Project Plan and Evaluation Criteria
for the C.L.A.S.S.I.C. Project

•  Introduction
•  Academic Plan
•  Phase I
•  Phase II
•  Instructional Overview
•  Increased Access by Underserved and/or Underrepresented Populations
•  Collaborative Planning and Development
•  Assessment
•  References

Academic Plan

    To address these issues, Fort Hays State University (FHSU) and FHEDC are proposing a two-year staff development project.   Participants in the C.L.A.S.S.I.C.: Fostering Inquiry-based Natural Discovery Science (C.L.A.S.S.I.C.) project will learn to use these research-based strategies to stimulate students’ curiosities, encourage them to think critically and logically, and  allow them to be active participants in the course of their learning.  The purpose of the project is to provide ongoing, staff development opportunities for western Kansas K-12 teachers that will:

1. improve background knowledge and pedagogical strategies to support natural science teaching;
2. use integrated, hands-on, inquiry-based techniques to foster investigative science;
3. develop and field-test thematically structured, discovery units; and
4. develop and foster the peer-mentoring process to support assessment and teaching of the units to bring about increased student achievement.

    The overlying goal for the project is the enhancement of science, mathematics, reading (communication), and technology learning on the part of the students reached through this opportunity.  Project goals will be achieve through:

1. Two five-day workshops to enhance natural science content and pedagogical skills;
2. Development of two thematic, inquiry-based units to be field-tested and revised through self-reflection and peer-mentoring feedback;
3. Follow-up support by project and FHEDC staff in the form of field visits and distance technologies during field-trial efforts; and
4. dissemination efforts by participants and project staff through presentations, publications, and a proceedings journal.

    Grant staff will conduct a five-day, 35-hour professional development workshop in July of both 2001 and 2002 at the Sternberg Museum of National History (Sternberg Museum) in Hays, KS.  Each participant will use content and instructional strategies learned to develop and field-test two discovery units.  Project and FHEDC will commit to networking with participants through their field-trial efforts by on-site visits and by using distance technologies as a networking tool.  Follow-up sessions will be conducted via on-site and distance learning capabilities to assist participants in project assessment according to student achievement.  All participants will be expected to indicate science content and methodology as a goal for professional development in their respective districts during the 2001-2002 school years. 

            Western Kansas educators will reach the following outcomes:

1. receive content knowledge in the area of natural sciences;
2. receive pedagogical knowledge on the use of research-based models such as inquiry-based learning, cooperative learning, peer-mentoring, unit development, communication strategies, and authentic assessment;
3. develop two in-depth units of study for a natural science topic that supports inquiry-based, hands-on learning and state and national standards for science, mathematics and reading (communication) to be implemented in a classroom setting;
4. receive training in and conduct subsequent action research in the form of field-trials on the effectiveness of the unit to bring about increased student content knowledge;
5. receive training in and participate in a peer-mentoring project with a district team member;
6. reflect on the field-trial as to effectiveness and make changes in that unit as needed based upon self- and peer-mentoring feedback;
7. assume a leadership role by conducting a minimum of four hours of staff development activities and follow-up for colleagues that support increased networking and subsequent unit development and implementation;
8. network with colleagues across western Kansas through distance technologies.  Participants will support one another’s efforts and share research on a project web page linked to the FHSU Teacher Education and Sternberg Museum web pages;
9. present at the annual Kansas Association of Teacher of Science conference in April of 2001 or 2002; and
10. contribute field-tested units of study to a proceedings journal distributed to all participants.  

    Phase I      During Phase I of the project, a core of fifty K-12 teachers will be brought to the FHSU campus and receive follow-up support.  FHEDC will assist project staff in the selection of participants from across western Kansas, especially those teachers who work with diverse student populations.  Buildings and districts supporting teams of two or more teachers will provide computer access, transportation to and from Hays and ITV sites, meals not included in the participant support by the project, assistance in peer-mentoring, staff development, and conference attendance by the participant in the form of substitute pay, release time, and staff development time.  These individuals will be selected by March  of 2001, provided with the requirements of the project, and given a content and methodology pre-assessment created by the project staff and Advisory Council.  This information will be analyzed to determine specific workshop topics to be addressed and serve as a baseline for determination of growth in learning by the participants  during the project duration. 

    The participants will attend a five-day workshop at the Sternberg Museum to receive instruction that will improve their teaching skills and especially enrich the quality of their natural science instruction.  Content and skills covered during the workshop will include:  an overview of the standards, natural science content, inquiry-based lessons and units, graphic organizers, communication and assessment strategies for oral presentations and expository writing, calculator-based lab and computer integration strategies, and peer-mentoring skills.  C.L.A.S.S.I.C. participants will implement and reinforce these skills by creating discovery units for use in their classrooms.  These units will include:  1) hands-on materials made available with the involvement of a variety of university scientists and the use of the $75 materials allotment each year, and 2) unit and individual lesson plans that specifically address skills in inquiry-based learning.  Examples of the unit format and the learning cycle lesson plan are included in Appendix C.  Unit evaluation will result from field-trial and peer-mentoring efforts that are supported by project staff and FHEDC. Three-hour face-to-face and ITV follow-up sessions will take place one Saturday in the fall and one in the spring.  During the fall follow-up session participants will report on their projects and field-trial efforts.  The spring follow-up will allow teachers to plan and practice presentation skills in preparation for building/district inservice and the Kansas Association of Teachers of Science presentations required of the participants. 

    Phase II      In year two, participants will attend a second five-day workshop in July, 2002 to build on content; explore additional ways of developing hands-on inquiry-based units and ways of teaching that are proven to aid in raising student achievement, learn ways to incorporate literature into science teaching, and development and field-trial one additional unit for use in their classrooms.  Additional  alternative methods of assessment will be examined.  The fall, 2002 follow-up session will involve participant presentations on the new units developed and their field-trial efforts.  A tentative workshop schedule and project timeline is included in Appendix D.  The content of the schedule serves as a model.  The Project Director, Advisory Council and consultants will further define content and methodology at a February 2001 meeting.

    Instructional Overview       Project Director Germaine Taggart and Julie Bliese will deliver the majority of the pedagogical instruction, Gregory Liggett and Travis Taggart will present the natural science content, while Paul Adams will present technology and program assessment strategies.  Advisory Council Members and invited speakers will compliment  the workshop staff, as determined by a February meeting of the project staff and Advisory Council. Content of instruction in Phase I and Phase II is supported by a research-base described in the initial section of the academic plan and Kansas curricular standards described in Appendix E.

    Integration is an important focus of this project.  The disciplines of science, mathematics and reading will be intertwined within the instruction by project staff and within the thematic units created by the participants.  Thematic units provide a holistic picture of the topic supporting depth of understanding on the part of learners.   The use of a concept map (graphic organizer) will assist participants in initiating unit ideas.  From that point, participants will follow the unit guide in constructing their units of study.  The inquiry-based lesson plan (Learning Cycle Model) must be used to structure at least three lessons within the unit of study.  Units must also incorporate the teaching and assessment of expository writing, cooperative learning; and graphic organizers such as concept maps, KWL charts, or Feature Analysis. Authentic assessment strategies will be presented and modeled by project staff; then  incorporated into units.  Rubrics will be developed to support activity, lesson, and unit performances, as needed.

    Technology will be infused into all areas.  According to information gathered by Dr. Paul Adams in prior science staff development activities, teachers have limited experience in using computer and calculator-based technologies for data collection, analysis, and communication.  Therefore, specific instruction will take place on: the integration and use of computer-based laboratories and probes with computer-based graphical analysis; the use of the internet and evaluation of internet sites; and web site use to provide an interactive vehicle between and among project staff and participants. 

    The field-trials, the self-reflection, and peer-mentoring aspects of this project as well as the four hours of staff development activities required of each participant at building or district levels will help to foster systemic change in the teaching of science in western Kansas.  Participants will develop their initial units of study then field-test them in their own classrooms.  During the field-trials, a log will be kept of student prior knowledge, teacher and student attitude toward the unit, amendments to be made to the unit, student growth in achievement at the end of the unit, self-reflections on lessons, peer-mentoring feedback, and feedback from FHEDC and/or project staff.  At least one lesson will be video-taped for self- and peer-review.  This systematic form of research on the effectiveness of the units will heighten the teachers’ awareness of how they teach and how well their students learn (Taggart & Wilson, 1998).

    The project itself is “self-disseminating” in that units produced by the participants over the project’s two year lifetime will be used, not only in their respective classrooms, but as the impetus for constructing check-out kits by the Sternberg Museum to be disseminated to educators across the state.  This enhances the role of the Sternberg Museum as a science resource center for teachers throughout the state.  The units will be collated into a proceedings journal to be given to each participant.  The journal will also be made available to teachers across the state at cost in the Sternberg Museum bookstore. 

    The project director, staff, and participants will make presentations at the Kansas Association of Teachers of Science conference in the spring of either 2001 or 2002.  In addition, the project director will make one national presentation each year (once at the National Science Teachers Association conference; once at the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics conference) and will submit articles to professional publications outlining the project and project results.   A web site (with links to Sternberg Museum, the Teacher Education Department and FHEDC) will publicize and report on the project, and provide a forum for interactive discussion among participants and staff.  The web site will use Active Server Pages (ASP) technology with a database backend to provide the dynamic content. 

    The Advisory Council members will be chosen by the project director with suggestions from project staff.  This council will be composed of:  one elementary teacher, one middle school teacher, one high school teacher, and one special services teacher who have had prior experience in the construction, use and evaluation of thematic, inquiry-based units.  Two of these individuals must be from northwest Kansas; two from southwest Kansas.  The Council will work with the project director and staff to recruit teams to the project; formalize content and format of the workshops and follow-up sessions; present as needed on past experiences with the creation of thematic, inquiry-based units and their subsequent field-trials; and provide support to the participants in their areas via web site and/or on-site interaction.

    Project evaluator, Roland Stein, Education Director for the Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks, is a former teacher, involved with the production of materials for interactive lessons and units that fit the inquiry-based model He works with Project Wild activities, having valuable insight into materials preparation, lesson/unit design, and assessment.