The Merit of a Study Comparing Two Versions of Inquiry Science Professional Development

This paper provides an overview of a two-phase study comparing the effects of two versions of middle school inquiry-based science professional development (PD) on classroom implementa-tion, student achievement, and program scale-up. The study is in its first phase, in which we are preparing for the randomized trial that will be conducted in the second phase. Other papers in this symposium discuss the treatments we are examining in the randomized study, the instrument development for the study, and some findings of a pilot-test of the treatments. The two versions of PD that we will examine in our randomized study vary in aspects of their duration and of the methods that are used to deliver material to the teachers. Duration is defined as the number of contact hours and length of time span (concentrated vs. distributed contact); we focus on the latter of these two aspects. Methods consist of training institutes and post-institute support in the form of telephone or e-mail contact, computer-based multimedia, ongoing courses, and so forth. The project is the first phase of a planned scale-up study that will last a total of seven years if the second phase is funded. Drawing from Foundational Approaches in Science Teaching (FAST), an award-winning inquiry-based middle school science program (implemented over the years in 1