Colleges Cautious in Linking With Schools To Boost Science

By Peter West

CHEVY CHASE, MD.--Despite repeated calls by education reformers for stronger ties between public schools and colleges and universities as one tactic to help improve science education, many college educators still are working in isolation and with little guidance to accomplish that goal, according to participants at a conference here last week.

Steven Zottoli, a professor of biology at Williams College in Williamstown, Mass., for example, said that the college was on the verge of launching an outreach program to help improve the science literacy of local elementary school science teachers.

But, after hearing the pitfalls and successes of similar programs around the nation during the two-day meeting here, he was ready to rethink much...