At times, teachers may find themselves under political pressures that can get in the way of their primary mission of educating children. In such a situation, businesses can be anchors of stability. MISE has helped districts weather disruptive change by supporting teachers and school leaders committed to a common vision of educational excellence. Strategic planning is key to any business plan and is another area in which schools can benefit from corporate experience. Several years ago, we worked with our partner districts as they adopted an annual planning process for science education.
Businesses can help link schools to sources of expertise on both the regional and national levels.
MISE has introduced its partner districts to the thinking and resources of many important players in the science education community, including the National Science Resources Center, the Lawrence Hall of Science at the University of California, Berkeley, the Educational Testing Service, and the Education Development Center. The different roles, perspectives, and resources that businesses can bring to the task of educating children are important, but ultimately results are what really matter. Just past the midpoint of our 10-year initiative, CPRE, our outside evaluator, is telling us that the work is taking hold. The percentage of teachers in the partnership districts who have voluntarily participated in our professional development programs has approached the 80 percent mark we set for ourselves a while ago. Even more encouraging, CPRE says there is evidence that when a critical mass of teachers in a school participate in the professional development and begin to change their practice, the practice of nonparticipants begins to shift in the same direction.