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QUEST: A collaborative professional development model to meet the needs of diverse learners in K‐6 science
Author(s) -
van Garderen Delinda,
Hanuscin Deborah,
Lee Eun,
Kohn Pat
Publication year - 2012
Publication title -
psychology in the schools
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.738
H-Index - 75
eISSN - 1520-6807
pISSN - 0033-3085
DOI - 10.1002/pits.21611
Subject(s) - formative assessment , professional development , mathematics education , task (project management) , psychology , faculty development , science education , pedagogy , engineering , systems engineering
Teaching science to diverse learners can be a demanding and challenging task. Teachers may be underprepared and thus unsure of how to best address the needs of their students in their classroom. One approach to helping teachers is through professional development. Yet, programs that focus mainly on science or special education can fail to fully meet teachers' needs for assisting all students in succeeding in the science classroom. We argue that a collaborative approach that combines the expertise of both fields is needed address this complex problem. The purpose of this article is to describe the collaborative efforts of teacher educators in both science education and special education who designed a professional development program to support teachers' implementation of inquiry‐based instruction, formative assessment, and Universal Design for Learning as a way to meet the needs of diverse learners in kindergarten through sixth‐grade classrooms. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.