| Chapter 2: | Background Study |
|
|
program provided a total of $10 million in grants to each of 24 states and Puerto Rico over five years to revamp their educational systems. Supovitz et al. reported that the best results of professional development were when the in-service both taught and modeled inquiry-based instruction. More than 50,000 teachers were part of SSI professional development grants.
The national standards helped to provide evidence that science would not be “dumbed-down” through the reform efforts. With the emphasis in the forefront of professional development, there was not as much of the “teacher-proof” curriculum being developed as compared to the 1950s.
The standards movement that accentuated learning for all provided the foundation of support that was needed for science education reform (Supovitz et al., 2000). Standards through federal legislation (e.g., Goals 2000 and the Elementary and Secondary Education Act) and state and national documents (e.g., professional, content, and performance standards) provided the common ground regarding effective professional development of teachers, instructional methods, and deliberate connections to the education system.
Bransford et al. (2000) authored a report for the NRC outlining an overall consensus of how learning occurs. Many of the research findings support inquiry, as illustrated in the book Inquiry and the National Science Education Standards (NRC, 2000).
Research Finding 1: Understanding science is more than knowing facts. Learning for understanding and application is the goal. According to research (Donovan, Bransford, & Pellegrino, 1999), people who have a deep understanding of a particular topic a) have a deep foundation of factual knowledge, b) understand facts and ideas in the context of a conceptual framework, and c) organize knowledge in ways that allow for retrieval and application. This relates directly to inquiry learning in the classroom