Mark Windschitl is a professor of Science Teaching and Learning at the University of Washington. His research interests deal with the early career development of science teachers—in particular their trajectories toward ambitious and equitable pedagogy. His most recent work—with Dr. Jessica Thompson and funded by the National Science Foundation—is organized around the development of Networked Improvement Communities as a social infrastructure for teachers to collectively solve difficult problems related to ambitious teaching. Work from this and related projects has appeared in The American Educational Research Journal, Teachers College Record, Cognition and Instruction, Phi Delta Kappan, Science Education, and in white papers commissioned by the National Research Council and the National Academy of Science. Dr. Windschitl is the PI on a Noyce Teaching Scholars grant and has supported approximately 30 teachers in that program in their transitions to urban schools. He also administrates the Annenberg Fellowship program, known as the Rhodes Scholarships of Teaching— for teacher candidates at the UW. He is the recipient of the 2002 AERA Presidential Award for Best Review of Research, the co-author of the chapter on Science Teaching in the new AERA Handbook of Research on Teaching, and a member of the National Research Council Committee on Strengthening and Sustaining Teachers.Education.
Ph.D., Iowa State University, 1995
PowerPoints for Recent Presentations
Anchoring Events: Teaching for Understanding: Sacramento Presentation (about 5.1 MB)
The Power of Modeling in the High School Science Classroom (compressed, about 6.6 MB)
The Power of Modeling in the K-8 Science Classroom (compressed, about 4.8 MB)
Keynote in Zurich Switzerland on Practice-based Teacher Preparation
Sample publications
Contributing author, National Research Council (2016). Strengthening K-12 Science Education through a Teacher Learning Continuum. National Academy Press.
Windschitl, M. & Calabrese Barton, A. (2016) Rigor and Equity By Design: Seeking a Core of Practices for the Science Education Community. AERA Handbook of Research on Teaching, 5th Edition.
Thompson, J., Windschitl, M., & Braaten, M. (2014) Developing a Theory of Ambitious Early-Career Teacher Practice. American Educational Research Journal.
Windschitl, M., Thompson, J., Braaten, M., & Stroupe, D. (2012). Proposing a Core Set of Instructional Practices and Tools for Teachers of Science, Science Education, 96(5), 878-903
Braaten, M. & Windschitl, M. (2011) Towards a Stronger Conceptualization of Scientific Explanation for Science Education. Science Education, 95, pp. 639-669.
Windschitl, M. Thompson, J., & Braaten, M. (2011) Ambitious Pedagogy by Novice Teachers? Who Benefits From Tool-Supported Collaborative Inquiry into Practice and Why. Teachers College Record. 113(7) , pp.1311-1360.
Windschitl, M. (2009). Cultivating 21st Century Skills in Science Learners: How Systems of Teacher Preparation and Professional Development Will Have to Evolve. Paper commissioned by National Academy of Science’s Committee on The Development of 21st Century Skills. February 5, Washington DC.
Recent Invited Addresses
Windschitl, M. (2016). High-leverage practices and the preparation of science teachers in the United States. Society of Chemistry and Physics Education in Germany, Zurich Switzerland, September 6, 2016.
Windschitl, M. (2016). Modeling and discourse in the reform classroom. Annual Meeting of National Association of Science Teachers, Nashville, TN, April 1.
Windschitl, M. (2015) Articulating the core of effective teaching: The heresy and promise of high-leverage practices for a nation of novice educators. The Curry School of Education, University of Virginia.
Windschitl, M. (2014). The role of modeling in teacher education. Invited presentation at University of Michigan, TeachingWorks, April 2014.
Windschitl, M. & Thompson, J. (2014). Enriching Research and Innovation Through the Specification of Professional Practice: The Core Practice Consortium. Invited Presidential Session at the Annual Meeting of the American Educational Research Association, Philadelphia, PA, April, 2014.
Windschitl, M. & Berk, Lindsay. (2014). Building a repertoire of literacy support practices in science. Invited presentation the National Academy of Sciences, Committee on Literacy for science in the common core ELA standards and the Next Generation Science Standards. December, 2013.
Windschitl, M. (2013). What’s at the core of ambitious science teaching, and can it be taught to novices? A study of instructional variation among first-year educators. An invited presentation given at Michigan State University, October, 2013.
Windschitl, M. (April, 2013). The Next Generation Science Standards: Preparing a community to learn. Clemson University, Clemson South Carolina.
Windschitl, M. (April, 2012). How will we prepare the next generation of teachers? Vanderbilt University, Nashville TN.
Windschitl, M. (April, 2012). Ambitious teaching and the promise of core practices. The Waterbury Lecture; Penn State University, State College PA.
Windschitl, M. (February 2011). The Beginner’s Repertoire: Ambitious teaching practice by novices. Stanford University, invited address.
Windschitl, M. (June 2011). The role of representations of practice in teacher learning. University of Michigan, invited address.