Kirsten Daehler

When teachers transform classrooms into places that fuel curiosity, enable collaboration, and invite communication, students can become the problem-solvers of tomorrow. With the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS), engineering is expected to be taught, yet most elementary teachers do not feel prepared. The goal of this project is to develop, study, and refine a professional learning (PL) intervention that helps grade 3-5 teachers develop the knowledge and skills they need to effectively...

In the United States, districts do not generally have coherent, coordinated professional development programs, nor are they likely to have the internal resources and capacity to meet their teachers' content-specific needs in science. Examination of the TE-MAT website (http://www.te-mat.org), a database of nearly 600 professional development resources in mathematics and science run by the National Science Teacher Association's NSTA Recommends program, reveals that only a handful attend to dee...

Despite small gains in science achievement over the last decade, American students' academic performance in science remains poor. In order to increase performance, students need teachers who are knowledgeable about the subject matter and who are prepared to teach science in clear, engaging ways. This research and development project will address this need by designing a teacher professional development program focused on the life sciences. By building the content and pedagogical content know...