"The growth is there – but it's not that evident, is it!": a study in science delivery improvement

The purpose of this study was to monitor the development of teacher personal attribute and school environmental factors at an urban intermediate (years 7 and 8) school in New Zealand as a result of an extended science professional development intervention project. Over a 2-year period, a validated, comprehensive science curriculum delivery evaluation instrument, the Science Curriculum Implementation Questionnaire (SCIQ, Lewthwaite, 2001), was used as a tool for data collection to monitor the initial and perpetuating influences of a full-year professional development program on science delivery. Based on the data collected and staff responses emanating from the analysis and discussion of the data represented by the SCIQ, outcomes of and contributors to the development were identified. As well, the effectiveness of both the professional development program and the SCIQ as an instrument for monitoring personal attribute and environmental changes as a result of professional development interventions are evaluated