MSC Personnel

Northwestern University

BSCS

It's About Time

University of Illinois at Chicago

Northwestern University

Senior personnel at Northwestern who are committed to this project are:

Daniel Edelson, Associate Professor of Learning Sciences and Computer Science.  Daniel Edelson directs the GEODE Initiative and conducts research on the design of software, curriculum materials, and teacher professional development to support inquiry learning.  Trained as a computer and cognitive scientist, Dr. Edelson develops and studies software and curricula that are informed by contemporary research on learning, motivation, and social/cultural dynamics.  Since 1992, he has directed a series of projects exploring the use of technology as a catalyst for pedagogical reform in science education.   As part of that research, he has led the development of a number software environments including: My World GIS, a geographic information system for inquiry-based learning.  He has also developed numerous inquiry-based science curriculum units for Earth and environmental science courses for students from middle school through college.  He was a founding member of LeTUS and is a co-PI of CCMS at Northwestern with Brian Reiser.  He has worked in partnership with Chicago Public Schools on science education reform since 1994 at both the middle and high school levels.  He directed the development of Investigations in Environmental Science and the professional development for Investigations has been offered to CPS teachers since 2000.  Dr. Edelson will serve as director for the Meaningful Science Consortium, and will also supervise the activities associated with the ninth grade Environmental/Earth science course. 

Louis Gomez, Aon Professor of Learning Sciences and Professor of Computer Science.  For nearly fifteen years, Louis Gomez has aimed to improve schools in Chicago by working at the nexus of improved instruction through curriculum and the developing of communities that support ambitious learning.  Gomez’ specific efforts have included efforts to develop new curricula for Chicago’s middle schools, new professional development regimes for teacher and administrators, and the introduction of powerful new technologies into Chicago’s schools.  These efforts have included co-directing the Center For Learning Technologies in Urban Schools (LeTUS), creating the Chicago Urban Systemic Program (CUSP) in conjunction with colleage Brian Reiser, and supporting the Math Science Technology Academies (MSTA) efforts at two Chicago high schools.  With funding from the Joyce Foundation, Gomez created the Administrator Reform Community (ARC), where senior administrators from Chicago, Milwaukee, Detroit, and Cleveland Public Schools interrogated one another’s reform efforts and noteworthy reform efforts from around the country.  With National Science Foundation funding Gomez and colleagues created Story Space, a new technology that used tangible computing techniques plus flat panel displays to allow Clemente high school students to build narratives in a new form; the aim of this work was to introduce new technologies into urban schools and to use students’ activities with the technologies to shape future designs for a broader audience for them.  Recently, Gomez, in collaboration with Tony Bryk from Stanford University formed the Information Infrastructure System (IIS) research group.  The focus of the IIS work, which is funded by the MacArthur foundation, is the creation of new technologies and social practices that can reshape the work of adults and adolescents in urban schools. 

David E. Kanter, Research Assistant Professor of Learning Sciences.  David Kanter has a strong background in both the biological sciences and education. He has a Ph.D. in biomedical engineering from Johns Hopkins University. He has previously worked on the design, implementation, and evaluation of biology professional development designed around CPS high school biology teachers' use of a common curriculum.  This work began with his NIH(NCRR)-funded Science Education Partnership project "Supporting Student and Teacher Inquiry in Bioscience" with Chicago's Museum of Science of Industry, and continues in the context of his NIH(NHLBI)-funded Minority K-12 Initiative for Teachers and Students as a year-long program of professional development for CPS high school biology teachers.  He presently works with biology teachers from many CPS high schools on developing project-based science curriculum to help students learn biology concepts via inquiry. On this project, Kanter will serve as a co-manager of the design and delivery of the concrete professional development seminar for IDS teachers newly teaching BSCS Biology: A Human Approach during Implementation Year 3.  He will also serve as an instructor himself in this professional development.

Ann Benbow, Director of Education, American Geological Institute.  Ann Benbow is an experienced curriculum developer and teacher educator and is the co-author of Science Education for Elementary Teachers: An Investigation-Based Approach (Wadsworth, 2002). She has been Principal Investigator on six National Science Foundation grants in Instructional Materials Development, what was formerly called Teacher Enhancement (including Operation Chemistry, Phases I and II), and in Informal Science Education. She was also Project Director of the American Chemical Society (ACS) curriculum, Science in a Technical World. At ACS, she served as Editor and writer for WonderScience magazine for children and directed the Parents and Children for Terrific Science intergenerational program. At the SPRY Foundation, where she was for three years, Benbow was Principal Investigator on the NSF-funded Science Across the Generations project for older adults and children. A former classroom science teacher, she was also an elementary science coach for 14 schools in Carroll County, Maryland. This entailed working with teachers to plan science lessons, team-teaching, conducting model lessons and assisting with assessment tasks. Dr. Benbow will act as liaison on the project for AGI and will design and conduct the lead training for teachers using the EarthComm curriculum materials.  She and members of the EarthComm development team will participate in the project through a consulting arrangement with Northwestern. 

Robert Mislevy, Senior Consultant.  Dr. Mislevy joined the Department of Measurement, Statistics, and Evaluation at the University of Maryland as a Professor in January 2001.  Previously, Dr. Mislevy was a Distinguished Research Scientist at Educational Testing Service.  Dr. Mislevy's research interests center on applying recent developments in statistical methodology and cognitive research to practical problems in educational and psychological measurement. He currently serves as both an assessment designer  and an evaluator for Principled Assessment Designs for Inquiry (PADI) project, providing a set of principles and a guiding framework, as well as measurement models appropriate for complex assessments.  Dr. Mislevy will consult on the design and implementation of the assessment approach for the project.

Penelope Peterson, Eleanor R. Baldwin Professor and Dean of the School of Education and Social Policy. Penelope L. Peterson conducts research on learning and teaching in schools and classrooms, and she has published more than one hundred articles on this topic.  Her recent books include Restructuring in the Classroom:  Teaching, Learning, and School Organization (with Richard Elmore and Sarah McCarthey).  Peterson is past president of the American Educational Research Association (AERA). Dean Peterson is a leading expert on professional development in reform contexts, and brings to this project extensive experience in implementing and overseeing innovative collaborative outreach programs with urban public school teachers and administrators, such as Northwestern’s LAUNCH program to prepare new principals for the Chicago Public Schools and Northwestern University’s alternative certification program, NU-TEACH, to educate and mentor professionals who are entering teaching as a second career.  Her recent work focuses on the development of teacher-leaders in high school mathematics to improve teachers’ own practice and includes partnerships with teachers and leaders at Kenwood Academy and Sawyer School.  Dr. Peterson is also developing an executive education curriculum for school leaders to serve as a national model for education in school leadership.  These projects are funded by the Arthur Vining Davis Foundations and the Carnegie Corporation.  She is also collaborating with James Spillane in a National Science Foundation study of means of evaluating leadership in urban public education.  On this project, Dr. Peterson will be consulting on leadership development, coaching and professional development. 

James Spillane, Spencer T and Ann W. Olin Professor in Learning and Organizational Change.  James Spillane directs the Distributed Leadership Study at Northwestern.  His work explores the policy implementation process at the state, school district, school, and classroom levels, focusing on intergovernmental relations and relations between policy and school leaders’ and teachers’ practice.  Specifically, he has focused on efforts to reform mathematics, science, and language arts with particular attention to the role of the school district and school in the reform process. His book Standards Deviation:  How Local Schools Miss-Understand Policy  (Harvard University Press, 2004) details key findings from this work.  More recently, Spillane has worked on leadership for instruction in schools, with particular attention to leadership for instruction in mathematics, science, and language arts.  Adopting a distributed perspective, this work examines how different school subjects structure the practice of leadership differently in elementary schools.   His most recent book Distributed Leadership (Jossey-Bass, 2005), written for practitioners and policymakers, captures some key findings from this work.  Dr. Spillane will consult on leadership, coaching, and school reform for the project.  

Biological Sciences Curriculum Study (BSCS)

Senior personnel at BSCS who are committed to this project are:

Rodger Bybee, Executive Director.  Prior to joining BSCS as Executive Director in 1999, Dr. Bybee was executive director of the National Research Council’s Center for Science, Mathematics, and Engineering Education (CSMEE), in Washington, D.C.  Between 1986 and 1995, he was associate director of BSCS.  He participated in the development of the National Science Education Standards, and in 1993-1995, he chaired the content working group of that National Research Council project. Dr. Bybee has written widely, publishing in both education and psychology. He is co-author of a leading textbook titled Teaching Secondary School Science: Strategies for Developing Scientific Literacy. His most recent book is Achieving Scientific Literacy: From Purposes to Practices, published in1997. Over the years, Dr. Bybee has received awards as a Leader of American Education and an Outstanding Educator in America, and in 1979 was Outstanding Science Educator of the Year. In 1989 he was recognized as one of the 100 outstanding alumni in the history of the University of Northern Colorado. Dr. Bybee’s biography has been included in the Golden Anniversary,  50th Edition, of Who’s Who in America. In April 1998, the National Science Teachers Association (NSTA) presented Dr. Bybee with the NSTA’s Distinguished Service to Science Education Award. Dr. Bybee will serve as a senior advisor on the project. In this role, he will provide conceptual leadership and lend his internationally- and nationally-recognized expertise in science education to the reform of science education in Chicago Public Schools. During Development Year 0, Dr. Bybee will participate in all design meetings for the project and will serve as an advisor to the project during Implementation Year 1.  He will continue to provide leadership and insight throughout the three-year project as requested by the project team.

Janet Carlson Powell, Associate Director.  Dr. Powell has been active in science education for more than 20 years with a range of experiences including teaching middle school and high school life and earth science, teaching science methods for preservice and master teachers, developing university-school partnerships to improve science teaching and learning, developing innovative science curriculum materials, leading professional development activities in science education, and conducting school-based research. Prior to becoming the associate director of BSCS, Dr. Powell served as an assistant professor of education at Mercer University, Georgia, and as chair of the Macon Teacher Education Program, Macon County, Georgia. She completed her graduate studies, earning a Ph.D. in science education from the University of Colorado, Boulder, in 1999 and served as the assistant director of BSCS from 1993-1995.  Dr. Powell joined the BSCS staff in 1986 and served as the project director of numerous curriculum development projects, including the project that resulted in BSCS Biology: A Human Approach. She has both developed and delivered effective professional development for biology teachers using this program. For the past four years, Dr. Powell has served as the Co-PI of the NSF-funded project that created the National Academy for Curriculum Leadership (NACL). Her primary programmatic activities at this time at BSCS include initiating research projects that study the effectiveness of inquiry-based science curriculum materials when implemented with varying degrees of professional development and leading work in professional development that supports the implementation of research-based curriculum materials in school districts by developing leadership capacity.  Dr. Powell will serve as the principal investigator (PI) of the BSCS subcontract with Northwestern University. In this capacity, she will participate in the design aspects of the project during Development Year 0 and Implementation Year 1, including the modification of National Academy for Curriculum Leadership (NACL) to fit the specific needs for science education leadership in CPS. In addition during Implementation Years 2 and 3, Dr. Powell will serve as the lead designer for the professional development of biology teachers using BSCS Biology: A Human Approach.

Nancy M. Landes, Director of the Center for Professional Development.  Dr. Landes has served as the director of the BSCS Center for Professional Development for the past four years. In that capacity, she administers all of the varied projects in this very active center, ranging from two-day workshops to multi-year contracts with NSF-funded Math and Science Partnerships. Alongside Dr. Janet Carlson Powell, Dr. Landes served as the Co-PI on the NSF-funded project that created the National Academy for Curriculum Leadership (NACL). In that role, she helped shape the NACL program and has participated in its implementation for the past four years in Colorado and Washington state. Dr. Landes is currently developing and delivering science professional development to teachers K-12 in 62 districts through the PROM/SE Project, a math-science partnership headquartered at Michigan State University. She joined the BSCS staff as a curriculum developer in 1983. Since that time, she has served in many capacities in both curriculum and professional development, including the management of two multi-million dollar, multi-year curriculum development projects. Dr. Landes has worked with NSTA to develop inquiry-based professional development materials and strategies within NSTA’s Building a Presence for Science program. She has substantial experience in the professional development of teachers and has taught courses in science education for Michigan State University and the University of Hawaii. Dr. Landes will serve as the project director of the BSCS subcontract with Northwestern University. In this capacity, she will participate in the design and implementation of the National Academy for Curriculum Leadership (NACL) and will manage the daily project activities and budget, coordinate with other partners and consultants, and ensure that adequate progress is being made on all parts of the subcontract.

Jody Bintz, Science Educator.  Ms. Bintz is currently working as the director of the NACL in the state of Washington, which includes 15 district-based leadership teams working to improve high school science through the implementation of research-based instructional materials. Ms. Bintz joined BSCS in June 2004 as a professional development associate.  In addition to directing the NACL efforts in Washington, she serves on various other projects including BSCS subcontracts with the Southwest Pennsylvania Math and Science Partnership and with the Institute for Learning, University of Pittsburgh. Prior to joining BSCS, Ms. Bintz served as an instructional services consultant with Loess Hills Area Education Association (AEA) 13 in southwest Iowa.  Her responsibilities included school improvement and professional development planning with numerous districts throughout AEA 13 and participation on the Iowa Support Team for Schools in Need of Improvement.  Prior to her more general work with districts, she served as a science education consultant and worked with teachers to integrate technology; align curriculum, instruction, and assessment with standards and benchmarks; create more inquiry-based classrooms; and incorporate literacy strategies. Ms. Bintz taught high school science and coached in Treynor, Iowa. She is currently pursuing certification in secondary administration through Northwest Missouri State University. Ms. Bintz will serve as the director of the National Academy for Curriculum Leadership (NACL) for this project. In that capacity, she will design and deliver the NACL program onsite and will direct the development of the school-based leadership teams in CPS as they join the project. Ms. Bintz will monitor the work of the Leadership/Coaching Coordinator and will provide technical assistance, as necessary, to the leadership teams during the academic year.

It’s About Time

Senior personnel at It’s About Time who are committed to this project are:

Thomas A. Laster, President.  Tom Laster is President of It’s About Time, part of the Herff Jones Education Division. He has been actively engaged in the publishing and dissemination of NSF supported Math and Science Resources for more than 17 years. Tom Co-founded the Learning Team in 1988, a not-for-profit organization focused on the dissemination of NSF supported technology based resources. Many of the NSF supported programs from the 60’s and 70’s such as SCISS and SAPA are still available through Enhanced Science Helper and Culture and Technology, two of the products developed by Mary Budd Rowe and published by The Learning Team.  In 1996 Tom Co-founded It’s About Time, a pioneering publisher of research-based K-12 math and science instructional curricula focused on NSF supported programs. Its About Time has a mission of Math and Science for All Students. It’s About Time works with top educators and organizations in science and math that are expert on the Content, The Standards, and how students learn. Tom is a 1977 graduate of the University of Pennsylvania and the Wharton School, He received an MBA from the Darden School at the University of Virginia in 1980.  Mr. Laster will serve as the PI for It’s About Time and will be responsible for directing the activities for tenth grade Chemistry and Physics. 

Dr. Barbara Zahm, Vice President for Product Development.  Dr. Zahm is the Principal Investigator for the Active Chemistry project and the Active Physics Revision Grants.  In her previous position, Dr. Zahm was the Director of Professional Development and Implementation and coordinated all activities related to the professional development and implementation of the It's About Time programs including: assessing the needs, developing and carrying out implementation plans for all districts using IAT programs; developing Leadership Institutes for programs to assure the leadership capacity within each district; establishing criteria for awareness and implementation workshops, creating materials, and training manuals; establishing workshop practices, pedagogy, formats and protocol; working with national NSF funded Implementation Centers to help build programs' leadership; overseeing the department's management and scheduling of implementation workshops.  Dr. Zahm received her Doctorate in Anthropology from the Graduate Faculty of the New School in New York in 1980. She is an award-winning multimedia Producer/Director for public television and educational distribution. Her awards include: the Ester Award, the Earth Watch/National Geographic Society Award, the Silver Cindy Award, the American Film Festival-Blue Ribbon, and the Cine Golden Eagle, among others. In addition, she was field producer for Big Blue Marble, the EMMY award-winning television series, and 3-2-1 Contact, winner of the OMNI award.  Dr. Zahm will be responsible for the course design and professional development for the tenth grade chemistry and physics course. 

Arthur Eisenkraft, Senior Consultant.  Arthur Eisenkraft, Professor (or Senior Research Fellow) of Science Education at the University of Massachusetts at Boston, earned both a BS in physics and a MA in physics teaching, the State University of New York at Stony Book, and a Ph.D. in science education, New York University. He has previously served as a high school physics teacher as well as a science coordinator (6-12) for eighteen years. He has also served as a project director of both Active Physics and Active Chemistry projects. His experience in classroom instruction, curriculum development and implementation, and professional development in two projects contributes to his ability to coordinate both technical and logistical aspects of this project. His role will be in several facets including developing, implementing, and conducting professional development for teachers. He will also participate and help in developing the leadership models.

University of Illinois-Chicago

Kimberly Gomez, Assistant Professor of Education.  Dr. Gomez brings extensive design and implementation experience in the analysis and infusion of high quality contnt-area literacy support professional development materials and tools in Chicago classrooms. Her empirical work, conducted in urban middle and high schools, investigates the design and implementation of text and technology-based literacy tools to enhance teacher support for reading-to-learn in inquiry science and investigates students’ development of knowledge and skills in using the literate genres of science in inquiry contexts.  Gomez will lead a Chicago-based professional development team who will work collaboratively with CPS lead teachers and coaches to infuse reading-to-learn literacy support tools and materials into the 9-11 grade science materials. Gomez and the professional development team will provide the development of design professional development materials and tools and conduct professional development training and implementation of literacy support materials in science classrooms.