Schema for Professional Development to
Implement the Framework and NGSS
BCSSE Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
June 7, 2013
Presenters:
Juan-Carlos Aguilar, Georgia Department of Education
Sam Shaw, South Dakota Department of Education
Brett Moulding, Utah Partnership for Effective Science Teaching and Learning
Systems and System Models
 Effective professional development operates as part of
the education system.
 Educators must develop a clear understanding of how
the new vision for science education will operate in the
existing education system before fully accepting the
changes.
 What are the elements of the system that can be drafted
to deliver the professional development teachers need
to implement the vision from the Framework?
Change and Stability
 “The current reform effort requires a substantive change
in how science is taught; an equally substantive change is
needed in professional development practices.”
NSES 1996
 What changes are needed in teacher knowledge to
implement the vision described in the
Framework?
 What changes in professional development are
necessary to prepare teachers to create classrooms
where student learning meets the standards?
Cause and Effect
“Alignment of teacher preparation and professional
development with the vision of science education
advanced in this Framework is essential for eventual
wide-spread implementation of the type of instruction
that will be needed for students to achieve the
standards based on it. “
Framework Page 256
Framework
 Ultimately, the interactions between teachers and students in
individual classrooms are the determining factor in whether
students learn science successfully.
 Teachers are the linchpin in any effort to change K-12 science education. It
stands to reason that in order to support implementation of the new
standards and the curricula designed to achieve them, the initial
preparation and professional development of teachers of science will need
to change.
 Schools, districts, institutions of higher education, state agencies, and
other entities recruit, prepare, license, and evaluate teachers and provide
an array of opportunities for their continued professional learning. A
coherent approach to implementing standards would require all of these
entities to work toward common goals and to evaluate the effectiveness of
their requirements, procedures, teaching experiences, and courses in
supporting the desired approaches.
Framework page 255
Framework
“Explicit standards for teaching, professional
development, education programs, and the education
system were included in the original National Science
Education Standards (NSES) published by the NRC in
1996 [7].
Although many of these standards are still relevant to
K-12 science education today, the committee did not
undertake a thorough review of these portions of the
NSES.”
Framework Page 242
NSES Professional
Development Standards
 STANDARD A: Professional development for teachers of
science requires learning essential science content through the
perspectives and methods of inquiry.
 STANDARD B: Professional development for teachers of
science requires integrating knowledge of science, learning,
pedagogy, and students; it also requires applying that
knowledge to science teaching.
 STANDARD C: Professional development for teachers of
science requires building understanding and ability for
lifelong learning.
 STANDARD D: Professional development programs for
teachers of science must be coherent and integrated.
STANDARD A: Professional development for teachers of
science requires learning essential science content through the
perspectives and methods of inquiry. Science learning
experiences for teachers must:
 Involve teachers in actively investigating phenomena that can be
studied scientifically, interpreting results, and making sense of findings
consistent with currently accepted scientific understanding. Address
issues, events, problems, or topics significant in science and of interest
to participants.
 Introduce teachers to scientific literature, media, and technological
resources that expand their science knowledge and their ability to
access further knowledge.
 Build on the teacher’s current science understanding, ability, and
attitudes.
 Incorporate ongoing reflection on the process and outcomes of
understanding science through inquiry.
 Encourage and support teachers in efforts to collaborate.
NSES Page 59
STANDARD B: Professional development for teachers of
science requires integrating knowledge of science, learning,
pedagogy, and students; it also requires applying that
knowledge to science teaching. Learning experiences for teachers
of science must:
 Connect and integrate all pertinent aspects of science and
science education.
 Occur in a variety of places where effective science teaching can
be illustrated and modeled, permitting teachers to struggle
with real situations and expand their knowledge and skills in
appropriate contexts.
 Address teachers’ needs as learners and build on their current
knowledge of science content, teaching, and learning.
 Use inquiry, reflection, interpretation of research, modeling,
and guided practice to build understanding and skill in science
teaching.
NSES Page 62
STANDARD C: Professional development for teachers of
science requires building understanding and ability for
lifelong learning. Professional development activities must:
 Provide regular, frequent opportunities for individual and collegial
examination and reflection on classroom and institutional practice.
 Provide opportunities for teachers to receive feedback about their teaching
and to understand, analyze, and apply that feedback to improve their
practice.
 Provide opportunities for teachers to learn and use various tools and
techniques for self-reflection and collegial reflection, such as peer
coaching, portfolios, and journals.

Support the sharing of teacher expertise by preparing and using mentors,
teacher advisers, coaches, lead teachers, and resource teachers to provide
professional development opportunities.
 Provide opportunities to know and have access to existing research and
experiential knowledge.
 Provide opportunities to learn and use the skills of research to generate
new knowledge about science and the teaching and learning of science.
STANDARD D: Professional development programs for
teachers of science must be coherent and integrated. Quality
pre-service and in-service programs are characterized by:
 Clear, shared goals based on a vision of science learning, teaching, and teacher
development congruent with the National Science Education Standards.
 Integration and coordination of the program components so that understanding and
ability can be built over time, reinforced continuously, and practiced in a variety of
situations.
 Options that recognize the developmental nature of teacher professional growth and
individual and group interests, as well as the needs of teachers who have varying
degrees of experience, professional expertise, and proficiency.
 Collaboration among the people involved in programs, including teachers, teacher
educators, teacher unions, scientists, administrators, policy makers, members of
professional and scientific organizations, parents, and business people, with clear
respect for the perspectives and expertise of each.
 Recognition of the history, culture, and organization of the school environment.
 Continuous program assessment that captures the perspectives of all those involved,
uses a variety of strategies, focuses on the process and effects of the program, and
feeds directly into program improvement and evaluation.
NSES page 70
Cause and Effect
Professional Development is Critical
 Hawley and Rosenholtz (1984) concluded that, ``In
virtually every instance in which researchers have
examined the factors that account for student performance,
teachers prove to have a greater impact than programs.
This is true for average students and exceptional students,
for normal classrooms and special classrooms.''
Immersion
 First, high quality professional development must immerse
participants in inquiry, questioning, and experimentation
and therefore model inquiry forms of teaching (Arons, 1989;
McDermott, 1990; Bybee, 1993). Little (1993) argues that these
reforms ``constitute a departure from canonical views of
curriculum and from textbook-centered or recitation-style
teaching'' and represent ``a substantial departure from
teachers' prior experience'' (p. 130). Marek and Methaven
(1991) found that the programs that model scientific
reasoning have a greater influence on student achievement
than did programs that taught teachers to use specific
curricula.
Intensive and Sustained
 Second, professional development must be both
intensive and sustained (Smylie, Bilcer, Greenberg,
& Harris, 1998; Hawley & Valli, 1999). The National
Science Education Standards (NRC, 1996) call for
more long-term, coherent professional development
plans.
Connected Instructional Practices
 Third, staff development must engage teachers in
concrete teaching tasks and be based on teachers'
experiences with students (Darling-Hammond &
McLaughlin, 1995). Studies have shown that staff
development undertaken in isolation from teachers'
ongoing classroom duties seldom have much
impact on teaching practices or student
achievement (Zigarmi, Betz, & Jennings, 1977).
Connected to Subject Matter Knowledge
 Additionally, professional development must
focus on subject-matter knowledge and deepen
teachers' content skills (Cohen & Hill, 1998).
Connected to Standards
 Fifth, professional development must be grounded in a
common set of professional development standards and
show teachers how to connect their work to specific
standards for student performance (NRC, 1996; Hawley &
Valli, 1999). Work in cognitive development suggests that more
complex knowledge and problem-solving skills require more
sophisticated teaching strategies (Borko & Putnam, 1995), and
that this kind of teaching can be achieved through setting
higher learning goals (Resnick & Klopfer, 1989).
 One of the major findings from the Third International
Mathematics and Science Study is that common, high
standards are strongly related to national achievement
(Schmidt, 1999).
Professional Development Models
 South Dakota
 Georgia
 PESTL
 Role of Informal Science Education
South Dakota Science
Academies
 Outcome: Participants will develop an understanding of a
new vision for science education consistent with the
student performances described in the Framework for K-12
Science Education and the Next Generation Science Standards.
 *This vision is truly a new system, as it functions
differently than our existing system.”
 Framework pg. 98
South Dakota Science
Academies
 What is a student science performance?
 How can teachers use instructional strategies to engage
students in science performances?
 “Examine in detail what (the system) is made of and the
shape of its parts.” “In building something… apply
relationships of structure and function as critical elements
of successful designs.”
Framework pg. 98
Structure and Function
Progression within the Framework:
 Examine the relationship between structure and function within a new system.
The “Vision” presented in the Framework is a complex new system. The
South Dakota professional development began by allowing participants to
investigate accessible models of instructional shifts.
 Engage complex tasks and explain the connection between the parts of the system
and how they function.
The professional development engages participants in performances that
include the three dimensions. The performances are designed to engage
participants in complex tasks to explore the connections between the three
dimensions.
 Visualize, model, and apply their understanding of structure and function in
performance-based situations.
Participants reflect on the performances and instructional design through
conceptual models, drawings, written reflection, discussion, and relating
concepts to their own classroom.
South Dakota
 Next Steps
Georgia’s Professional
Development Model
Provides Georgia’s science teachers with the tools necessary to
implement the vision of the K-12 Framework for Science
Education by:
• Engaging teachers in experiences that deepen their
understanding of the science and engineering practices,
crosscutting concepts, and core disciplinary ideas.
• Providing teachers with background information that will
help them understand the initial ideas students bring to
school.
• Strengthening teachers’ science-specific pedagogical
content knowledge.
Georgia’s Professional Development
Delivery Mechanism
Delivery Mechanisms
• One and two-day workshops for small groups of teachers at 16
Regional Education Service Agencies.
• Three-day grade-band and subject specific professional
development workshops.
• Seminar series (face to face and via webinars) for teacher mentors
to provide targeted support for “Identified Schools and Systems.”
• Professional Development seminars around teacher developed
instructional resources (units, lesson, and frameworks) to support
teacher implementation of instructional strategies aligned to the
vision of the Framework.
Timeline for Georgia’s Professional
Development Model
• May 2013 – August 2014
•
Develop and test professional development modules K-6
•
Teacher workshops to develop lessons that incorporate the 3-D model
based on lessons teachers are currently using
• September 2014 – May 2016
•
Develop and test professional development modules for high school
•
Professional Development at all Regional Education Service Agencies
•
Develop science teacher mentor groups to support teachers at school
and classroom levels
•
Online professional development
PESTL
Utah Partnership for Effective Science Teaching and Learning
 Sustained Professional Development
 Three years
 Multiple activities each year




Summer Seminars
Content Courses
Instructional Alignment
Professional Learning Communities
 Consistent and focused professional development
 Addresses three dimensions of Science
 Focus on Instructional Strategies
 Professional Teachers
 Modeling of Instructional Practices
 Deepen Teacher Science Knowledge
Matter and Energy
Summer
Seminars
Content
Courses
Student
Science
Performances
School
PLCs
Instruction
Alignments
Patterns
 Changes in instructional practices were not found to be
significant until year two.
 Engaging teachers in small groups for discussion makes a
difference in depth of knowledge.
 Changes to instructional practices persist beyond three year
PD window for teachers who fully engaged in PESTL.
 Teachers enjoyment of science is a major contributor to
science instructional time.
 A new vision for teaching and learning science takes time to
become part of the classroom practice.
Scale
 These PDs are operating at different scales.
 What is the scale (e.g., time, number of systems,
numbers of teachers) of the PD your state is
working to implement?
Informal Science Education Role
 The role of informal science education is critical.
 “To provide meaningful science experiences for
students, educators need quality science experiences
themselves from which to draw. Informal learning
contexts, such as museums, are well positioned to
provide educators with these professional development
experiences.” (L. M. Melber , A. M. Cox-Petersen 2005)
 Coherence across multiple programs may be one way
to develop more sustained professional development
from informal science education providers.
Model
Science and
Engineering
Practices
Student
Performances
Professional
Development
Disciplinary
Core Ideas
Crosscutting
Concepts
Discussion
 Thank you
Reference

National Research Council. (1996). National Science Education Standards. National
Committee for Science Education Standards and Assessment. Washington, DC: National
Academy Press.

National Research Council. (2012). A Framework for K-12 Science Education: Practices,
Crosscutting Concepts, and Core Ideas. Committee on a Conceptual Framework for New K12 Science Education Standards. Board on Science Education, Division of Behavioral and
Social Sciences and Education. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press.

National Research Council. The Role of Scientists in the Professional Development of Science
Teachers, Committee on Biology Teacher Inservice Programs, National Research Council,
Washington, DC. National Academy Press.

Melber, L.M. Cox-Petersen, A. M.,(2995) Teacher Professional Development and Informal
Learning Environments: Investigating Partnerships and Possibilities, Journal of Science
Teacher Education.

Supovitz, J.M., and Turner, H.M. (2000). The effects of professional development on
science teaching practices and classroom culture. Journal of Research in Science Teaching,
37(9), 963-980.