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Teachers' beliefs and practices related to mathematics instruction.

Reform efforts in science education emphasize the importance of supporting students' construction of knowledge through inquiry. Project‐based science (PBS) is an ambitious approach to science instruction that addresses concerns of reformers. A sample of 142 10th‐ and 11th‐grade students enrolled in a PBS program completed the 12th‐grade 1996 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) science test. Compared with subgroups identified by NAEP that most closely matched our student sample, White and middle class, PBS students outscored the national sample on 44% of NAEP test items. This study shows that students participating in a PBS curriculum were prepared for this type of testing. Educators should be encouraged to use inquiry‐based approaches such as PBS to implement reform in their schools. © 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 39: 410–422, 2002

To promote large-scale science education reform, developers must create innovations that teachers can use to learn and enact new practices. As part of an urban systemic reform effort, science materials were designed to reflect desired reforms and to support teacher thinking by addressing necessary content, pedagogy, and pedagogical content knowledge for teachers. The goal of this research was to describe teachers' enactments in comparison to reform as instantiated in the materials. Four middle school teachers' initial enactment of an inquiry-based science unit on force and motion were analyzed. Findings indicate two teachers' enactments were consistent with intentions and two teachers' enactments were not. However, enactment ratings for the first two were less reflective of curriculum intent when challenges were greatest, such as when teachers attempted to present challenging science ideas, respond to students' ideas, structure investigations, guide small-group discussions, or make adaptations. Overall, findings suggest that purposefully using materials with detailed lesson descriptions and specific, consistent supports for teacher thinking can help teachers with enactment. However, materials alone are not sufficient; reform efforts must include professional development and efforts to create systemic change in context and policy to support teacher learning and classroom enactment. ß 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 42: 2005 To promote goals established for student learning, reform efforts in science education have focused attention on classrooms and how teachers can improve their instructional practices. Reformers encourage teachers to use inquiry supported by use of technology tools to promote Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation. More information about this work, including the curriculum materials ''Why do I need to wear a bike helmet?'' used in this study, can be obtained from our project's website

Learning progressions are the successively more sophisticated ways of thinking about an idea that follow one another over a broad span of time. This review examines the research on science teachers’ pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) in order to refine ideas about science teacher learning progressions and how to support them. Research published between 1986 and 2010 relevant to science teacher learning and PCK was examined for what ways teachers’ knowledge becomes more developed and what appears to be the sequence. Analysis indicates that it is helpful for teachers to think about learners first, then to focus on teaching, and points out the essential role of reflection for teachers to rearrange their ideas in ways that develop their PCK. This review takes a unique approach to thinking about research on what science teachers learn and can support teacher educators in designing professional programs that support beginning and advanced learning for science teachers.