STeLLA Teacher Recruitment 2012-2013

STeLLA is an innovative professional development program, directed by BSCS, Colorado Springs, that supports teachers in grades 4, 5, and 6 through a year-long professional development experience in science with two distinct programs:

• a unique videocase-based lesson analysis approach, led by BSCS Professional Development Leaders and science faculty from The Colorado College and University of Denver, and
• a content-deepening experience led by science faculty from The Colorado College and University of Denver.

Lesson Analysis Approach. Teachers learn to examine their practice through two lenses: a Student Thinking Lens and a Science Content Storyline Lens. Working in small, facilitated study groups, teachers analyze videocases of science teaching and learning to deepen their content and pedagogical content knowledge. Such analysis leads to improved science teaching practice which then leads to improved student understanding of important science concepts.

Content Deepening Approach. Teachers deepen their content knowledge relevant to Colorado Science Standards by working directly with science content faculty from The Colorado College (CC) and University of Denver (DU). The CC and DU science faculty will involve teachers in science investigations and other learning experiences that provide opportunities for in-depth content learning of important science concepts. By deepening their conceptual understanding of science, teachers will improve their science teaching practice and thus their students' learning in science.

The five-year research and development project, funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF), will test the effectiveness of implementing, sustaining, and scaling the STeLLA professional development program, which demonstrated significant impact on both teacher and student learning in an earlier study in California. In 2012-13, the project will expand to include a second cohort of 4th- through 6th-grade teachers and their students from the greater Colorado Springs area to build upon the research study completed in 2011-12 with approximately 80 Denver-area teachers.

The STeLLA professional development programs are designed to improve science teaching and learning by deepening teachers' understanding of the science content they teach, helping teachers analyze and improve their science teaching related to their district's curriculum and state standards, and increasing student achievement in science.