Partners in the Meaningful Science Consortium

Northwestern University

Biological Sciences Curriculum Study (BSCS),

It's About Time

University of Illinois at Chicago

Northwestern University

This project will take advantage of the expertise and resources of the Learning Sciences Program in Northwestern’s School of Education and Social Policy.  The Learning Sciences Program at Northwestern is widely recognized as a leader in research on educational reform.  The Learning Sciences faculty conduct research in: learning in the content areas (math, science, literacy), learning in organizations, educational policy and leadership, educational technology, professional development, and curriculum design, among other areas.  Northwestern’s School of Education and Social Policy has been ranked in the top ten of graduate schools of education by U.S. News and World Report for the last three years and is ranked sixth in the 2005-6 rankings. 

This work will take place as part of the following ongoing initiatives in the School of Education and Social Policy.  Each of these initiatives brings faculty and staff with expertise and experience in the key elements of this proposal. 

The Center for Learning Technologies in Urban Schools (LeTUS) is an NSF-Funded Center for Collaborative Research on Learning Technologies.  LeTUS is a collaboration of Northwestern, the University of Michigan, and the Chicago and Detroit Public School Systems that is working to place urban school districts in a leadership role in the improvement of science education for all children.  Work in LeTUS has included collaborative curriculum development with school district personnel, professional development, technology planning, and coaching.  The NSF grant that established the Center funding ended in 2004, but the work continues through other sources of funding. 

The Center for Curriculum Materials in Science (CCMS) is an NSF-Funded Center for Learning and Teaching.  CCMS is a collaboration of the American Association for the Advancement of Science’s Project 2061, Northwestern University, the University of Michigan, and Michigan State University.  CCMS uses the curriculum and professional development projects conducted by its faculty as a context for research on the design, analysis, and implementation of science curriculum materials.

The Distributed Leadership Study is a collection of research projects that use the distributed perspective as a lens to examine leadership practice in urban k-12 schools.  The DLS conducts research on school leaders – administrators, specialists, and teacher leaders— investigating how they work to manage and improve instruction. It also studies leadership as a practice of instructional improvement and the relationship between leadership practice and teachers' classroom work.  In addition, the DLS develops resources to help schools to implement leadership practices that take into account the distributed leadership perspective and offers professional development programs that introduce school leaders to the distributed leadership perspective, offers ways to put it into practice, and ways to use this knowledge to create a community of practice that will foster improved teaching and learning.

The Geographic Data in Education (GEODE) Initiative is dedicated to the improvement of Earth and environmental science education through the use of data visualization and analysis tools to support inquiry-based pedagogy. Through an integrated program of research and development, the GEODE Initiative is advancing our understanding of learning in the Earth and environmental sciences, design of curriculum and educational software, and teacher professional development.  The GEODE initiative is the developer of the Investigations in Environmental Science curriculum, published by It’s About Time; My World GIS software published by PASCO Scientific; and two Earth science units in the Project-Based Inquiry Science comprehensive middle school curriculum to be published by It’s About Time.

Click here to see the Northwestern senior staff.

Click here to see recent Northwestern work in urban settings. 

Biological Sciences Curriculum Study (BSCS)

BSCS, established in 1958, is a not-for-profit (501(c)(3)) science education research and development organization headquartered in Colorado Springs, Colorado. BSCS endeavors to improve students’ understanding of science and technology by developing exemplary curriculum materials, supporting their widespread and effective use, promoting professional development, and conducting research and evaluation studies.  Since its founding almost 50 years ago, BSCS has consistently provided leadership in K–12 science education based on four principles: (1) working to maintain the intellectual integrity of science; (2) focusing on scientific inquiry; (3) championing innovation; and (4) designing core programs for all students. The work of BSCS is grounded in sound research on teaching and learning, addresses large-scale complex issues, and incorporates systems-level change. Although BSCS is best known for its curriculum development work, in recent years the organization has expanded its services in professional development and in research and evaluation. BSCS has extensive experience and success in completing large, multiyear projects and in working with scientists, science educators, and teachers. Curricula based upon or adapted from BSCS programs have been used in more than 60 countries around the world and have been presented in approximately 15 languages. BSCS staff has conducted hundreds of summer institutes and professional development sessions at all levels designed to help teachers integrate inquiry into instruction and improve their understanding of basic concepts in multiple science disciplines. In short, BSCS has experience in curriculum development and implementation as well as curriculum reform at local, regional, and national levels.

Click here to see the BSCS senior staff. 

Click here to see recent BSCS work in urban settings. 

It’s About Time

It’s About Time (IAT) is a unit of the Education Division of Herff-Jones, Inc.  As the publishers of Active Physics, EarthComm, Investigating Earth Systems, Investigations in Environmental Science, InterActions in Physical Science, Active Chemistry and Math Connections, all NSF funded and developed curriculum materials, IAT has a proven track record in curriculum development, dissemination and implementation for research-based programs.  When it became clear that extensive professional development was a critical component to successful implementations to these programs, IAT built a Professional Development and Implementation Department to focus on supporting districts' efforts at implementation. During the last ten years, IAT has demonstrated its deep commitment to research based math and science education and has thus gone well beyond the role of the traditional publisher.

Click here to see the It's About Time senior staff. 

Click here to see recent It's About Time work in urban settings. 

University of Illinois-Chicago

The work at the University of Illinois-Chicago will draw on Kimberly Gomez’s extensive research experience in the area of literacy acquisition and content-area literacy development in middle and high school adolescents. 

Click here to learn more about Dr. Gomez's background. 

Click here to see recent work by Dr. Gomez in urban settings. 

American Geological Institute

The American Geological Institute (AGI) is a nonprofit federation of 45 geoscientific and professional associations that represents more than 120,000 geologists, geophysicists, and other Earth scientists. Founded in 1948, AGI provides information services to geoscientists, serves as a voice of shared interests in the profession, plays a major role in strengthening geoscience education, and strives to increase public awareness of the vital role the geosciences play in society's use of resources and interaction with the environment. Through its Outreach and Education Departments, AGI plays an important role in both informal and formal education about the geosciences. AGI staff members regularly conduct training for both middle and high school teachers using their programs inLos Angeles Unified School District, Chicago Public Schools, Denver Public Schools, and Pittsburgh Schools. AGI has also conducted leadership trainings for professional development lead teachers in Los Angeles, Chicago, and Houston over the past two years.  To support these teachers, AGI has created a web site for professional developers with resources, workshop plans, evaluation tools, literacy strategies and other useful information at http://www.agiweb.org/education/teachers/earthcomm.html.  Ann Benbow, Director of Education for AGI, will be representing AGI on this project. 

Click here to learn more about Dr. Benbow's background.