Refining, Operationalizing, and Describing Scientific Inquiry Instructional Practice Using the Inquiry Science Instruction Observation Protocol (ISIOP): A National Field-Test

Under a previous NSF grant, EDC is developing the Inquiry Science Instruction Observation Protocol (ISIOP), an instrument designed to help evaluators and researchers determine the nature and extent of scientific inquiry instruction and the best practices that are present in middle grades science classroom teaching. The ISIOP Field Test project, a three-year extension of that work, consists of three main activities: (1) developing training materials and a user’s manual for the ISIOP, (2) conducting a national field test of the implementation of the ISIOP by practicing evaluators, and (3) producing and disseminating a set of products to support the use of the observational protocol for project evaluation activities, providing specific guidance on how that protocol can be situated in a comprehensive evaluation plan.