Transformative Professional Development: A Model for Urban Science Education Reform Carla C. Johnson Æ Sherry Marx Ó Springer Science+Business Media, B.V. 2009 Abstract This study presents a model of Transformative Professional Develop- ment (TPD) for use in sustained, collaborative, professional development of teachers in urban middle school science. TPD focuses on urban science teacher change and is responsive to school climate, teacher needs, and teacher beliefs with the intention of promoting change in practice. In this study, TPD was used to meet the needs of individual teachers and the collective needs of schools in reform efforts. The experiences of the eight teachers engaged in this process of professional growth, including their changes in practices and beliefs, provide the focus of this paper. Findings in this study revealed that through the use of TPD, participants in this study improved science teaching effectiveness and began to transform their negative school climate and create positive classroom learning environments. Keywords Professional development Á Urban schools Á Science Á Middle school Introduction The population of the United States continues to become increasingly diverse, both culturally and linguistically (National Center for Education Statistics [NCES] 2006). The opinions expressed are those of the authors and do not represent views of the U.S. Department of Education. C. C. Johnson (&) Science Education, University of Cincinnati, P.O. Box 210022, Cincinnati, OH 45221, USA e-mail: carla.johnson@uc.edu S. Marx Secondary Education, Utah State University, 2815 Old Main Hill, Logan, UT 84322, USA 123 J Sci Teacher Educ DOI 10.1007/s10972-009-9127-x