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A TIME for Physics First in Missouri
This Partnership creates eighty Teacher Leaders from participating Missouri school districts. These Teacher Leaders deliver a yearlong physics course to ninth grade students. Through ten weeks in summer academies over three years and academic year follow-up experiences Teacher Leaders deepen their physics content knowledge and develop individualized leadership skills to assist other teachers of freshman physics in providing all ninth grade students with an inquiry and modeling based physics experience.

Both university faculty and the Teacher Leaders develop an expanded range of pedagogical and leadership skills that they share with others, as they serve as resources and catalysts for reform in science education at the secondary and post-secondary institutional levels. In addition to the science teachers involved in the summer physics academies, selected teachers of mathematics from the same schools participate in a concurrent weeklong academy, and school administrators attend a three-day academy, in order to provide additional support for teachers and students as they engage in freshman physics.

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Project Contributions

Supporting Teachers in (Re)Constructing Identities as Leaders: The Role of Professional Development
"Teacher leadership is a unique aspect of teacher identity. In this chapter we have explored the construction of 'identity as a teacher leader' through a review of the literature and…
Development of Teacher Leadership Identity: A Multiple Case Study
"This study investigated the processes and pathways of leadership development of teachers in different career stages as they participated in a professional development program. A multiple case study approach with…
Examining Preservice Elementary Teachers’ Technology Self-Efficacy: Impact of Mobile Technology-Based Physics Curriculum
"While iPads and other mobile devices are gaining popularity in educational settings, challenges associated with teachers' use of technology continue to hold true. Preparing preservice teachers within teacher preparation programs…
The impact of A TIME for Physics First in Missouri
Watch Video >> Only 40% of graduating US high school seniors take physics. Yet physics, as a fundamental science, is required for all college science and engineering majors. In parallel,…
Exploring Physics, The Curriculum App
Posted by: Meera Chandrasekhar . Exploring Physics is a curriculum app is an interactive inquiry- and modeling-based conceptual physics curriculum for high school Conceptual Physics, Physics First and Physical Science courses. It combines hands-on activities…
Using a Reflective Tool for Online Mentoring
"We present two tools developed for supporting teachers in the classroom following a content and pedagogy focused professional development program. The first tool is geared to face-to-face observations, while the…
Examining Fidelity of Implementation of a Year-Long Curriculum in 9th Grade Physics
"Curriculum materials play a key role in improving science education; however, curricula alone will not lead to enhanced student learning. Factors such as students' opportunity to learn and the way…
Examining Fidelity Through Two Lenses: Teachers' Implementation of a Year-Long Curriculum in 9th Grade Physics
Curriculum materials play a key role in improving science education; however, curricula alone will not lead to enhanced student learning. Factors such as students' opportunity to learn and the way…
Supporting the Development of Teacher Leaders: Where Do We Begin?
Posted by: Deborah Hanuscin . This article synthesizes teachers' initial views of 'teacher leadership' and the implications for professional development.
Exploring Ninth-Grade Science Teachers' Path Of Leadership For Implementing Educational Reform Efforts: A Case Study
"To enact new educational reform efforts, it is recognized that teacher leaders are essential to bring about the needed expertise to implement and sustain such efforts. Yet, little is known…
Confronting Myths about Teacher Leadership
" Leadership in Freshman Physics is an NSF-funded professional development program designed to support 9th grade teacher leaders in the successful implementation of a 'Physics First' or curriculum sequence that places…
Supporting Teachers and Students in A TIME for Physics First
Posted by: Meera Chandrasekhar . Our project, currently in its third year, seeks to increase both the teaching effectiveness and leadership capacity of ninth grade physics teachers. Our professional development program, which consists of three…
The Use of Blogging as a Practice to Support Ninth-Grade Science Teachers' Identity Development as Leaders
Posted by: Deborah Hanuscin . Increasingly, teacher leadership is being recognized as an essential ingredient in education reforms (York-Barr & Duke, 2004); however, few teachers consider themselves leaders. For many teachers, becoming a leader is…
Supporting the Development of Science Teacher Leaders- Where Do We Begin?
Posted by: Deborah Hanuscin . Teacher leadership has been recognized as a necessary ingredient to support educational reform efforts. Leaders provide the needed expertise to ensure reforms are successful in promoting student learning. The overarching…
A TIME for Physics First Newsletter August 2011
Posted by: Meera Chandrasekhar . This newsletter features reflections on the June summer academy by teachers, coaches, and administrators. A summary of responses from math teachers who attended a one-week parallel academy was published as a supplement to the regular August…
A TIME for Physics First Newsletter April 2011
Posted by: Meera Chandrasekhar . This newsletter features articles by master teachers on what it takes to become a great teacher, and the 5E learning cycle. It also includes leadership experiences of participants in the first year of participation.
Enhancing Teaching to Enhance Learning in 9th Grade Physics
The vision of this project is to prepare Missouri's 9th grade science teachers to become intellectual leaders as they learn to teach a yearlong freshman physics course to their students.…
Unifom and Accelerated Motion and Area Under the Curve
Posted by: Meera Chandrasekhar . Talks given at NSTA discuss 1) how to use spark timer data to study Uniform and Accelerated motion, and 2) how the area under the curve is used in understanding and calculating quantities in physics.…
A TIME for Physics First Newsletter, Aug 2010
Posted by: Meera Chandrasekhar . The Aug 2010 issue of the A TIME for Physics First newsletter includes a report on our first summer academy, a set of letters written by Math teacher to teachers…
A TIME for Physics First Newsletter, April 2010
Posted by: Meera Chandrasekhar . The April 2010 newsletter includes an article on wavelets by our math faculty member, and profiles on our coaches and mentors.
A TIME for Physics First Newsletter, Dec 2010
Posted by: Meera Chandrasekhar . The Dec 2010 issue of the A TIME for Physics First Newsletter includes articles on whiteboarding, student absenteeism and successes and challenges faced by teachers as they implement a yearlong…
Year 1 Implementation of A TIME for Freshman Physics
This paper addresses the following claim(s): "Our project's two research questions are: Research Question 1 : In a teacher professional development project, can enhancement of pedagogical practice, student content acquisition…