Lessons Learned From the Urban Advantage Leadership Institute

• 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

The Urban Advantage (UA) Leadership Institute, hosted at the American Museum of Natural History (AMNH), is a series of full-day professional development sessions designed to improve the leadership capacity of middle school science teams. In addition to improving middle school science instruction through professional development and access to the informal science education institutions of New York City, the three-year Leadership Institute aims to create a culture of support for science through the development of school-based science leadership teams. The activities of the Institute include building understanding and practice in the research on teaching and learning science, the nature of science, scientific inquiry, the work of scientists, and the change process; analyzing curriculum materials for concept development and coherence; using student data and formative classroom assessments to inform program-level decisions and classroom practice; and forming a leadership team that seeds the development of a science department professional learning community within the school.

Our research involves a series of case studies based on interviews with the teachers, administrators, and parent coordinators who participated in the Leadership Institute, as well as a survey given at the end of each year of the Institute to all of the participants. The goal of this research is to examine how ongoing, intensive professional development for a science team can lead to 1) improved leadership for science departments, which in turn would lead to the formation of professional learning communities; 2) improved understanding and practice in teaching and learning science; 3) the use of student data and formative classroom assessments to inform curricular decision making; and 4) a strengthened relationship between the school and the informal science education institutions of New York City.

We have found that the Leadership Institute has been successful in introducing and building on a set of core research-based understandings critical to advancing middle school science education reform. The Institute has been particularly successful in integrating informal learning experiences into the curriculum and teaching practices of its participants. Participants have gained a deeper understanding of what scientific inquiry looks like, and they have learned how to assess the quality of instructional materials and how to incorporate experiences at informal science education institutions into their curriculum. The Institute has brought science teams closer together for the purposes of planning, team building, and leadership development. Teams have learned how to use data to drive instruction, how to identify high-quality curricular materials, and how to develop plans of action to make necessary changes. The Institute has allowed teams to talk to one another about specific curricular and pedagogical needs and to develop a “common language” or set of norms to do so. It has allowed science teams to have a hands-on approach to their own curriculum and to have productive conversations about what to change and how to change it. Most of all, it has given team members the tools to do this work on their own, as well as the time and space to get started.

Authors

• Meryle Weinstein, New York University

• Robyn Sperling, New York University

• James B. Short, American Museum of Natural History