LEADING BY EXAMPLE: DEVELOPING INQUIRY LEADERS FOR SCHOOLS THROUGH EXPERIENCES OF IN-DEPTH INQUIRY

Since the publication of the National Science Education Standards in 1996, schools have made improvements in the amount of inquiry used and the amount of earth science in the curriculum, but much remains to be done. The Da Vinci Teacher Leader Institute, a three-year professional development program created by a partnership of school districts, higher education institutions, and the Da Vinci Science Center, has been successful in increasing both the content knowledge (including earth science concepts) and inquiry practice of elementary teachers.

In 2006-07, the Institute focused on earth systems science. Sixty-five elementary teachers, including many teachers from urban, high-poverty, schools participated in the Institute as Da Vinci Fellows. The Institute began with a two-week intensive workshop on themes in earth system science including plate tectonics, earth materials, climate and weather, water cycles, earth history, and regional geology. Many of the activities were drawn from the exemplary Full Option Science System curriculum and some were drawn from the Exploratorium Institute for Inquiry, particularly a full-day stream table inquiry experience. Significant score increases from pre- to post-tests on conceptual inventories demonstrate the effectiveness of inquiry in increasing teacher knowledge.

The Institute continues throughout the school year with fall and spring workshops and with one-on-one support of Fellows. In addition to further content inquiry activities, Fellows engage in leadership development and then facilitate small learning communities in their schools. During the school year, an additional 100 teachers participated in study groups run by Fellows. These groups have lead to significant adoption of science notebooks in participating schools. These follow-up activities help to connect workshop activities to teachers' practice. In blinded classroom observation, Fellows show twice the inquiry behaviors of comparison teachers. Importantly, in addition to changes in teacher practice, studies of common assessment questions and science notebooks show that students are benefiting from this professional development as well with higher levels of science process skills and conceptual understanding in the classroom of Fellows than in comparison classrooms.