The contemporary reform agenda in science education and improvement of science teaching at all levels of education appear to hold an important place in the minds of researchers reporting in this issue of the Journal of Research in Science Teaching. In addition, new methodological and analytical approaches surface in some articles.
The current reform agenda has elevated nature of science to a higher place than previously. However, only a few members of the science education community have experience in helping teachers understand the nature of science deeply. Even fewer are ยฏuent in guiding teachers in its inclusion in the science curriculum. Sullenger, Turner, and their students from a class on the nature of science describe a novel approach to both method and reporting in their article, ``Culture Wars in the Classroom: Prospective Teachers Question Science.'' Moreover, they provide a very interesting portrayal of the course from the perspectives of faculty and students working to understand the complexities of science. As we attempt to help a larger proportion of prospective and practicing teachers understand the nature of science and include it in their teaching, this article provides both practical and theoretical guidance for teacher educators.
National Science Education Standards strongly recommend a model of inquiry teaching that is not witnessed often in actual practiceยฑa model that requires students to be involved in sustained inquiry into real problems. Barbara Crawford's article, ``Embracing the Essence of Inquiry,'' provides a detailed description of such a classroom and the thinking of a high school biology teacher who has adopted this teaching model. Her article opens this vision of teaching to all readers in a profound way.
Inquiry teaching receives another examination in ``Some Theoretical and Empirical Foundations for Assessing Scientiยฎc Inquiry and Discovery in Educational Programs'' by Zachos, Hick, Doane, and Sargent. They examine the co-development of conceptual knowledge and process skills in an inquiry teaching setting using familiar tasks adapted from Inhelder and Piaget. Their intervention with thirty-two high school students, their methodology, and their ยฎndings add to our understanding of the connections between inquiry and conceptual development.
Professional development of practicing teachers is recognized as a key element in contemporary reform in science teaching. Two articles in this issue relate to professional development in the context of systemic change initiatives. Supovitz and Turner examined questions about the inยฏuence of professional development activities on teaching practice in their article, ``The Effects of Professional Development on Science Teaching Practices and Classroom Culture.'' They studied professional development of elementary science teachers using data from core evaluations of Local Systemic Initiatives. Their ยฎndings conยฎrm long-held suspicions that short-