Rockman et al will be creating an evaluation plan as part of a planning grant for the California Academy of Sciences' Institute on Science and Sustainability Program. The Institute on Science and Sustainability will build upon the Academy's strengths to create a network of master science teachers in the San Francisco Bay Area to raise the level of science education.

As part of the planning process, Rockman will conduct retrospective data collection that will target past participants in Academy teacher professional development programs and teachers who are in the target audience for the Institute on Science and Sustainability, in order to determine barriers to participation and perceived outcomes. The retrospective data collection and analysis will inform the design and evaluation strategy for the Institute. In addition, Rockman will develop an evaluation package (instruments, measures, data collection and analysis strategies) to be used in conjunction with the formal Program launch in 2009.