Jeanne Century, Director of Science Education, Research and Evaluation, The Center for Elementary Mathematics and Science Education, University of Chicago

Jeanne Century is the director of science education and research & evaluation at the University of Chicago’s Center for Elementary Mathematics and Science Education (CEMSE). Century has spent the majority of her career working in and with urban schools and large urban school districts across the country. She has developed comprehensive science instructional materials and been part of professional development, technical assistance, and strategic planning efforts for teachers and school and district administrators across the country. Her research and evaluation efforts have focused on the impact of inquiry science instruction, strategies for improving utilization of research and evaluation, sustainability of reform, and measurement of fidelity and enactment of innovations. Century served on the transition team for the Obama-Biden administration where she focused on STEM education and education R&D and recently shared the National Association for Research in Science Teaching award for the most significant publication of 2010. Century’s current work includes an examination of implementation, spread, and sustainability of inclusive STEM middle and high schools in Ohio. Her work includes identifying key elements of STEM school models and measuring the extent to which those elements are enacted in practice. It also focuses on measuring and analyzing the range of factors that affect implementation as well as the impact those factors have on model spread and sustai nability. The next step of this work is examining relationships between model components and student outcomes. Her group is committed to developing an open research environment and shares this and other work in progress on http://www.researcherswithoutborders.org. Century holds a K–8 teaching certificate, an undergraduate degree in general science, and a master’s and doctorate in science education curriculum and teaching.