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San Francisco, California
A University Works Collaboratively with a
City School District
The San Francisco Unified School District serves approximately 35, 000 el-
ementary students in 75 elementary schools. Students come from urban
and suburban neighborhoods across the economic spectrum. Eighty-five per-
cent of San Francisco's students are minorities, including African Ameri-
can, Hispanic, and Asian. Thirty percent of the students come from fami-
lies in which English is not the primary language.
City Science is the story of a successful collaboration between the Uni-
versity of California at San Francisco (UCSF) and the San Francisco Unified
School District. Between 1991 and 1995, City Science worked closely with
the district and made significant contributions to the professional develop-
ment of 100 teachers and the development of teacher-scientist relationships.
Bruce Alberts, then afaculty member at UC5F and now president of theNa-
tional Academy of Sciences, was instrumental in starting City Science.
r ~
. he year was 1991. City Science,
a project sponsored by the University of California at San Francis-
co (UCSF) in collaboration with the San Francisco Unified School
District (SFUSD) through their Science and Health Education
Partnership (SEP), had just received funding from the National
Science Foundation (NSF) to implement a districtwide elemen-
tary science reform project.
City Science had cleveloped a simple design for the program.
Its goal was to expand the use of hands-on, inquiry-centerecl sci-
ence teaching in the district by training a cadre of 100 lead teach-
ers over four years. These teachers would be responsible for bring
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ing the inquiry-centered approach to their schools. City Science
also had secured funding to hire a full-time science resource
teacher who would provi(le support to classroom teachers and be
responsible for refurbishing the science kits.
But plans have a way of changing once the work actually be-
gins. When City Science coordinators began implementing their
program, other science education initiatives were already under
way. In 1990, the California State Department of Education had
published a radically different science framework, which stressed
the importance of teaching the "big ideas" of science, such as en-
ergy and scale en cl structure. According to the district's adoption
cycle, it was slated to align its curriculum with the California
framework by 1992.
Another influence in the district was the program sponsored
by School in the Exploratorium (SITE), a museum-based profes-
sional development effort. SITE hac3 been training district teach-
ers for more than a clecacle through intensive four-week institutes
focusing on science inquiry. Finally, the school district tract estab-
lished the San Francisco Science Leadership Project, a three-year
program designed to provide intensive training to 27 teachers who
wouIcl be charged with the task of bringing inquiry-centerecl sci-
ence to their schools and making key decisions about the science
curriculum.
What proved to be the link among these program was the
teachers, who worked together en cl discovered how their teaching
could be strengthened by sharing icleas with their peers.
A Push for Professional Development
When City Science began work on the NSF project in 1991, its main
vehicle for training was slated to be a kit-based curriculum program.
Initially, the teachers were intimidated by the kits. "It was like going
to the dentist to get the teachers to open the kits and get going," re-
calIs Janice Low, former City Science clirector. "It's very scary to
change your whole program overnight to let the unknown into
your classroom. Teachers wanted to improve their science teaching,
but they had to be encouraged to use the new curriculum units."
City Science coordinators deci(led to proceed slowly. During
the summer institute, the lead teachers used selected modules as a
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San Francisco,
California
starting point to explore relevant science content, peclagogy, al-
ternative assessment strategies, and leadership clevelopment. They
received stipends and graduate credit for their involvement in the
program.
At the end of the first summer institute, the teachers were
given a full year to assimilate what they had learned and to prepare
themselves to work with other teachers at their schools. Jan Tuomi,
one of the program's founders, thinks that giving the lead teach-
ers time to learn was a significant factor in the success of the pro-
gram. The hiatus gave the participants an opportunity to practice
what they had learned: to refine their teaching styles according to
principles of inquiry-centered learning, to reflect on their class-
room experiences, and to crystallize their own thinking about the
instruction they had received. As a result, City Science alumni are
now more effective and credible as coaches to their peers.
Over the subsequent three years of the program, City Science
also cliscovered the importance of drawing on teachers from the
city's other two major science reform initiatives. Science Leader-
ship Project teachers served as mentor teachers for City Science
summer institutes, and City Science teachers participated in work-
shops held at the Exploratorium. Gracluates of the Exploratorium's
programs also became involved in City Science and the Science
Leadership Project. In these ways, the three separate programs be-
came more united in their efforts en cl succeeded in training a large
pool of teachers.
The Role of Scientists
Scientists had an integral role in the City Science program. After
considering several approaches, the program initially opted to
team each of six master teachers, one from each gracle, with two
UCSF scientists. During the first summer institute, the scientist-
teacher teams introduced participants to inquiry-centered science
modules. Over the subsequent three years, however, teachers
worked with only one scientist.
The SEP executive director and City Science's co-principal in-
vestigator, Liesl Chatman, believes that scientists have much to
gain from being part of such a partnership. "It's not a partnership
if the scientists aren't learning," she says. "The scientists aren'tjust
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Inquiry-Centered
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there to reform elementary science in the classroom they're
there to learn something themselves.... When the benefit is all
the way around, the partnership becomes meaningful en cl sus-
tainable."
Margaret Clark, SEP director and science coordinator for
City Science, was among the first scientists who worked with teach-
ers. She found the experience enlightening, giving her a "strong
appreciation of teachers' teaching skills en c! an understanding of
how to facilitate learning." Clark also found that "scientists are
very good at making connections between major concepts and
daily phenomena, which is very important in making science rele-
vant to both teachers and students."
Teachers, too, found the partnership enormously beneficial.
"Scientists put more creclibility into what we were doing," says
Denise Ebisuzaki, a thirc3-grade teacher in San Francisco. "They
were able to catch errors before we conveyed them to students. For
example, in one module, scientists helped us unclerstand that the
teacher's guide had specified the wrong wire length to complete
one experiment. A mistake like that could make or break a lesson."
Curriculum Adoption and Its Ramifications
In 1992, the district adopted module-based, inquiry-centered sci-
ence curriculum materials for all 75 of the district's elementary
schools. The materials support the core curriculum, which was de-
veloped in 1990. City Science and district teachers collaborated on
the final choice of curriculum materials, which included modules
from both the Full Option Science System and Insights. At this
point, the district facecl a new challenge: How could all of the ele-
mentary school teachers be preparer! to begin teaching inquiry-
centered science? Where would the district find the resources for
this enormous undertaking?
To resolve these issues, the district asked City Science anti its
cadre of 100 leac! teachers to join a smaller group of the SFUSD sci
ence leadership teachers and mentor teachers to become presen-
ters, mentors, and leaders in efforts to introduce all of the clistrict's
teachers to inquiry-centered science. As part of this development
effort, the district hired an outside consultant who showed the
teachers how to organize workshops and gave them opportunities
Ado
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San Francisco,
California
to practice on each other. 'We told teachers that their experience
with the modules was invaluable," says Low. "They know the day-to-
day difficulties of working through the modules. Their experience
gave them credibility with other teachers."
In the end, the teachers' hard work paid off. "I loved taking
a leadership role and helping other teachers out," says Dan Brady,
a third-grade teacher. 'We were able to introduce the teachers to
the modules in a structured way." Low concurs, noting that for the
first time in the district's history, teachers were given six profes-
sional development days over two years, which enabled them to
build a foundation for beginning to implement the moclules. Low
calls this move "unprecedented" and a "big risk" for the new su-
perintendent, who made the final decision on the basis of his ob-
servation that a strong science program often meant that the
school was operating at a high level. Through the training experi-
ence, City Science teachers grew as leaclers, and the district teach-
ers were better equipped to teach the science modules.
Materials Support
To further support the modular-based science program, SFUSD
has establisher! a central materials management center. It asks the
schools to take more responsibility for their maintenance than
other districts do, however. The system works like this: Each school
in the district is issued four modules for every two teachers at each
grade level. Generally, the kits contain enough consumable mate-
rials for two classes to use before a refurbishment request is sent
back to the materials center. When the kits are ready for refur-
bishment, a lead teacher or an administrative staff member com-
pletes the necessary requisitions for the replacement materials.
The materials are then sent back to the school, again with a suff~-
cient quantity of supplies for two uses. The kits are kept at the
schools, not at the materials management center.
Although the system has worked fairly well, some teachers
point out that not all of the problems have been worked out of the
materials aspect of the program. "The reordering process is time-
consuming and burdensome," says Brady. "I think it would be eas-
ier if the district created a new order form, where we could check
off what we needed instead of having to write it in. In my view, the
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Inquiry-Centered
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materials component is critical: without the supplies, teachers
won't use the modules."
Future Plans
In 1995, the UCSF and SFUSD received a f~ve-year Local Systemic
Change Initiative grant from the NSF to continue and greatly ex-
pand the City Science effort. The new grant will support the
strengthening of leadership from within the district. One of City
Science's most important contributions to science education re-
form was realizing that the district not outside consultants-
must take the leads. "Establishing an appropriate leadership struc-
ture is key," says Chatman. "The district must come first."
The new grant will also strive to bring more teachers into the
program and to raise the level of inquiry-centerecl instruction by
those aireacly using the modules. It also includes an important new
feature-eight focus schools designed to become models for sci-
ence education reform at the school level. Planners have to involve
the whole neighborhood in the effort, including parents, busi-
nesses, and other local resources.
City Science teachers and staff are looking forward to con-
tinuing the work begun over the past four years. As she prepares
to embark on the second phase, Clark reflects on the program's
progress to date. "Science education reform is never really 'fin-
ishec3,"' she says. "Progress is ongoing. The real issue is to leap
from working with a small, committed group of teachers to going
clistrictwicle. It's difficult to communicate with en cl motivate other
teachers outside the small group. It's a huge leap, and we're just at
the beginning of that task."
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!~
San Francisco,
California
.,~ ~
~-am_
_ _ _ _ ~
Although partnerships are an effective way to bring about change in
science education, the outside organization must learn how to col-
laborate with the school district. Reform will be most significant
when the district assumes a strong leadership role.
Professional development is crucial, because it provides teachers
with the support they need to teach inquiry-centered science ef-
fectively. Furthermore, teachers need time and additional training if
they are to become leaders of science education reform at the dis-
trict level.
Forming partnerships between scientists and teachers can add an
important dimension to the district's professional development
program.
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Representative terms from entire chapter:
school district
