1 Science KICKS Keep Improving Content Knowledge and Skills Sheree Person-Pandil, Project Director Jim Woodland, Technical Advisor John Sutton, Project Evaluator MSP Regional Conference San Francisco, CA February 14, 2008

2 Project Goals 1) Improve the content knowledge, skills, and pedagogy of K-12 science educators. 2) Establish a statewide network to end the isolation of science educators.

3 Content Institutes Rationale for Summer Institutes with additional follow-up activities Partnership roles –SEA –IEA –IHE –LEA Instructors are award-winning master teachers Participant selection – State identified populations – Local needs assessments

4 Institute Content Aligned to Nebraska Science Standards Enhanced by master teachers’ curriculum Bolstered by the NSTA Science Objects Integrated with Science Olympiad events

5 Content Institute Timeline May: Institute planning June/July/August: Conduct two, 4-day/week content institutes September: Institute planning October: 3-day institute follow-up at state science teachers conference November/December: Institute planning January/February: One-day follow-up session March/April: One-day follow-up session

6 Content Institutes Daily Design –Participant Engagement –Instructional approaches Follow-up –Online learning –Conference Attendance –One-day session

7 State Network Rationale for Building a Presence for Science (BaP) Partnership roles –NSTA/NATS –IEA –LEA –IHE –SEA

8 State Network State Director for BaP Key Leaders Points of Contact BaP structure is determined locally

9 State Network Timeline October: Key leader meeting held in conjunction with state science teachers conference November/December: BaP recruiting and networking January/February: Points of Contact meetings March/April: BaP recruiting and networking May: Points of Contact meetings June/July: BaP recruiting and networking August/September: BaP planning, recruiting, and networking

10 KICKS Evaluation Institute –Content Knowledge Inventory –Teacher Survey –Observations Network –Interviews –Focus Groups –Observations

11 Lessons Learned Nonpublic school involvement IHE Value of master teachers as instructors- finding appropriate teachers Need to develop leadership Outlining clear expectations for participants

12 USDE Disclaimer The instructional practices and assessments discussed or shown in this presentation are not intended as an endorsement by the U.S. Department of Education.