Students and Teachers Exploring the World Together!

Developing a Cadre of Science Mentors at the Elementary and Middle School Grades

by

Judy Sidileau

Introduction:

Purpose of the MSRP Grant: The initial purpose of the Rivier College: "Developing a Cadre of Science Mentors at the Elementary and Middle School Grades," was to introduce the phases of inquiry learning into the science classroom through teams of teacher mentor/mentees. The group was made possible by funding from the Math and Science Partnership Initiative Grant (MSRP) awarded by the NH Department of Education. The original program was ten (10) sessions in length and paired mentors and mentees from twelve (12) participating school districts. The first four (4) sessions, held during the Summer Institute, focused upon the content knowledge of heating and cooling, part of the NH Science Frameworks for the physical science energy domain. The mentoring program was also introduced during those initial sessions. There were also six (6) sessions in the fall and spring, centered about the life sciences and mentoring experiences.

Program Participants: Initially the group came together at Rivier College's Summer Institute in June 2008. The original sessions were centered about Making Science Mentors: A Ten (10) Session Guide For Middle Grades, developed by Zubrowski, Truen and Pasquale. Twenty-six (26) participants representing twelve (12) school districts across southern New Hampshire began in the program. The population ranged from teachers in their first year of teaching to teachers with more than 30 years of experience encompassing grade levels K-12. What the group had in common was that each of us not only taught science, but also wanted to be more effective in developing colleagues and students who would become enthusiastic, inquiring, lifelong science learners.

The goal was to develop a cadre of Teacher Leaders within New Hampshire school districts who would serve as resources and mentors to fellow science teachers across the elementary and middle grades. Each Teacher Leader would receive materials to provide a workshop for other colleagues in their district and would mentor a colleague in inquiry-based science teaching. Teacher Leaders would receive professional development in science mentoring. The project also provided opportunities for teachers in the middle grades to work alongside college level science faculty in the roles of Teachers-As-Science-Researchers. Participants received ongoing on-line content support from college faculty in science. Teachers received a stipend for their participation. Requirements for participation in the grant are listed below.

• A three day summer science institute with an emphasis on inquiry-based learning, conceptual understanding of scientific phenomenon, and use of science performance tasks as conceptual strategies for learning and teaching science.
• Professional development in which teachers used protocols to examine student work generated by their teaching (concrete artifacts/exemplars and classroom videotape) through the lenses of inquiry and conceptual understanding.
• Professional development to support teachers as science mentors:
• By providing Teacher Leaders to develop workshops for teachers.
• By mentoring school site colleagues in science.
• The use of on-line content support for science instruction/learning.
• Opportunities for teachers to work alongside College Science faculty in the roles of Teachers-as-Science-Researchers.

District Expectations:
Component 1: Development of Teacher-Leaders

• Identified four (4) teachers from the elementary and middle grades (two from each grade span) who would participate in the four (4) day Summer Science Institute-2008.
• Selected from this initial pool one teacher from the elementary grade levels (K-4) and one teacher from the middle grade levels (5-8) would participate in ongoing professional development to support their roles as Teacher-Leader.
• Districts were asked to provide release time, if needed, for the two Teacher-Leaders to attend a total of four (4) monthly meetings of the Institute Planning Team between January and May 2008.
• Allocated project funds provided substitute coverage for Teacher-Leaders to make a minimum of two (2) classroom visits to mentor a school site colleague in teaching science.

Component 2: Teacher-as-Science-Researcher

• Districts were asked to identify one teacher from the middle grades to participate in authentic scientific research with Rivier College faculty. This teacher was not required to participate in the Summer Institute.

Component 3: On-line Support in Science Content

• Promoted on-line content professional development throughout the district.

Teacher-Leader Expectations:

• Participated in the Summer Institute Planning Team (Jan-March 2008).
• Participated in the Summer Science Institute (June 2008).
• Participated in professional development to support development as a science mentor (Fall 2008).
• Provide one (1) in-service workshop for a minimum of five (5) teachers at a future date.