Sustainable Reform In Science Education -- A Small Grant for Exploratory Research

Georgia State University Research Foundation, Inc., Atlanta GA

Investigators

Abstract

0003895 KOZAITIS This applied research will capitalize on work that has been done over the past four years and will, by means of a controlled study, explore the factors that contribute to sustainable reform in a Local Systemic Change (LSC) project. The experiment is unique, as the project in the Atlanta Public Schools (APS) is the only one in the entire Teacher Enhancement portfolio which has associated with it an anthropologist-in-residence who will carry out this research. Informed by the conceptual framework outlined in the proposal, the study will reveal factors that encourage or inhibit adoption of constructivist science pedagogy by APS teachers. The context for the research is the Elementary Science Educational Partners (ESEP) project. This is a five-year LSC project which serves approximately 1,600 K-5 teachers in 69 elementary schools in Atlanta. The EXEP project is in its final stages and the study is timely in that there are many important lessons to be learned about the impact of NSF investment in an urban school district. Such research will help provide answers.