Executive Summary

     Funded primarily by a grant from the Department of Health and Human Services, “A Head Start on Science” was designed to demonstrate an effective way to improve the Head Start teaching staff’s comfort level with and competency in teaching science, and to increase the quantity and quality of science experiences of Head Start children.  The program originated as a collaborative effort between the Department of Science Education at California State University, Long Beach and the Long Beach Unified School District.  Dr. William Ritz, Project Director, provided the underlying vision for the project, along with Dr. Ann Wilmshurst, currently Long Beach Head Education Manager.  The project was expanded during its second year to include 33 agencies under the Los Angeles County Office of Education (LACOE) Head Start Preschool Program, and the Head Start Program in Syracuse, New York (PEACE), in collaboration with Dr. Larry Shafer at Syracuse University.

    During the formative evaluation of “A Head Start on Science,” the project evaluator provided frequent feedback to project staff, and offered observations, comments and suggestions for ongoing modification as the project developed.  The summative evaluation was designed to determine to what extent participating in the program would encourage teachers to engage in more investigative science activities with their children, and to employ more appropriate questioning strategies.  Using data from questionnaires, interviews with teachers, aides, supervisors, administrators and staff, as well as from observations of Head Start classrooms, the evaluation sought to determine changes in teachers’ attitudes towards science, and their confidence level in conducting science activities with their pre-school children.  The evaluation also explored how readily and effectively the model program, designed and first tried in Long Beach (LBUSD), could be transported to a larger Head Start Program (LACOE), and to one geographically remote from the original project (Syracuse, NY).  This report constitutes the final evaluation report for this project.

    All of the data indicate that the several components of “A Head Start on Science,” both in their original form and in two subsequent replications, were clearly successful in meeting its two major objectives: (1) increasing Head Start teachers’ comfort level with science, and (2) increasing the number and quality of science-related interactions in the Head Start classroom.  This occurred both in environments where the teachers were quite “science naïve,” and in those where teachers were initially more comfortable with science.

 The project’s success appears to be attributable to several factors that maintained constant in each of the three different settings:

•   Positive expectations that these teachers, many with limited educational backgrounds, CAN learn to be comfortable with science and to facilitate powerful Science interactions with preschool children;
•   The “Encouraging a Sense of Wonder” theme, which had a profound impact on curing the “science phobia” unfortunately engendered by our current educational system;
•   A strong overall model consisting of a Summer Institute plus ongoing support;
•   Strong and effective leadership from the project staff; and
•   A practical institute model incorporating knowledgeable and well-prepared leaders, an informal atmosphere, well-chosen activities, appropriate facilitation, modeling of process, and thoughtful reflection.


    Transplanting “A Head Start on Science” to a much larger program locally (LACOE), and simultaneously to one somewhat smaller but geographically remote (Syracuse) provided a good opportunity to examine what it takes to make the model work elsewhere.  Clearly, all of the features mentioned above are crucial.  But, to wider dissemination, ways must be devised to reduce dependence upon Long Beach project staff.  Continuing with the facilitator model, and specifically training those teachers and supervisors who have been through the program to share/conduct further Institutes might be one possible solution.  Also, the results point to the need to train a significant percentage of an agency for an extended period time with adequate follow-up support if real reform is to happen.  Such commitment of time and resources requires the backing of not only teachers but higher agency administrators as well.  Finally, the experience of “A Head Start on Science” indicates that the workshop developed in Long Beach may have to be modified to fit settings where teachers are further along in science, and may be ready for the next level.  In such settings, for example, teachers can deal with more science concepts and explore more issues in early childhood education.  A needs assessment performed before undertaking an Institute could help planners tailor the program to meet the needs of its audience.

    These considerations aside, there is no question in the evaluator’s mind that “A Head Start on Science” was successful, and that the ultimate beneficiaries will be the children whose earliest memories of “school science” will be of fun, excitement and wonder.  The challenge, of course, will be to keep that “sense of wonder” as they progress through the many years of formal education that lie ahead.
 
 

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