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Replicating Success
The Wildlife Conservation Society, with support from a variety of federal granting agencies, is currently involved in a number of ground-breaking projects, building on the institution's record of some 20 consecutive years of federally-funded programs. This page is designed to share the lessons we have learned from several recent projects with institutions that may have an interest in embarking on similar initiatives.
Project SPARKS (Supporting Parents in Advocacy, Reform and Knowledge in Science)
 With generous support from the National Science Foundation and the Greenwall Foundation, the WCS is currently involved in a four-year project through which it is helping parents and teachers to work together to improve the quality and quantity of science education. The SPARKS program, which the WCS is implementing within several high-need school districts in the New York City metropolitan area, consists of three interrelated components:
- A series of workshops that, by the end of the fourth year, will have enabled 500 parents and teachers to work in advocacy teams for better and more widely available science education.
- A series of projects, including science center field trip guides, at-home science activity books, and in-school science workshops led by parents and teachers, that will teach thousands of parents and educators about the importance of science literacy and parental engagement in education.
- A series of annual family science fairs at the Bronx Zoo that are expected to draw 100,000 visitors and raise consciousness on a large scale about the National Science Education Standards for life science instruction.
The SPARKS program represents a unique way to capitalize on the enthusiasm parents have for visiting the Bronx Zoo to engage their interest and support for science education. Through the project, the WCS hopes to create a model for informal science centers across the country.
Project Benefits
- Encourages team building and cooperation between parents and teachers; breaks down barriers between these two critical sources of support children need to succeed in school.
- Encourages science advocacy and parental involvement in education by raising the comfort level of parents in discussing curricular issues
- Provides a rationale for learning science by demonstrating the importance of science in daily life.
- Shows how local science centers can provide dynamic support to parents and teachers in their efforts to improve student achievement in science.
- Will result in the publication of a ¡§Know-Before-You-Go¡¨ field trip guide for teachers and parents to use at nine different New York City science centers.
- Will result in a family activities handbook that provides engaging activities for parents to use with their children at home.
- Addresses the mandate that many schools have to involve parents in a manner that increases the respect and collaboration between teachers and parents.
- Presents opportunities for parents to become directly involved in improving the education of their own children.
- Builds awareness of science education standards and their value in efforts to reform science education.
 An independent evaluation of SPARKS indicates the project is achieving all eight outcomes identified by WCS staff at the program¡¦s outset. A majority of participants: (1) recognize the value of a good science education; (2) are more likely to engage in activities to improve science education in schools; (3) work more with their children at home on science-related activities; (4) are aware of the National Science Education Standards¡¦ goals, components and value; (5) have worked to minimize perceived barriers between parents and teachers; (6) appreciate the educational value of local science centers; (7) disseminate the messages of SPARKS through the projects they develop; and (8) recognize that science is dynamic, interesting, relevant, and inquiry-based.
Project Challenges
- Breaking down barriers between parents and teachers.
- Parents often don¡¦t feel welcome as full-fledged partners; teachers are not always willing to work with parents as equals.
- Building effective partnerships between parents, teachers and science centers. Each group comes to the project with different points of view and different ways of doing things.
- Recruitment is a challenge, as there are an increasing number of other learning opportunities available for teachers as well as increasing demands on teachers¡¦ and parents¡¦ time.
Strategies/Solutions
- To break down barriers, we deliberately chose a parent-teacher team model so participants can experience the satisfaction of working together toward a common goal. Workshop activities are designed to break down barriers. For example, in one exercise, parents and teachers identify specific barriers and then collectively come up with constructive ideas for making it easier to work together.
- To encourage equal parent-teacher cooperation, the parents and teachers work in teams on projects they design. Each team member has special responsibilities that contribute to the success of the whole project. The parent-teacher team model emphasizes cooperation and fosters respect for individual contributions. In order to put parents on equal footing with teachers and to promote the ability of parents to express their viewpoints, the teams consist of more parents than teachers.
- To build cooperation between parents, teachers and science centers, the parents and teachers are familiarized with how local science centers support science education standards and the engaging ways in which they can be used by parents and teachers to stimulate children¡¦s interest in science.
- We tackle the challenge of recruitment in a number of ways: through broad mailings to school superintendents, science coordinators, staff developers, and parent involvement coordinators at the school district level. At the school level, we contact principals, teachers and parents through parent associations. The program is promoted at education conferences, meetings and, increasingly, through word of mouth.
The Wildlife Science Careers Program
 With a major grant from the National Science Foundation, the WCS is currently engaged in a four-year collaboration with the Girl Scout Council of Greater New York (GSCGNY) in response to a nationally recognized need to address the under-representation of women in the sciences. The program consists of five main components:
- A series of Career Workshops at the Bronx Zoo for 315 Cadette Girl Scouts (ages 12-14) that is introducing them to careers in the wildlife sciences and providing them with an opportunity to meet and learn from WCS professional staff.
- A series of field experiences through which the girls are engaging in science exploration activities and meeting additional role models in science.
- A series of seminars for the Cadettes that is providing them with the skills and materials to conduct career and science awareness workshops for troops of younger Girl Scouts.
- A training course for Girl Scout Leaders that will enable them to continue key program components after the conclusion of the grant period; and
- An internship program for 50 Senior Girl Scouts that is allowing them to work side-by-side with Bronx Zoo staff.
The Wildlife Science Careers Program represents an unusual method of increasing the participation level of girls and young women in science. The program takes advantage of the excitement the Bronx Zoo generates to engage the interest of girls in science learning and careers. As with SPARKS, the WCS believes that the project represents a very exciting model with the potential to be replicated nationally.
Project Benefits
- Increases the confidence of girls in their ability to succeed in science.
- Sparks enthusiasm for the sciences and wildlife conservation in girls by capitalizing on the enthusiasm children have for visiting the Bronx Zoo.
- Increases awareness among girls in their formative years of the wide array of exciting career options related to the wildlife sciences and conservation biology.
- Enables girls to meet female professionals from a wide range of science backgrounds who have defied stereotypes to excel in their chosen fields.
- Presents an opportunity for adolescent girls to serve their communities and develop leadership, presentation, and organizational skills while working with younger girls.
- Encourages urban children, who often have limited exposure to the natural world, to pursue the natural sciences.
- Gives adolescents from varied ethnic and economic backgrounds a way to meet, work together, and become friends.
Project Challenges
- Recruiting enough participants to reach our (ambitious!) target numbers -- especially in under-served communities, in neighborhoods with relatively few pre-existing Girl Scout troops, and in the early years of the project, before our program's reputation had been established.
- Developing and sustaining a collaborative relationship with a partner organization that has different goals.
- Coordinating scheduling and program plans between collaborating organizations.
- The loss of key personnel complicates project components in which long-standing relationships with staff are very important.
- Matching teen Girl Scouts with younger troops.
- Tracking and supporting the teens after they complete their primary service.
- Scheduling events to accommodate traffic, transit delays and the teens¡¦ complicated schedules.
Strategies/Solutions
 Recruitment became easier as our program's reputation became established and personnel representing both organizations developed ties to communities we sought to engage. Recruitment strategies have included visits and announcements at meetings of adult Girl Scout volunteers, calling Leaders and visiting troops in under-served neighborhoods, announcements in newsletters, and even the development and circulation of promotional materials such as a video and a conference display featuring the program.
- To develop and sustain a collaborative relationship with the partner organization, WCS hired a coordinator for the program and arranged for that WCS employee to spend part of each week working from the GSCGNY office, collaborating and communicating with GSCGNY staff working on the program. The development of personal relationships among staff from the partner organizations has promoted a smooth working relationship.
- To coordinate scheduling plans between the collaborating organizations, both organizations set program dates far in advance (often 12 months or more for major events) and reviewed them with each other and with key planners in their own organizations.
- To coordinate program plans between the collaborating organizations, program staff familiarized themselves with Girl Scout organizational procedures and activities, incorporated these details into program objectives and curricula, and shared this information with other WCS colleagues who collaborated on the project. These efforts were initiated before the proposal writing stage and continued throughout implementation. Early attention to such details was made possible, in large part, through a grant from NSF for a pilot version of the project.
- Complications caused by the loss of key personnel were offset by the ongoing working relationships that had already been developed with more than one GSCGNY staff member. These relationships had been enhanced through the coordinator's regular interaction with GSCGNY staff at their own office (rather than only during program events at the Bronx Zoo, where fewer GS staff were present and staff from both groups were busy with participants).
- To match teenage Girl Scouts with younger troops they would visit as Program Aides, we involved staff, volunteers, and teenage program alumnae in publicity and recruitment efforts. Staff ensured that information about Program Aides was available to Leaders of younger troops in their newsletters and at meetings for adult Girl Scout volunteers. Young women who had participated in the program in previous years volunteered to talk to Leaders of younger troops at an information table during Girl Scout Council events.
- Tracking and supporting the teenagers during and after their Program Aide service requires time, thought, efficiency, and human interaction. Having a dedicated program coordinator is essential for developing effective long-term relationships with the participants. Ideally, both collaborating organizations should have personnel responsible for this task. Program staff develop systems for communicating with Program Aides and Leaders via mail, phone, and the internet, and strive to check in with Program Aides regularly. Tracking Program Aides as they complete their service also helps GSCGNY and WCS know when girls have completed the 25 hours that Program Aides must serve in order to be eligible for recognition from GSCGNY -- and to improve their chances of being selected as a Wildlife Science Careers Intern at WCS. These goals give the Program Aides incentives to keep staff informed about their progress, which makes tracking that much easier.
- Scheduling events to accommodate transportation delays and busy calendars required the use of experienced, reputable school bus companies as well as enough buses and routes to serve participants efficiently. Driving routes were planned in advance to minimize the number of pick-up/drop-off sites and the number of bridges or tunnels that would be traversed on each route, while also ensuring that the sites were safe and accessible. In some cases, participants were assigned to workshop groups according to their NYC borough of residence to facilitate transportation for field trips. Scheduling also required attention to hours of operation and supervision. Sessions started and ended after the peaks of morning and afternoon rush hours, and snacks were provided before and after long trips. Program personnel met girls who traveled via mass transit at the entrance to the zoo.
Project IMAGINE (Innovative Model for the Advancement for the Gifted through Inquiry in Nature and the Environment)
 With a major grant from the U.S. Department of Education¡¦s Jacob Javits Gifted and Talented Students Education Program, the WCS is working with experts in the field of gifted and talented education from Columbia University to take the lessons in informal science education, hands-on pedagogy, and professional development that the Zoo has learned over the years to create a program designed to meet the special needs of underserved high-potential students in the third, sixth and seventh grades. The three-year project consists of five main components:
- A series of intensive Hands-On Science Leadership Training Institutes for sixth-grade teachers that is preparing them to deliver life science programs for high-potential urban students both within the classroom and at informal science institutions (ISI¡¦s). The institutes, which are tied to state and national science education standards, also include a peer-training component to extend the reach of the program.
- A follow-up program of Reflective Study Workshops and technical assistance through which the teachers are getting ongoing support centering on science content and classroom instruction.
- Student-to-Student Projects that are allowing sixth-grade students to work in teams to teach third-grade classes about topics in environmental science. (Public school teachers in New York State are mandated to cover environmental studies in their third-grade classrooms.)
- A workshop for third-grade teachers that is enabling them to place the Student-to-Student Projects in the context of their science curricula.
- An extensive academic year, weekend training program at the Bronx Zoo for participating students that has been designed to motivate them, enable them to answer research questions, and to learn the science content and skills necessary to serve as Junior Zoo Guides at the Bronx Zoo during the seventh grade;
- A Junior Guide Program, through which the students will provide public programming at the Bronx Zoo and videoconferences to peers across the country; and
- A Parent Program that will deal with issues surrounding high-potential students that arise in the home, as well as resources available to help parents develop their child¡¦s potential.
 Project IMAGINE is making a significant contribution to the exemplary approach of the WCS¡¦ programs by incorporating the research of Howard Gardner, with emphasis on his 8th intelligence ¡V the Naturalistic Intelligence. The program promises to serve as a model for how informal science institutions -- such as zoos, natural history museums, and nature centers -- can work with schools to implement a program of science infusion and talent development for economically disadvantaged students.
Project Benefits
- Offers a unique opportunity for high potential students to become involved in out-of-school science enrichment activities.
- Enables teachers to provide differentiated programs of instruction for high potential students in the regular classroom.
- Introduces teachers to experts in the field of gifted and talented education.
- Shows educators how ISI¡¦s can serve as living laboratories for the instruction of students, supplementing the meager laboratory resources of many inner-city schools
- Introduces elementary school teachers to relevant life science curricula.
- Provides a means through which teachers can work and network with one another.
Project Challenges
- ¡PWith an increasing number of other learning opportunities for teachers, recruitment has been a challenge.
- Some of the middle-school teachers have had a problem recruiting a partner third-grade classroom because they don¡¦t have a third-grade class in their school, which has, in some instances, translated into transportation problems.
Strategies/Solutions
- To address the recruitment issue, we are providing an extra institute, and advertising heavily in the New York Teacher, a publication of the United Federation of Teachers.
- To alleviate the third-grade partnership issue, we are working with New York City Community School District Science Coordinators to assist in finding partner classes and aiding transportation.
(Please Note: The above lists of challenges and solutions will be augmented when we complete the student portion of the program.)
Project TRIPS (Teaching Revitalized through Informal Programs in Science)
There is a growing consensus in the science education field that informal science institutions (ISIs) should be more directly involved in the systemic reform movement going on in the nation¡¦s schools. More and more educators are coming to understand the tremendous educational value of ISIs ¡X particularly their rich exhibits, collections and their everyday practice of inquiry-based instruction. Up until now, however, there has been no organized attempt to involve ISIs on a broad scale in the systemic reform agenda. Project TRIPS is designed to address this need and to foster new kinds of relationships between ISIs and schools.
Initiated by the Bronx Zoo and funded by the National Science Foundation, Project TRIPS is enabling some of America¡¦s most talented educators from ISIs and schools to work together to develop high-quality professional development programs that enhance the capacity of teachers to improve the way that life science is taught to adolescents. The project consists of two primary components:
(1) A series of intensive twelve-day training institutes for teams of ISI educators, teachers and school administrators from across the country that is preparing them to work together to plan and implement professional development programs for middle-school teachers; and
(2) a follow-up program of workshops and technical assistance through which participants get ongoing support centering on teacher training, life science content, classroom instruction, authentic assessment, and the National Science Education Standards.
Through TRIPS, the Bronx Zoo is achieving two main outcomes. First, it is creating a network of fifty ISI-school partnerships across the U.S. with increased capacity to work with teachers as change agents; and second, it is enabling thousands of middle-school teachers to learn up-to-date life science content, ¡§state-of-the-art¡¨ instructional skills, and ways to more effectively utilize informal science institutions as living laboratories for the enhancement of classroom science instruction.
Project Benefits
- Participants join with an outstanding group of colleagues to be a part of an innovative, cutting-edge network that focuses on strengthening the relationship between schools and ISIs.
- Team members worked with leading experts in the field of science reform, science standards, inquiry-based learning, and life science content.
- Participants gain new insights into the linkages between ISIs and schools, and the potential this relationship holds for improving science education at the middle school level.
- Teachers and ISI educators have received exemplary life science curricula for use in their institutions.
- Students in TRIPS classrooms are motivated to perform better in science, as well as in areas such as reading, math and geography.
- The program raises awareness of ISIs as educational resources.
Project Challenges
- Recruiting teams. The team concept meant that three people had to be able to spend two weeks together in New York during summer vacation.
- Teams found it difficult to find time to meet together for planning and found it difficult to balance TRIPS commitments with other responsibilities.
- Teams faced the challenge of finding funding to pay for class travel to ISIs, to pay stipends to teachers attending professional development workshops, and to pay, in some cases, admission to ISIs.
- Some ISIs found it difficult to provide staff to work with the increased numbers of students coming to the ISI.
- Teachers found it challenging to add new curricula into their classrooms in the face of pressure to have students do well in state-mandated tests.
Strategies/Solutions
- Recruitment became easier as our program¡¦s reputation became established. The most effective recruitment strategy was phone calls to ISIs and some schools. An information packet followed the calls. Participants from the first TRIPS cohort made themselves available to answer questions of prospective participants.
- Time for participants to meet as a TRIPS team is still a problem. However, as the benefits of participation become more apparent, more effort is being made to carve out the time.
- Funding remains an issue for some teams, though many have applied for and received grant money to pay for busses to ISIs and stipends for teachers attending professional development workshops. As the worth of the program becomes more evident, administrators are making more of an effort to allocate funds for travel. Most ISIs admit students in the program at no fee or a reduced fee, but this remains a challenge for some teams.
- With regard to providing staff for the increasing number of student visits associated with the program, some ISIs have trained volunteers in the use of the project curricula. Some have received staff assistance from the school partners. Some ISIs make frequent visits to the schools.
- State testing remains a problem; however, as teachers, administrators and ISI educators become more familiar with the recommended curricula, integrating it into an existing program seems to be much less of an issue.
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