Purpose: This study investigated the relationship between principal leadership and variation in teachers' participation in a new literacy coaching program: Content-Focused Coaching ® (CFC). Research design: Twenty-nine schools were randomly assigned to participate in the CFC program or to serve as a comparison. Interviews were conducted with elementary school principals and coaches, and teach ers completed surveys describing their experiences with their new coach. Correlation analyses investigated the relationship between the categories of principal support and the frequency of teachers' participation in individual coaching activities. Principals' actions and beliefs were also compared across schools, with teachers' relatively high and low participation in coaching, to identify patterns in principal leadership. Findings: Principal leadership was significantly associated with the frequency with which teachers conferred with their new CFC coach and were observed by their new coach as teaching reading comprehension lessons. Principal behaviors associated with teachers' increased engagement with coaches included actively participating in the CFC program and publicly endorsing the coach as a source of literacy expertise to teachers. Principal beliefs

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The Model-Assisted Reasoning in Science (MARS) project created a model-centered, computer-supported sixth-grade science curriculum organized around the theme balance of forces. To help monitor effectiveness during implementation in a public middle school, individual student interviews were conducted after each of the curriculum's three sections. In each interview, students were asked to explain why a helium balloon floats up. This article describes an analysis of student responses to the balloon question and what it reveals about the impact of the curriculum. The article begins with an overview of research on children's ideas about floating and sinking. Following a description of MARS instruction, procedures used to analyze responses to the balloon question are described, and results of the analysis are presented and discussed. The article concludes by examining implications for science education. J Res Sci Teach 35: 547-567, 1998.Suppose you have two identical balloons, both inflated and tied. One is filled with helium. The other contains an equal amount of air. If you hold them at the same height and release them at the same time, what will happen? Why?The value of the balloon question is that, although it is easy to grasp and involves a familiar, real-world phenomenon, it can be used to elicit understanding of a variety of concepts including volume, mass, density, weight, gravitational force, buoyancy, balance of forces, and floating and sinking. Moreover, pertinent follow-up questions can get at students' ideas about relationships between concepts. Students who say the helium balloon rises because it is lighter than the air balloon can be asked, "How can one balloon be lighter if they are both the same size?" or "Why does being lighter make the balloon go up?" An item such as the balloon question can be asked before, during, and after a course of study to trace the development of student conceptions throughout instruction.The balloon question is one of the assessment tools used to monitor the effectiveness of a sixth-grade science curriculum created by the Model-Assisted Reasoning in Science (MARS) project. MARS designs and investigates instruction in which students use interactive computer JOURNAL

The Model-Assisted Reasoning in Science (MARS) project created a model-centered, computer-supported sixth-grade science curriculum organized around the theme balance of forces. To help monitor effectiveness during implementation in a public middle school, individual student interviews were conducted after each of the curriculum's three sections. In each interview, students were asked to explain why a helium balloon floats up. This article describes an analysis of student responses to the balloon ques The value of the balloon question is that, although it is easy to grasp and involves a familiar, real-world phenomenon, it can be used to elicit understanding of a variety of concepts including volume, mass, density, weight, gravitational force, buoyancy, balance of forces, and floating and sinking. Moreover, pertinent follow-up questions can get at students' ideas about relationships between concepts. Students who say the helium balloon rises because it is lighter than the air balloon can be asked, "How can one balloon be lighter if they are both the same size?" or "Why does being lighter make the balloon go up?" An item such as the balloon question can be asked before, during, and after a course of study to trace the development of student conceptions throughout instruction.The balloon question is one of the assessment tools used to monitor the effectiveness of a sixth-grade science curriculum created by the Model-Assisted Reasoning in Science (MARS) project. MARS designs and investigates instruction in which students use interactive computer JOURNAL

ABSTRACT:The Model-based Analysis and Reasoning in Science (MARS) project is involved in developing model-centered curriculum modules for middle-school science. MARS instruction focuses on a variety of physical, pictorial, and symbolic representations of theoretical entities, providing tangible objects that students can use to think and talk about abstract concepts and links between concepts. This article examines the impact of the mass unit, the third unit of a sixth-grade curriculum module, implemented in a public school during the 1993 -1994 school year. Following an overview of the unit itself, three sections describe its impact as revealed by three aspects of evaluation: (1) classroom observations of opportunities to learn afforded students through instructional activities and interactions; (2) examination of students' written work, including worksheets and free-response test performance; and (3) analysis of protocol data from individual interviews conducted at the end of each of the three main sections of the curriculum. The article concludes with a discussion of specific implications for the MARS curriculum and general implications for science instruction. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Sci Ed 82: 53 -91, 1998.