Really enjoyed this very clear, crisp video. Your findings seem to suggest that students of teachers that participated in the practicum show greater gains. Given that, what changes would you make to the program in the final year? Is there any way to scale this program, with providing online support to teachers doing the practicum?

Emily and I are Co-PIs of this project. I just want to add a comment about scaling our effort. Emily is correct, that running this intensive practicum is expensive, but we are convinced that it is a vastly more effective and efficient way for a district to spend their PD dollars, than say, providing traditional PD without a practicum. The cost per teacher is higher, but the “return on investment” is also considerably higher. Not only are our teachers improving their own teaching practice, but several have left the project because they have been offered positions by the district as coaches, specialists, assistant principals, etc.

Do some teachers find this kind of teaching very difficult to master? Why? Are schools of education prepared to offer this kind training to teachers-to-be?

It is confirming to see that this kind of thought, robust teacher mentorship and support, through multiple mechanisms, over time, will not allow students to “change their mind” and re-think misconceptions, BUT will also allow teachers to learn how to do their job better- and change their mind about what each of their students might need to fully engage in critical thinking and argumentation. As Avron mentioned above, what is needed in Schools of Education, to sustainably support this kind of teacher learning? And what is needed at the school level, to ensure that such teaching practices are maintained?

We have found that many teachers do find this type of teaching to be challenging. In the NCLB era, teachers were “trained” to focus on delivering content to students, and help students with memorization and recall. Research on learning, Common Core and NGSS are now focusing teachers on helping students to explore, compare, discuss and critique their own thinking and the thinking of their peers in order to arrive at the best possible explanations. Faculty in schools of education, professional developers, principals, BTSA coordinators, etc., also need to adjust our own instructional approaches as we train, induct, support and work with teachers. So, yes, this is a systemic issue, and the solutions need to be put in place throughout all parts of the system.

This innovative model for science professional development for elementary teachers is very exciting. During the NCLB era many schools drifted away from teaching science in the elementary school to spend more time and effort on reading, writing, and mathematics instruction. I would be interested in hearing about some of the challenges teachers find with this type of teaching.