Instructional materials play a key role in the changes that move toward inquiry-centered, standards-based instruction. Recognizing this reality, the Merck Institute for Science Education enabled its partner districts to participate in one of the Science Education Strategic Planning Institutes conducted by the National Science Resources Center. These six-day institutes are designed to assist school districts in implementing a systemic approach to science education reform. Each attending team develops a five-year strategic plan for reforming science education in their system. The institutes focus on five elements of all effective science education programs. These are:
- Inquiry-centered sequential science curriculum units that have gone through a research and review process.
- Professional development programs to prepare teachers to guide students in inquiry-centered science.
- Cost-effective support systems for supplying science materials and apparatus to classrooms.
- Assessment methods that are consistent with the goals of an inquiry-centered K-8 science program.
- Strategies for building administrative and community support.
