A study available tomorrow in Science reports that giving teachers better training in their field can have a profound impact on the how well students learn science. A study of teachers' research experiences over time by Samuel Silverstein of Columbia University found that students of teachers who participated in Columbia's Summer Research Program outperformed their peers by 10 percentage points on New York Satte science assessments. The middle and high school teachers each spent a summer working on research under the supervision of science faculty at Columbia. Once a week the teachers got together for programs that were designed to help them better communicate the science to students.

The study says the schools saved money over time because those teachers stayed in their jobs.