The Magic in the Classroom: A Twenty-Year Sustained Scientist in the Classroom Partnership Program

Abstract

The National Science Foundation GK-12 program, started in 1999, partnered university STEM graduate students with K-12 classroom teachers to co-teach inquiry science “to boost the content of elementary and secondary education and the quality of graduate and undergraduate education at the same time” (Colwell, 1999). In the current study we describe the adaptations to the original Vanderbilt GK-12 program – now called the Scientist in the Classroom Partnership (SCP) – that have allowed the program to continue for over 20 years while maintaining the essential components. The SCP has been integrated into the STEM program of the partner school district, and is now in its 21st year. All of the participants in the SCP program have benefited from the experience: fellows have gained important teaching, communication, and mentoring skills; teachers have gained science content knowledge and confidence in teaching science; and students have exhibited increased excitement about science and interest in science careers. The SCP has provided professional training for 184 fellows; has provided over 200 professional development hours per teacher for 138 middle and high school teachers in 35 schools; and has positively impacted the STEM learning of over 30,000 students.