Success of a Professional-Development Model in Assisting Teachers to Change Their Teaching to Match the More Emphasis Conditions Urged in the National Science Education Standards

Lead teachers were a major part of a staff-development program first offered in 1983 for science teachers in Iowa. Later, the National Science Teachers Association (NSTA) reform project called Scope, Sequence, and Coordination (SS&C) involved 20 school districts and worked annually with new teachers involved during the 7-year funding period, 1990–1997. Eight lead teachers, who provided assistance to staff teams, were studied in 1998 and 2000 to determine how their teaching practices changed during the 3 years following funding. The results indicated that the eight teachers have continued to grow in terms of constructivist strategies beyond the funding period and in ways illustrating that the kind of teaching advocated by the National Science Education Standards (National Research Council, 1996).