A National Teacher Network to Improve Earth Science Teaching

Abstract

Project ESTEEM (Earth Science Teachers Exploring Exemplary Materials) is a Harvard-based program designed to improve the quality of earth-science teaching in American schools. Project ESTEEM is a cooperative effort between the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics and the Harvard's Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences and is funded by the National Science Foundation. Over a three-year period, one hundred and twenty master earth-science teachers will be become agents in this program. During an intense summer program, these precollege teachers examine, present, and evaluate the best activities for earth-science courses. After peer review, these materials are assembled into resource books which provide the basis for inservice workshops conducted by ESTEEM agents across the nation. Following the summer phase of the program, the agents are committed to conduct workshops in their own district, state, or region for other, less well prepared teachers. In the first full year of operation, over 100 work...