WV-Handle On Science Project Collaborates with WV Department of Education in Elementary Science Initiative

Teachers from every region of West Virginia completed the first phase of professional development this week in a new project launched by the WV Department of Education in collaboration with the WV-Handle On Science Project. The forty teachers who attended the workshop are potential master trainers for their respective regions in inquiry-based science using exemplary science kits that incorporate twenty-first century learning skills.

The three-day session was in grade level groups and led by seven kindergarten through sixth grade teachers from the Northern Panhandle. These master trainers from the Northern Panhandle have been trained through the professional development offered over the last ten years by the WV-Handle On Science Project, housed at the WLSC SMART-Center in Warwood.

The WV-Handle On Science Project is a collaboration of local school systems, RESA-6, informal science centers, colleges, and business and industry. This project offers a comprehensive, systemic science education reform initiative for all K-6 public schools in the five West Virginia Northern Panhandle counties (Brooke, Hancock, Marshall, Ohio and Wetzel). All of the approximately 500 K-6 teachers now use exemplary curriculum materials including Science and Technology for Children (STC), Full Option Science System (FOSS), and INSIGHTS. These materials are the adopted science curriculum for the five Northern Panhandle counties.

The WV-Handle On Science project began with a pilot project in 1997 and was then expanded through the Northern Regional Consortium for Science, Mathematics, and Technology’s submission and receipt of a 1.86 million dollar National Science Foundation grant. The professional development (100 hours per participant) was initially funded through this National Science Foundation grant (ESIE 9731412). Curriculum modules used in training and in the classroom are refurbished at West Liberty State College's SMART-Center Materials Resource Center. Many of the science kits were purchased by local business and industry.

The long-term goal of the WV-Handle On Science project is to raise the level of scientific literacy of elementary school children. To achieve this goal, the major project objectives are:

• To provide K-6 elementary teachers with sustained professional development opportunities in content, pedagogy, and assessment so that science is taught in an

inquiry-based, hand-on-approach and integrated with mathematics and other subjects;

• To create a Materials Resource Center at the West Liberty State College SMART-Center serving as a permanent hub of professional development opportunities for teachers and science-kit refurbishment center; and

• To implement in the Northern Panhandle of West Virginia a new K-6 inquiry-based and hands-on science program, consistent with state and national standards.

The WV-Handle on Science Project served as a pilot program for K-6 science education reform for the entire state of West Virginia. This pilot has provided data for the West Virginia Department of Education to now expand on the success of the Northern Panhandle counties to bring quality elementary science to all classrooms in West Virginia. The first step in this reform is the workshop held August 11-13 through the project titled SIMPLE (Science with Inquiry Modules and Problem-based Learning Experiences). This project is a collaborative effort between the WV Department of Education, June Harless Center for Rural Education, the Benedum Foundation, the Delaware Department of Education, WLSC SMART-Center, and the WV-Handle On Science Project.

Master trainers for the statewide program are Nancy Holdsworth, New Manchester Elementary; MaryLu Hutchins, Steenrod Elementary; Joyce Cole, Sherrard Middle School; Michalene Mills, Weirton Heights Elementary; Diane Bowers, Hooverson Heights Primary; Suzanne Davidson, Follansbee Middle School; and Heidi Hohman, Triadelphia Middle School.