This proposal is a two-year Local and Regional teacher development project that will establish a collaborative partnership between Miami University and the Lakota and Talawanda school districts in Ohio. Seventy-two selected elementary teachers will participate in a four-week workshop with an academic year follow-up. The second year of the project will extend to teachers from other districts. The workshop will emphasize the materials, procedures, and methods of the hands-on program, Curriculum Improvement Study (SCIIS), which has been purchased by the two districts. Another major focus of the project will be to establish model schools of elementary science instruction for use with undergraduate and graduate teacher preparation programs and for visitations from other school districts.
