Making Sense of SCIENCE: A Teacher Professional Learning Model to Improve Elementary School Teachers' Science Instruction and Student Science Achievement

Making Sense of SCIENCE is a model for teacher professional learning aimed at raising students' science achievement, particularly Earth and space science and physical science, through improving science instruction. The professional learning model focuses on the critical connections between science understanding, classroom practice, and literacy integration in ways that support the implementation of NGSS and CCSS. The Making Sense of SCIENCE model comprises six components. Components 1, 2, and 3 are related to leadership capacity building for three groups: site coordinators, Leadership Cadre (LC) members, and administrators. Components 4, 5, and 6 are related to teacher professional learning. Implementation of the six components takes place over the course of a two-year period. Component 1 focuses on professional learning for site coordinators, one in each of the two states in which the study was conducted. Component 2 focuses on LC professional learning. Component 3 focuses on administrator professional learning. Components 4, 5