Two science and ten mathematics teachers assisted the team by reviewing drafts and developing sample problems, giving special attention to equity issues for high school students and needs of inner-city, urban, suburban, and rural schools. The development team will make final revisions to the curriculum based on the teachers' feedback. Each summer, the teachers from the test sites attend grade-specific leadership institutes at Wesleyan University. Participants learn to assess students' higher-order thinking skills using written, oral, and demonstration methods and to integrate graphing calculators and computers into their classrooms, thereby encouraging students to ask questions, make conjectures, and validate their findings. In addition, they create lesson plans, classroom activities, and assessments for their own use.
Teachers attend three to six institutes each year.
Other follow-up activities include site visits by project staff and master instructors and student and teacher focus groups. In addition, the project has found that when field-testing curricula, it is important to listen to the experiences of both teachers and students. A final report is expected to be available in September 1997. Lesson plans, assessments, student activities, videotapes of student activities, and an overview of the project are being revised according to suggestions from teachers and students.