The Philadelphia Elementary Science Kit Collaboration (PESKC) of The Franklin Institute is a model urban alliance that includes the museum, local corporations and the School District of Philadelphia. Since 1983 this partnership has successfully piloted hands-on science kits and workshops to support the use of activity kits in the K - 6 classrooms and to increase the content area preparation of elementary teachers. PESKC has four primary goals: --to develop and produce twenty-eight science activity kits that will augment and support four major curriculum goals. --to provide professional development workshops for Philadelphia teachers to train them in the effective use of the kits and to improve their competence and confidence as science educators. --to expand a network that will link elementary teachers to science resources in the local community. --to continue an active program for dissemination of kits and urban partnership model to defray development cost and support the replication of the program in urban and other communities across the nation. Additional merits of this proposal have been its success in a large racially diverse urban school district, the manufacturing of the kits in Philadelphia by a non-profit job training agency that provides jobs for those who find it difficult to secure employment, and the firm commitment of The School District of Philadelphia to maintain permanently the elementary science kit after implementation ends in 1991. In summary, this proposal addresses a need in elementary classooms and provides persuasive evidence that PESKC will institutionalize numerous mechanisms to insure the effectiveness of the materials, teacher education and dissemination of the model. The leadership is excellent as is the reputation of The Franklin Museum of Science. The program is consistent with the objectives of Instructional Materials Development Guidelines and shows the promise of being of high quality.
