Professional Development And The Implementation Of Standards

New National and State standards are being mandated for all children, including children with disabilities. The challenge is to ensure that teachers have the training and tools to meet the needs of a heterogeneous population. This presentation describes a professional development effort for teachers designed to model standard-based instruction in science, so that their students can achieve the standards. The professional development effort is comprehensive and includes summer and academic year content, methodology focused workshops, and a summer “practicum” experience. The training includes opportunities for collaborative teaching, upgrading knowledge of science, and identifying, integrating and practicing alternative approaches for teaching science, aligned with the standards. The program shows the teachers that the effort they expend will lead to development of coping skills and persistence in the teaching of science for all students. Educational Standards and Professional Development Engineering education leadership has long recognized precollege education as one of the most important issues for the profession. The success of engineering students is largely dependent on the mathematics and science education they received before entering college. Yet, the problem of underprepared students continues to exist. Initial findings from the Third International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) indicate that U.S. students' performance was among the lowest of the participating countries in science general knowledge (21 countries) and physics (16 countries) [1]. TIMSS does not suggest any single factor or combination of factors that can explain why our performance at twelfth grade is so low relative to other countries. Dissatisfaction with the performance of schools in the United States, especially in science and mathematics, has led to new educational reforms with a focus on the development of standards and a seamless K-16 system built on the foundation of educational standards. Mathematics was the first discipline for which standards were published [2]. In 1996, the National Science Education Standards (NSES) were released by the National Research Council (NRC), the principal operating agency of the National Academy of Sciences, and the National Academy of Engineering [3]. The content standards of NSES are intended to define the scientific understandings and abilities that all students should develop. The comprehensive standards-based approach to education. is normally described as Standards Based Instruction. Standards Based Instruction includes the following components: • Standards Based Practice, aligned with the teaching standards of NSES. • Standards Based Curriculum, aligned with the content standards of NSES. • Standards Based Assessment, aligned with the assessment standards of NSES, or the more commonly used term performance standards. In response to national standards, states across the country have been developing educational standards in different disciplines, including math and science. These are usually adopted from, and informed by the appropriate national standards. The nature of the standards and the disciplines of the standards vary from state to state. In New Jersey, content standards are being implemented in seven subject areas and the achievement of the standards are being measured through a coordinated state-wide assessment system. School districts are aligning their curriculum guides with standards, and preparing for the assessments that will measure standards achievement. The missing piece is the new teaching behaviors that will assure content standards are successfully implemented. The implementation of educational standards in