The Urban Advantage Teacher Professional Development Model

• In Event: Can Formal-Informal Collaborations Improve Science Literacy in Urban Middle Schools? The Development, History, and Impact of the Urban Advantage Middle School Science Initiative

Abstract

Urban Advantage (UA) is a program designed to improve middle school science instruction in New York City (NYC) public schools and to introduce teachers and students to the city’s science resources. UA’s primary goal is to improve student understanding of scientific inquiry as defined in the New York State Core Curriculum in Science. UA was initiated in 2004 as a collaboration among several informal science education institutions and the NYC Department of Education. Since that time, UA partner institutions have collaboratively developed a shared vision of effective professional development that emphasizes scientific investigations. Each partner institution designs and conducts professional development that promotes the teaching and learning of inquiry and investigations through ongoing sessions over multiple years. NYC 8th graders are required to complete long-term science investigations, known as “science exit projects,” which are the focus of the UA program. Aligning UA program outcomes with objectives identified in the curriculum and state assessments was novel for partner institutions.

The purpose of this presentation is to describe the UA professional development model, which includes 48 hours of professional development using an immersion in inquiry strategy (Loucks-Horsley, et al., 2003) with new teachers over eight days during the first year of the program and an additional 10 hours per year beginning in year two. The professional development emphasizes authentic hands-on learning experiences in science, the nature of scientific work, specific science topics, and the essential features of inquiry (NRC, 2000) in the form of long-term science investigations (referred to as science exit projects in NYC). After choosing a UA partner institution to participate in professional development, teachers learn how to plan effective field trips, embed the use of UA tools and strategies into instruction to help teach students the process of experimental design and how to develop scientific explanations based on claims, evidence, and reasoning. During the professional development, teachers conduct their own “exit projects,” learning first-hand what it means to “do science.” UA also includes professional development for school administrators, parent coordinators, UA lead science teachers, and science leadership teams from UA demonstration schools.

External evaluation results indicate that all UA partner institutions provide exceptional professional development workshops, which enhanced teachers’ content knowledge and application of science inquiry. Teachers also indicated that the professional development specifically facilitated improvement in their practice in areas related to implementation of science lessons and preparation for long-term science investigation. Teachers rated the professional development highly in terms of both quality of and resources provided. In addition, teachers acknowledged changes in their own practices and what they considered to be important to science instruction. We will also describe adjustments that have been made to the structure and content of the professional development model over the first seven years of program implementation. These changes include expanding the program to include all science teachers in a school and refining the professional development model to include the use of common teaching tools and strategies across partner institutions.

Authors

• James B. Short, American Museum of Natural History

• Suzanne Elgendy, American Museum of Natural History

• Hudson Roditi, American Museum of Natural History

• Jay Holmes, American Museum of Natural History