9450310 Turchin This project is a planning grant from two community school districts in Manhattan, District 3 and 5. They are proposing to collaborate with the Workshop Center at City College of the City University of New York, the NYC Central Board of Education, and the Educational Development Center to plan a local systemic teacher enhancement effort for improving the teaching and learning of science in the elementary schools of both districts. The grant will allow the districts to conduct a better needs assessment which would include examining staff abilities in terms of their teachers' ability to use inquiry teaching methodologies knowledge of science content and process, and ability to change. They will also be identifying possible lead teachers based on their willingness to work with colleagues and ability to serve as mentors. Once the expertise has been identified a model will be developed which will include: designing the organizational structure; defining the curriculum; identifying the content of the inservice; defining avenues for collaboration with other NSF projects and community- based agencies, including the USI effort, and coordinating with informal science centers. ***
