The work that made Anna Heyer stand out鈥攈er signature program to build a cadre of teacher-leaders in science鈥攁lmost didn鈥檛 happen. The fact that it did speaks volumes about Heyer鈥檚 distinctive brand of leadership.
Colleagues in the Flowing Wells Unified school district, in Tucson, Ariz., where Heyer is the science coordinator, describe her as a ball of energy, relentlessly cheerful and optimistic. She鈥檚 famous for her intense listening and the way she rolls feedback into revised plans that reflect her colleagues鈥� expertise and concerns.
But Heyer is also unyieldingly persistent. She believes fiercely that curriculum leadership should come from teachers. 鈥淚 knew they had so much more to offer as a group than I do by myself,鈥� she said. 鈥淲e鈥檙e better together.鈥�
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So, when district leaders politely rejected her 2018 proposal to train teachers to lead professional development and curriculum-writing on the state鈥檚 new science standards, Heyer did what she characteristically does: She listened to their objections, regrouped, and came back with a winning plan. Her new presentation dove into detail on why the district needed teacher-leaders in each building to meet the challenge of the new standards and how the training would be set up to ensure that teachers excelled.
鈥淎nna heard 鈥榥o鈥� quite a few times, but you could just feel her resolve. She鈥檇 always come back and say, 鈥極K, how about this? Can we do this instead?鈥� 鈥� said Patricia Gutierrez, who oversees PD in the district. 鈥淪he was just convinced that if you find the right people and build their skills, leadership will take root and grow.鈥�
- Root Your Work in Your Core Values: Have teachers develop a statement reflecting the values you want to see in your education programming. Our science education values are risk-taking, critical thinking, and perseverance. For each thing we do, we always check to see that it reflects those core values.
- Systemic Change Isn鈥檛 a Solo Act: If you鈥檙e going to change things in a school system, you鈥檒l need the help of many other people. I鈥檓 only as good as the people around me.
- Learn Like You鈥檙e Thirsty for Water: You must keep learning. You have to be vulnerable and elicit even difficult feedback. You want to learn what鈥檚 happening with your staff, your teachers, because you can learn from it. Everyone down to a 5-year-old has something to teach you.
And grow it has. Twenty teachers from the district鈥檚 nine schools now serve as the district鈥檚 hive mind for science instruction. In an intensive 2019 training Heyer designed, they became experts in the state鈥檚 new science standards, then led sessions to immerse their fellow teachers in them as well. The leaders wrote curriculum units together for each grade and tried them out with their colleagues.
Training has been scaled down since the pandemic forced Flowing Wells schools first into remote mode and now into a hybrid model. But the curriculum writing continues virtually.
Teachers鈥� new roles build confidence, leadership
The project appears to be paying off. In a 2020 independent evaluation, teacher-leaders reported feeling much more confident about their knowledge of the new standards and their pedagogical skills. Their principals reported that they鈥檙e taking on new roles, too, such as serving on school leadership committees.
When it comes to teachers鈥� preparedness to teach the science standards, Flowing Wells is 鈥渓ight years ahead鈥� of other districts in southern Arizona, said Margaret Wilch, the director of research at Southern Arizona Research Science and Engineering Foundation. Wilch has worked with districts around the state and said that Flowing Wells stands out because of the way Heyer cultivated expertise in each building and brought outside experts into the trainings to deepen teachers鈥� knowledge of each scientific discipline.
Arizona鈥檚 new science standards are modeled after the Next Generation Science Standards, which are so different from states鈥� previous ones that they require deep shifts in practice and thinking for teachers. All but six states have adopted the NGSS or versions of them. Instead of marching through topics and facts, Arizona鈥檚 standards鈥攍ike the NGSS鈥攅nvision discussions that begin with observing natural phenomena to spark students鈥� natural curiosity and lead them to ask questions.
I don鈥檛 believe any of us have true success in solitude.
Teachers in Flowing Wells have benefited from Heyer鈥檚 work outside the district. She served on a state education department panel that reviewed early drafts of the standards, so 鈥渟he had her finger on the pulse, she knew what was coming, before the standards were ever adopted, and was already bringing that to her teachers,鈥� said Gutierrez, the head of PD.
That dual awareness鈥攖hinking beyond her district but grounding those thoughts in action, in classrooms鈥攅pitomizes Heyer, said Sara Torres, the executive director of the Arizona Science Teachers Association.
鈥淪he does all this work all over the state, but she goes into classrooms and coaches teachers, works side by side with them,鈥� Torres said. 鈥淪he isn鈥檛 just a tell you, tell you, tell you person. She asks. She listens to them, hears where their frustration is, and models a strategy they can use in their classrooms.鈥�
Making connections, expanding time on science
Heyer鈥檚 science leadership extends beyond the teacher-leadership work. Superintendent David Baker has noticed that she鈥檚 often scouring the district鈥檚 math and reading materials to find places science could integrate nicely into those disciplines. Associate Superintendent Kevin Stoltzfus said Heyer was instrumental in redesigning the district鈥檚 science sequence so that 9th grade students start high school with conceptual physics to bolster their understanding of Algebra 1 concepts.
Science often gets short shrift in the country鈥檚 accountability-driven focus on math and reading. But Heyer has led a push to make sure that doesn鈥檛 happen in Flowing Wells. Elementary students spend five to seven hours a week on science, including their interdisciplinary units in math and reading. That鈥檚 an important leg up in a district where most of the 6,000 students are Latinx and from low-income families. Nationally, elementary students spend on average less than two hours a week on science, according to .
Heyer鈥檚 style has clear roots in her upbringing in Texas. From her parents, who were both doctors, she learned the importance of fighting for what you believe in, seeing the best in everyone, and never taking yourself too seriously. Her maternal grandmother was a shaping force, too; she was a terrific listener and generous with praise for her granddaughter and others around her.
As a teenager, Heyer loved science and was drawn to its public-health and social-justice contexts. In high school, she volunteered at a Forth Worth day camp for families affected by HIV. As a biology major at Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, N.C., she participated in a public-health program in South Africa.
At Wake Forest, Heyer had a mentor who forged a turning point in her life. They worked together in a bat echolocation lab, but he recognized how she thrived on group work and conversation. She wasn鈥檛 meant for a research lab, he told her; she needed a science career with lots of human interaction. He gave her a chance to take their bat research to a Florida camp for elementary students. The light bulb went on: Heyer loved teaching.
She got a master鈥檚 degree in education and took her first job teaching, in a Flowing Wells high school in 2007. Over the next five years, she鈥檇 teach biotechnology, chemistry, physics, and biology. After her first child was born, she cut back to part time, coordinating science fairs and coaching teachers, and by 2014, Heyer was focusing all her attention on professional development.
An idea that takes off
That鈥檚 how she connected with someone who鈥檇 become key to her teacher-leader program: DaNel Hogan, the executive director of the STEMAZing Project, a science and technology program created by the Pima County school superintendent鈥檚 office. Hogan had been working on teacher training in science with districts in her county, but Heyer took the idea to a new level.
There are 17 school districts in Pima County, including Flowing Wells, but none 鈥渢ook the idea of teacher-leadership and ran with it鈥� like Heyer did, Hogan said. Heyer could have taught her teachers about the new standards in big sit-and-git sessions that dominate most PD. But she chose the teacher-leader approach because it capitalizes on teachers鈥� collective wisdom and opens the door to greater things.
鈥淚f people are going to feel the three things they really need to feel to stay in this profession鈥攙alued, capable, and influential鈥攜ou need to empower them, to let them decide what workshops will be about, what the curriculum units will be like,鈥� Heyer said. 鈥淚 don鈥檛 believe any of us have true success in solitude.鈥�
With her father鈥檚 good humor, Heyer jokes about her leadership style, saying she鈥檚 like the guy in the who dances wildly by himself until others gradually join him, and a wild-dancing movement begins. When she gets an idea she鈥檚 convinced will solve a problem, she persists, hoping others will join her.
Heyer鈥檚 ideas are quietly shaping teachers鈥� lives. Schreen Marvin, a 2nd grade teacher-leader at one of Flowing Wells鈥� elementary schools, said her journey into leadership made her realize she loves curriculum development and wants to earn a master鈥檚 degree in it. The trainings, conducted in an inquiry style, with lots of hands-on activities and problem-solving鈥攖o reflect the way the standards envision teachers leading their classes鈥攁lso helped her recover something precious that she鈥檇 lost.
鈥淎nna鈥檚 style, how excited she gets, ignited a spark for science that I haven鈥檛 felt since I started teaching,鈥� Marvin said. 鈥淪he brought back the curiosity and love for science that I once had as a learner.鈥�
