Refining, Operationalizing, and Describing Scientific Inquiry Instructional Practice Using the Inquiry Science Instruction Obser

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