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5 Fostering Sustainable Programs
Pages 53-60

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From page 53...
... • Patience, a long-term perspective, and flexibility are all critical to sustain ability. S everal assertions underlie many efforts to improve science education programs, according to Jeanne Century, director of science education and research and evaluation at the University of Chicago's Center 53
From page 54...
... "We are pretty insular in science education, and that hasn't served us well in research because we don't benefit from the work that other people have done." We are pretty insular in science education, and that hasn't served us well in research because we don't benefit from the work that other people have done. -- Jeanne Century PREVIOUS WORK ON SUSTAINABILITY About a decade ago, Century was involved in a project that looked at nine school districts around the country that had sustained elementary science programs for between 10 and 30 years (Century and Levy, 2002)
From page 55...
... Thus, Century said, sustainability is not necessarily judged by the ability of a program to find additional funding or to be embedded in a district budget. Instead, sustainability is focused "on core beliefs, values, and adaptations." FACTORS UNDERLYING SUSTAINABILITY In their study, Century and her colleagues used a very broad array of search terms to identify papers connected in some way to the concept of sustainability.
From page 56...
... One factor encompasses the characteristics of people in an organization, including their experiences and points of view. In addition, the factor "elements of the internal environment," including the internal structures, social climate, and resources of a program, is important, as is the "external environment," which involves the political climate, students' opportunities for learning, and other external forces.
From page 57...
... "It's not that it wasn't effective. But it didn't fit with their belief systems, with current practice, or with the way people were functioning in their lives." From a sustainability perspective, effective practices are useable, flexible, and resilient.
From page 58...
... "It's not really about identifying the best practice," said Century. "It's about identifying the processes by which we can thoughtfully and then effectively help them move and last." The process of moving a program requires consideration of the time frame.
From page 59...
... Existing science education programs have many things in common and some things that are different. By identifying the critical components of the programs in clear language, the similarities and differences among programs can be studied.
From page 60...
... Given the importance of engaging in a collaborative change process, they have decided to make all of their work public. They have put all their analysis into an open collaborative research environment called Researchers Without Borders so that anyone can follow the research and join in on the effort.


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