ANN ARBOR—Transforming K-12 science textbooks in Detroit, Lansing and other school districts will be the focus of a new Center for Curriculum Materials in Science, a collaborative effort that includes the University of Michigan School of Education. A $9.9 million, five-year grant from the National Science Foundation funds the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) led center. In addition to the U-M School of Education, the work will be carried out in collaboration with Northwestern University, Michigan State University, Chicago Public Schools, Detroit Public Schools and the Lansing School District. Not confined to ivory towers, the center collaborators will work closely with their local school district partners to connect university research and teacher training with the realities of the classroom. According to Joseph Krajcik, lead investigator at the U-M School of Education, to make changes that will help all students learn, university faculty members need to work collaboratively with practicing teachers.

Such partnerships help to develop materials that teachers can use in classrooms, meet national standards and can make a real difference in helping students learn endearing ideas in science. Each partner contributes a unique component to extremely challenging work – designing instructional materials so that all students can learn. The center will draw on the materials development and teacher education expertise of the universities to address some of the serious problems previously identified by AAAS in its series of critical evaluations of middle and high school science textbooks. The center’s goal is to improve science curriculum materials, making sure they reflect sound research on student learning and take advantage of the most effective teaching strategies and technologies. Yet another goal is to ensure that science curriculum materials support credible standards for what students should know, such as those in AAAS’s landmark report Benchmarks for Science Literacy, and in the National Research Council’s National Science Education Standards. A critical national role for the new center is the development of a cadre of experts in science curriculum materials R&D. To accomplish this, each of the university partners will expand its graduate and postdoctoral programs in science education to include coursework and research opportunities in the analysis, design, and use of science curriculum materials. Recruitment of students for the new programs is already underway, and interested applicants are encouraged to contact the universities directly, or visit the Center web site at http://ScienceMaterialsCenter.org. The new center will help jumpstart the textbook transformation process, according to Jo Ellen Roseman, acting director of Project 2061, the AAAS education reform initiative. The center will “foster essential research and development aimed at helping all students learn what they need to know to thrive in our science-based world,” Roseman said. In addition to Krajcik other members of the team include Roseman, who will serve as director of the Center for Curriculum Materials in Science; George DeBoer. AAAS; Brian J. Reiser, Northwestern University; James Gallagher, Michigan State University; and Ron Marx, University of Michigan.

U-M, one of the nation’s leading teaching and research universities, is a pioneer in technological development for instruction. Its School of Education has been ranked as one of the top 10 schools in the nation for the past 10 years in the U.S. News and World Report Graduate School Rankings. Faculty members have developed strong ties with local school districts and have been instrumental in helping to bring about systemic reform in science education in the Detroit Public School System. Currently, U-M School of Education researchers, along with Northwestern University are engaged in a partnership to create science curriculum materials for middle school students that are based on Project 2061’s benchmarks and its instructional criteria. AAAS Project 2061 has been a leader in articulating science standards and developing criteria to analyze the content basis and pedagogical sensibility of science curricula. AAAS as a whole offers rich scientific, technical, and education resources for the center through its interdisciplinary programs, its worldwide membership and its expertise working in a variety of formal and informal settings with educators and students who are diverse in ethnicity, culture, language, and gender. director, 202-326-6643, [email protected]; George DeBoer, the center’s associate director, 202-326-6624, [email protected]

For more information from the AAAS, contact Mary Koppal, (202) 326-6643, [email protected], or Monica Amarelo, (202) 326-6431, [email protected].

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