Project ASSIST (All Students in Supported Inquiry-based Science with Technology) was a collaborative research project that included practitioners in the design, implementation, and evaluation of the intervention. It was based on the premise that school-based practitioners' involvement from the outset would increase the likelihood that the intervention would become an ongoing part of the district's work. The goal of the project was to develop, implement, evaluate, and disseminate a model of professional development that would promote the achievement of all students, especially students with disabilities, in science, using technology where appropriate.

Judith Zorfass, principal investigator, and Lori DiGisi, project director, of Education Development Center, Inc. (EDC), in collaboration with professionals from the Cambridge (Massachusetts) Public Schools, designed Project ASSIST. Zorfass and DiGisi began by synthesizing the research literature from the fields of science, special education, technology, and school reform to determine what practices were most effective for teaching inquiry-based science to students with disabilities. Together with district-level administrators from special education, technology, and science; principals; teachers; and special educators, they designed an intervention called the Action Reflection Process. This process could enable practitioners to access and integrate the most effective strategies, combined with technology tools, for teaching science to students with disabilities.

The central premise of the Action Reflection Process is that classroom teachers, special educators, science curriculum specialists, and library/media/technology specialists meet as the action reflection team on a regular basis. Collaboratively, they analyze student work, reflect on instruction, and share strategies and materials. The goal is for all students, especially those with disabilities, to achieve in science. The Action Reflection Process creates a structure for ongoing professional development for each team member, who shares his or her expertise and gains expertise from others to develop professionally. The process is enhanced when the principal joins the group to collaborate with the team as an instructional leader and to demonstrate his or her support for the time that the staff give to the process.

See contributions and desired outcomes of each team member.