This project of the Association of Science-Technology Centers (ASTC) is a three-year program to enhance the knowledge and skills of teacher educators in science and technology centers and museums nationally. In turn, these teacher educators will use what they learn to improve their own teaching of children, and the inservice and professional development programs which they now offer to elementary school teachers. The program will work extensively with 90 teacher educators in teams of two or three over a three year period. Summer institutes will be taught by some of the country's most outstanding teacher educators and research scholars in the fields of learning, teacher education, and multicultural education. Through the networking capabilities of ASTC and regular yearly meetings, these science educators will support each other as they plan and engage in local projects designed to improve the teaching of science at the elementary level. As a result of this program, as many as 9,000 classroom teachers may have access to high quality professional development opportunities, which better equip them to implement inquiry-based science instruction. The cost sharing for the project will be fifty five percent of the NSF portion.
