setting to improve practice through observation, low-risk experimentation, reflection and coaching. B. To establish a supportive and collegial professional development culture both within and across school districts C. To create a “professional community” in which teachers’ expertise and experiences are respected and where they can be active participants in professional discourse about improving practice. D. To implement a Science Teacher Network to support teachers within and across school districts.	Monthly Meeting support peer interaction among science within and across districts · teachers select and discuss topics in science learning and teaching · collaborative assessment of student work in science · collaborative assessment of videotapes and case studies involving episodes of science teaching and learning SharePoint	Number of meetings-count Number of contacts-count Use of SharePoint Teacher Reflections
To establish an effective partnership and collaboration around teaching and learning in Science between Rivier College, an institution involved in science teacher preparation, and local elementary and secondary schools.
Goal / Objective	Project Component	Possible Assessments
A. To explore how schools and institutions of higher education might collaborate to improve teaching and learning in science B. To explore how institutions of higher education might contribute to and participate in career-long learning of science teachers.	School and IHE faculty collaborate on the design, facilitation and implementation of all proposed activities. A small cadre of teachers will be identified to assume leadership roles during the project and in future activities	Teacher Feedback on possible roles for IHE faculty in supporting career long teacher growth and development. Dates and times of planning meetings and those who attend.