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LiteraryReview:
ScholarlyArticle
ProfessionalDevelopmentforScienceTeachersbySuzanneM.Wilson
February12,2015
SarahJones

Inpartialfulfillmentoftherequirementsfor
TED690:CapstoneCourse
NationalUniversity
Dr.StaciaLevy

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Introduction
Author:
SuzanneM.Wilson
Title:
ProfessionalDevelopmentforScienceTeachers
Publisher:
Journal
Science
,Volume304,310313
Year:
2013
Reviewer
:SarahJones,NationalUniversity

Thisarticlefromthepeerreviewedjournal
Science
purportsthenecessityofprofessionaldevelopment
forscienceteachers,particularlyontheeveofimplementationoftheNextGenerationScienceStandards
(NGSS).Itarguesthatthoughprofessionaldevelopmentopportunitiesarewidelyavailableforscienceteachers,
themethodstheyutilizeoftenleadtoquickforgettingandalackofactualinstructionalchangeforteachersasa
result,studentsarereceivinglittleeducationalbenefitforhavinghadtheirteachersgothroughtheseworkshops.

Review
ThearticlebeginsbydiscussingthevisionoftheNGSSandhowtheyaimtochangeclassroomscience
instruction,followedbyabriefdiscussionofthearraysofprofessionaldevelopmentthatteachersintheUnited
Stateshaveavailabletothem,dependingupondistrictandadministrationsupport,availablefunds,etc.Having
putforwardthisbackgroundinformation,Wilsonthenjumpsintoadiscussionandanalysisofresearchthathas
beendoneontheeffectsoftheseprofessionaldevelopmentcoursesandworkshops.Manystudies,including
onebytheU.S.DepartmentofEducation,havefoundtheresultstobequitevariableandhighlydependentupon
thetypeofprofessionaldevelopmentthattheteachersattended.Shedevelopsacaseforthefactthatresearch
hasbeenunevenandhasproducedunclearresultsthereisaneedforamorecomplexviewofteacher
learning...oneinwhichprofessionallearningisseenasmoredynamicanditerative,connectingteachers
experiencesintheirclassroomswithformalopportunitiesforcollectivereflectionandforacquiringnew
knowledgethattargetsgenuineproblemsofpractice(Wilson,2013,pg.311).

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Wilsonnextbrieflydiscussestheembeddingofprofessionaldevelopmentintoschoolpolicyreform.She
notesthatstudieshaveindicatedprofessionalquality(teacherquality,theirbeliefsaboutchange,theircapacity
toworkcollaboratively,andthequalityofongoingprofessionaldevelopment)asasignificantcontributorto
supportforschoolchange(Wilson,2013,pg.312).Becauseitisdifficulttostudypurelytheeffectsof
professionaldevelopmentonstudentlearning,therearesignificantchallengesthatariseinknowinghowto
structurePDtomakeitmosteffective,andimplementingprogramsthatdoso(pg.312).
TheauthoroutlinesthreespecificchallengesthatIfeelaccuratelyreflectthecurrentstateofteachingins
scienceandthenecessityofPD:preparationforteachingtheNGSS,effectivelyteachingELLs,andusing
technologytoproducewidelyavailable,highlyeffectiveonlinesciencePD(pg.312).Itseemsthatwitheach
newschoolyear,thereissomenewschoolordistrictgoal,program,or,asisthecasehere,setofstandards.Not
onlyaredistrictsworkingtoimplementCommonCore,butnowsciencedepartmentsmustdealwith
implementationoftheNGSSandIagreewithWilsonthatitisnotgoingtobeaneasyfeat.Shelogically
outlinesthethingsthatdistrictsneedtostartdoingiftherolloutoftheNGSSisgoingtobesmoothandresultin
increasesinstudentlearning.
WilsonusesrecentresearchandtrendstoexplainthenecessityofchangingthewayweinstructELLsto
makeitmoreeffective,andaccuratelybringsupthatthereisnottimetodocostlyresearchwhatthereistimeto
doisprepareteachersusingefficientPDprogramsthatallowthemtobringwhattheyvelearneddirectlytothe
classroomandputitintopracticerightaway.HerargumentforeasilyaccessibleandavailableonlinePDis
pressingandpotentjustasweareincorporatingtechnologyintoourclassroomsinordertokeepupwithits
applicationsinstudentslives,weoughttodosointherealmofPDsothatteacherscangetsubjectspecific
assistanceandgrowthopportunitiesattheclickofalaptopbutton.Ifeelthatthisarticlewaswellwritten,cited
applicableresearch,andis,perhapsmostimportantly,extremelytimely.WiththeNGSSalreadybeing
implementedinmyschooldistrict,IamtakingadvantageofeveryPDopportunityprovidedandalwayswant
more.Makingitavailableonlinecouldkeepmeintheclassroom,andyetIcouldstillaccessprogramsor
protocolsatmyconvenience.

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References

Wilson,S.M.(2013).Professionaldevelopmentforscienceteachers.
ScienceMagazine
,
340,
310313.