Co-designing citizen science projects for elementary schools in New Hampshire through teacher and community-based Extension science volunteer partnerships

In the United States, reforms put forth by Next Generation Science Standards have increased the demand for K-12 teacher professional development in science instruction. This study investigates a new professional development model, entitled Schoolyard SITES, that partners elementary teachers with University of New Hampshire Cooperative Extension science volunteers to create a community-based partnership that improves teachers' understanding of NGSS-aligned instruction. Partners design and enact a curriculum that integrates locally-relevant, citizen science projects into the teachers' science instruction. To examine the nature of the partnership, changes to teacher self-efficacy beliefs and integration of the NGSS science practices, we used a mixed-method research approach. The study sheds light on the collaboration skills that play a role while building a sustainable partnership between teachers and volunteers. Our study indicates that teachers and volunteers understand that school-community partnerships are both worthwhile and beneficial to science learning. Our findings suggest that teachers' self-efficacy increased, and elements of NGSS-aligned instruction improved, such as students' active engagement with the NGSS science practices. The Schoolyard SITES professional development model constructs a pathway for how teachers and volunteers can build a sustainable partnership so as to engage elementary students in citizen science and authentic science practices.