WERC's efforts has also included support for professional development coordinated with the new science cores. WERC also provides technical assistance with curricular materials and internet resources to support the implementation of Utah's new 9th Grade Earth Systems Science Course.

A very positive feature of the Utah education reform process is that the state implements criterion-referenced tests that are aligned with the new cores. These tests compare student achievement with the learning outcomes that are described in the cores. The USOE Assessment Division participated actively in the science core revisions so that the standards, objectives and indicators were written in a consistent manner that facilitated the use of assessments that could test for understanding rather than rote memorization. Examples of assessment items that are aligned with the core can be found in the Science Course Directory on the USOE Home Page.

Professional Development
WERC provides technical assistance and funding to support professional development in Utah to assist implementation of the new cores. Elementary inservice has been coordinated by the Utah State Office of Education (USOE) and Institutions of Higher Education and has utilized the state's public television station and distance communication network. Lead teachers who receive special training serve as trainers at local sites in conjunction with videos and television broadcasts. The first round focused on grades 2, 3 and 4 and the second round reached teachers of grades 5 and 6. The third round in 1997/98 has focused on grades 1 and 2. Beginning in the summer of 1998 and the 1998/99 academic year, this inservice cycle will repeat. During the academic year, facilitators who have been trained during the summer provide inservice with more than one hundred groups of teachers. Most of these meet for three or more sessions each, and they involve approximately 1,500 elementary classroom teachers.

Professional development at the secondary level is connected with the state's long-standing secondary science endorsement process. In addition, local districts collaborate with the Utah State Office of Education to develop core experiments that are aligned with the processes and content of the new core. Many of these can be found in the Science Course Directory on the USOE Home Page.

WERC also helped USOE receive a 2-year grant from the National Headquarters of the Environmental Protection Agency. Through this grant, students in the secondary Earth Systems Science Course are implementing environmental science action projects to expand their understanding of Earth systems. WERC has provided additional technical assistance with respect to science content and to using its web-based EdGateway software as the primary mode for project participants to communicate with each other.