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Spohane, Washington
A City School District Struggles to
Put the Pieces Together
Spokane is a socioeconomically diverse community located in the eastern part
of Washington State, close to the Idaho border. The school district has 35 el-
ementary schools (K-6J and 800 elementary school teachers, and it serves
1 7, 850 elementary school students. The population of the district is largely
Caucasian, with some Native Ameracans, Asians, and African Americans.
The impetus for reform in Spokane District 81 came from school ad-
ministrators within the district. The district's major focus to date has been
on curriculum selection, professional development, and science materials
support. The district has a module-based, inquiry-centered science curricu-
lum, and the majority of the distr~ct's teachers have been involved in profes-
sional development activities. The district has established a science materials
support center, bet it has been difficult to organize and maintain the center.
Do the same creatures live in
the little Spokane River as in the pond near my house?" asked a
fifth-grader in Lorna Spear's class in Spokane's School District 81.
"How can we find out?"
This question emergent from work on the module Microworlds,
a Science and Technology for Children life science unit in the dis-
trict's new inquiry-centered science program. The philosophy be-
hind the inquiry-centerecl approach is that as much as possible,
children's interests and questions drive classroom cliscussions.
In response to that question, Spear organized a series of field
trips to try to find out what kinds of organisms live in rivers and
ponds. The class collectec! specimens at both sites en cl took them
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Spokane,
Washington
back to the classroom, where they examined them under a micro-
scope. They cliscovered that different organisms live in different
bodies of water, and they concluded that this was largely due to the
unique characteristics of each river and pond.
Spear, a lead teacher in Spokane's science program, believes
that children need freedom to learn, so throughout the day, she
gives them many choices. As a result, children spend time working
in groups and alone, reading, and conducting scientific investiga-
tions. Spear has found that "children are more self-initiated and
creative without my intervention."
"All types of learning are welcome in my classroom," explains
Spear. "Another little boy was interested in exploring how the
earth started spinning. We brainstormed about the problem in
class. Then I encouraged him to go home and read about it. He
came back to class with the same explanation that astronomers
have come up with that the big bang set everything in motion
and gravity creates the pull among planets."
Planning the Science Program
Learning experiences like these become possible when a school
district makes the commitment to implement an inquiry-centered
program. Under the direction of Science Coordinator Scott Stow-
ell, Spokane's science program is now entering its seventh year.
Stowell and his colleagues used much of the information gatherer!
at the 1989 National Science Resources Center Elementary Sci-
ence Leadership Institute to develop a comprehensive K-6 science
action plan.
The first phase of the plan called for an in-depth curriculum
review and development process. According to teacher lane
Gorder-Harrison, the Leadership Institute made it "crystal clear"
that a kit-based program was the best approach. The science com-
mittee spent long hours wrestling with the topics to be covered in
the curriculum, getting input from teachers, en cl developing a
comprehensive curriculum matrix made up of life science, physi-
cal science, en cl earth science strands, with special emphasis on en-
vironmental issues and technology. Once the strands were estab-
lished, the district invited representatives from many companies to
visit en cl present their products. The district piloted many mod
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Inquiry-Centered
Science
in Practice
ules, rejected some, accepted others, en c! ultimately filled in the
curriculum matrix with modules from several national companies
as well as some developed at the district level.
-
Professiona' Deve~opment Activities
As the modules were being selected, Spokane's professional devel-
opment program also began to take shape. In June 1992, the dis-
trict en cl its partners, Eastern Washington University and Partners-
at-Large, a coalition of business, industry, and government
agencies, receiver! a five-year National Science Foundation
Teacher Enhancement Grant. Stowell en cl Robert Gibbs, a physi-
cist from Eastern Washington University, were named co-directors
of the grant.
The following month, Stowell and Gibbs held the clistrict's
first summer institute for lead teachers. The institute lasted four
weeks and provided professional development activities for 75 dis-
trict teachers en cl 20 teachers from private schools. The institute's
sessions were conducted jointly by classroom teachers and univer-
sity scientists. The participating teachers now make up the cadre
of lead teachers, who, along with school principals, work with
teachers new to inquiry-centerecl science.
For the first three years of the project, typical staff develop
ment consisted of either two 10-hour sessions of intensive study of
two modules or attendance at the 30-hour summer institute. The
fact that teachers were given a choice proved to be popular with
teachers and a real strength of the program. In both settings, teach-
ers worked in groups and progressed through the lessons in a mocl-
ule, just as their students would clot Instructors modeled appropri-
ate instructional strategies, such as implementing the learning
cycle and asking different kinds of questions. The summer institute
also explored other issues related to science education reform, in-
cluding learning theory and assessment. Teachers appreciated the
presence of knowledgeable university scientists and the opportuni-
ty to ask questions and learn more about the subject matter.
During the summer of 1993, 15 elementary schools sent 93
teachers to the second summer institute, where lead teachers con-
ducted many of the gracle-leve] workshops. Gorcler-Harrison, one
of the summer institute instructors, recalls that "teachers start to
148
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Spokane,
Washington
act like kicis; they can't keep their hands off the materials." The
teachers' interest and enthusiasm soon spread to educators in
schools not yet involved in the program.
In fact, interest in the school district was so high that the re-
maining 20 schools in the district requested that they be brought
into the program the following year instead of being phased in
over a two-year period as originally planned. The administrators
agreed.
Science Materials Support The Critical Element
The decision to grant the schools' request was to create unfore-
seen problems in another area of the program the science mate-
rials support center. Indeed, creating a workable materials support
center is one of the real challenges facing school districts engaged
in reform. A district such as Spokane, which serves 800 elementary
school teachers, must supply kits to the schools, refurbish them,
keep track of inventory, and pick the kits up on time. Although dis-
trict leaders made every effort to plan up front and to consider
every detail in the structuring of the program, sometimes circum-
stances make implementation difficult.
"Bringing in 20 schools in one year was too much," says Stow-
ell. 'We clicin't have the space we needed or the personnel to serve
that many schools. All the details need to be thought out carefully
in advance."
The problems fell into several categories. One was space. A
warehouse formerly used to store textbooks had been designated
to house the kits. But the textbooks had not been removed in a
timely fashion, so there wasn't enough room for the kits. The rea-
son this situation arose can be traced to some of the challenges in-
herent in the process of planning and implementing a massive re-
form effort.
'We had some changes in personnel," Stowell says. "I had
been working closely with the assistant superintendent on this proj-
ect, but he retired. New indivicluals came on board who were not
familiar with the logistical support that was neecled. They were
very supportive, but I guess I didn't articulate all the details clear-
ly enough for them during the transition. As a result, the pace of
moving the oIcl textbooks out was not quick enough."
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Inquiry-Centered
Science
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The jurisdiction for the science materials support center did
not fall solely under Stowell's supervision, which compounded the
problem. While Stowell coordinated the scheduling of the science
kits, another department was responsible for operations at the sci-
ence materials support center. So the issue became one of com-
municating the need to that office and solving the problem in col-
laboration with key inclivicluals from other departments within the
school district.
Problem Solving Is the Key
At this point, the district movect into a problem-solving mode. It hacl
commissioner! a study of the materials support center in the sum-
mer of 1994 to obtain all the information neecled to get it up and
running. Using the study's report as a guide, the district brought in
Rob,vn Norwood, an experienced manager, to supervise the center.
'We completely reorganized the space," she says. 'We took
the books off the shelves and made room for the kits. Once we had
room to see what supplies we haci, we could see what supplies we
neecled to order."
To keep track of the vast number of supplies, from beakers to
bottles, wires to bells, tuning forks to rallies, the staff at the materi-
als center developed an inventory sheet. The inventory sheet en-
surecl that the kits would be ready when the teachers needed them.
Along with keeping track of the inventory, Norwood en cl
Stowell developed a workable pickup and delivery schedule. In-
stead of having all the kits cleliverec! on an eight-week cycle, Stow-
ell put them on six-, seven-, and eight-week cycles. That way, the
staff at the center could refurbish one group of kits while another
group was out with the teachers. The schedule also carefully de-
lineated which teachers were to receive kits during specific time
periocls.
With the inventory and schedule in place, Norwood then
tackled the issue of routing. Using the district's delivery system,
she developed a routing system where geographical quadrants
were served on a Monday-Thursday and Tuesday-Friday rotation
system. Teachers who had requested kits knew exactly when to ex-
pect them and where to pick them up. Implementing this sched-
ule kept the kits moving through the system smoothly.
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Spokane,
Washington
Spokane's experience underscores how critical a science ma-
terials center is to the success of the science program. There are
many details to attend to, and it is easy to overlook one or two es-
sential ones. When that happens, it doesn't take long for problems
to occur. The key to success is a well-thought-out plan and strong
management at the science materials support center.
-
Mov~ng For~ware
With the science materials support center problems under con-
trol, science program staff are looking forward to a smooth road
ahead. The teachers, too, have had additional time to fine-tune
the skills they acquired during the professional development pro-
grams. The lead teachers as well as classroom teachers have been
given the option of participating in advanced workshops. Also, a
subcommittee consisting of the original lead teachers has begun
to identify the essential learning goals for each module and to cor-
relate them with the goals defined in state en cl national standards.
Many teachers, however, are still struggling to learn the ba-
sics. Co-Director Gibbs observed that much of the initial training
focused on "nitty-gritty" issues of materials management, class-
room management, and understanding the activities in the mod-
ules. Few teachers have reached the "expert" level, where they are
able to modify the modules, integrate them with other parts of the
curriculum, and bring in other materials to enhance the kits. A1-
though react teacher Lorna Spear agrees, she also notes that the
program "has given teachers support and more time to talk to one
another." Fostering collegial relationships among teachers is one
of the goals of the project and provides a way for teachers to grow
professionally.
At this point, however, Gibbs says that "we have been able to
bring most of our teachers to the level of mechanical use. That
shouldn't be perceives! as negative. What it means is that we are
teaching science significantly better than we were before."
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Inquiry-Centered
Science
in Practice
The implementation process needs to be planned carefully. The
pace of implementation should not accelerate beyond the school
district's capacity to meet the needs of the teachers who will be
participating in the program.
The establishment of a well-functioning science materials support
center is critical. Teachers can't teach inquiry-centered science
without all of the necessary materials.
Science program staff must be realistic about the goals of the pro-
fessional development program. Most teachers will need to pass
through a period of"mechanical use" before they master all the fine
points of inquiry-centered science teaching.
152
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Representative terms from entire chapter:
science materials
