Celebrating Science - A Family Science Project
Establishing Family Science Programs Home
Building Partnerships
Creating a Comprehensive Program
Growing a Comprehensive Program
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  Creating a Comprehensive Program

After building a partnership infrastructure, the Planning Group is now ready to create a program driven by inquiry-based science education.

The Family Science Program Model below integrates three key factors in creating a community-based science program that supports inquiry-based science education.

Stages of school science reform efforts
Phases of community participation
Types of events


In the Family Science Program Model, the stages of School Science Reform Efforts are shown as progressing from adoption to integration. When planning a community-based science program, one should recognize that within a given school district, schools and even classrooms might be at different stages of the continuum.

Community Participation refers to stakeholders' progression from awareness of, receptiveness to, and engagement in inquiry-based science education.

The interplay between the levels of community participation and school science reform efforts directly impacts what types of events are most appropriate for creating a comprehensive community-based science program. In general, these types of events can introduce families and the community to inquiry-based science learning. The desired outcomes for these events are to:

Inform and build awareness of inquiry-based science education reform efforts.
Showcase students' work based on inquiry-based science teaching and learning.
Explore science concepts using inquiry-based processes.
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