Northeast Alliance
5. Professional Development Trainings
Wendy Whitmer
Alliance Director, ESD Science Coordinator
Director for the Center for Instructional Services
Northeast Washington
Educational Service District 101
4202 South Regal St.
Spokane, WA 99223
Voice: 509-323-2725
Fax: 509-323-2785
wwhitmer@esd101.net
Beth Worthy
Science Kit Program Manager
Northeast Washington Educational Service District 101
4202 South Regal
Spokane, WA 99223
Voice:509-789-3525
Fax: 509-323-2785
bworthy@esd101.net
www.esd101.net/csi
North East Washington Science Education Resource Center (NEWSERC) is housed at NEWESD 101 in Spokane.
NEWESD 101 is the largest, geographically, of the nine ESD regions in Washington. There is vast diversity in size and geographic isolation among districts. The main goal of NEWSERC is to provide high quality materials and professional development science education resources to all schools in the NEWESD region both large and small.
Northeast Washington Educational Service District 101 and 29 school districts have formed the Northeast Washington LASER Alliance to support K-12 science education in the NEWESD 101 region. Those same districts formed a materials refurbishment cooperative housed at NEWESD 101. Although NEWSERC started with nine districts, we are now up to 25. It is hoped that many more will join as their circumstances permit.
In year one of operation, NEWSERC supported 100 teachers in grades K-6 Foss physical science kits implementation through providing professional development, purchasing and refurbishment services, and teacher leader development. Year two served 200 teachers and provided support for implementation of earth science and physical science kits. We now offer support for over 650 teachers and provide support for implementation of earth, physical and life science kits in both elementary and middle school levels.
North East Area Participants at Strategic Planning
Science Formative Assessment Discussion
Northeast Washington LASER Alliance Members
|
Central Valley (2007) Cheney (2005) Chewelah (2006) Colfax (2007) Columbia (2007) Creston (2010) Curlew (2007) Cusick (2005) Davenport (2008) Deer Park (2007) Freeman (2009) Garfield (2008) Inchelium (2008) Liberty (2010) Lind (2009) Loon Lake (2010) Mary Walker (2008) Medical Lake (2005) Newport (2010) Nine Mile Falls (2006) Northport (2005) Oakesdale (2008) Odessa (2007) Palouse (2008) Pullman (2005) Reardan Edwall (2005) Republic (2007) Ritzville (2008) Rosalia (2005) Selkirk (2007) Spokane Tekoa (2008) Wellpinit (2007) West Valley (2007) |
Material Supported
The instructional materials (kits) supported by Northeast LASER Alliance are shown here. Elementary kits are FOSS and Middle School kits are a combination of FOSS and STC.
Instructional Materials Support K-8 Kits
| Grade | Physical Science | Earth Science | Life Science |
|---|---|---|---|
|
FOSS |
|
|
|
|
K |
Wood and paper |
|
Animals Two by Two |
|
1-2 |
Solids and Liquids |
Air and Weather |
New Plants |
|
1-2 |
Balance and Motion |
Pebbles, Sand, and Silt |
Insects |
|
3-4 |
Magnetism and Electricity |
Water |
Human Body |
|
3-4 |
Physics of Sound |
Earth Materials |
Structures of Life |
|
5-6 |
Variables |
Solar Energy |
Environments |
|
5-6 |
Levers and Pulleys |
Landforms |
Food and Nutrition |
|
|
|
|
|
|
FOSS/STC |
|
|
|
|
6 (Middle) |
Light (STC) |
Planetary Science (STC) |
Diversity of Life (STC) |
|
7 (Middle) |
Energy, Machines and Motion (STC) |
Catastrophic Events (STC) |
Human Body System (STC) |
|
8 (Middle) |
Properties of Matter (STC) |
Earth History |
Populations and Ecosystems |
|
|
|
|
|
5. Professional Development Trainings
The initial kit use trainings offered by the Northeast Washington LASER Alliance are designed to address the attributes of high quality science teachers. The Alliance started in 2005 offering three levels of physical science trainings and then added the earth science trainings in 2006-2007 and in 2007-2008 added the life science trainings. We now offer a wide variety of training ranging from initial use, to content training, professional learning communities in science, science notebooks, formative assessment, inquiry, and others. We are currently in the process of developing a plan to address the needs of all teachers in our region, both new to science reform and lead teachers. The table below shows some of the professional development activities offered during the 2010-2011 school year.
Table 1: Science Professional Development
| Initial Use Training |
|---|
Kit Use Grades K-2 |
Kit Use Grades 3-5 |
Kit Use Middle School |
| Content Training |
Force and Motion and Energy |
Energy and Life Science |
Earth Systems and Processes |
| K-3 Physical Science Content |
| K-3 Earth Science Content |
| Alignment |
STC Alignment with WA State Standards |
FOSS Alignment with WA State Standards |
| Science Pedagogy |
Science notebooks and assessment |
Formative Assessment |
| Differentiation through Inquiry |
| Gathering and Analyzing Data |
| Adapting Lessons to Reflect Best Practice |
| Curriculum Topic Study |
| Literacy and Science |
Integration of Literacy into science curriculum |
Grade-level workshops |
Research into literacy and success in content areas |
| Strategic Planning Institute |
New districts entering the alliance |
Districts updating their strategic plans |
Districts committed to putting their plans into action |
For the latest information on training dates and locations, please check this website: www.esd101.net/csi