National Science Board Commission on 21st Century Education in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics

Members

Dr. Cindy Y. Moss

Director of K-12 Science,
Charlotte/Mecklenburg (NC) Public Schools

Cindy Moss is Director of Science, K-12, for the Charlotte Mecklenburg Schools in North Carolina. She received a B.S. in zoology from the University of North Carolina (where she was a Morehead Scholar), an M.S. in science teaching from Syracuse University, and a Ph.D. in science education from the Curtin Institute of Technology in Perth, Western Australia. While pursuing her doctorate, Dr. Moss conducted research on instructional practices in several countries. The National Science Teacher Association has published a shortened version of her dissertation "Sing and Dance Your Way to Science Success" in its new series of monographs entitled "Exemplary Science in Grades 9-12." In her work, Dr. Moss took students that other teachers deemed "definite failures" and raised them to a level where they outperformed the Honors students.

Dr. Moss is a respected presenter on learning styles and the effects of classroom environment on student achievement. She has made numerous presentations on using learning styles research to design effective materials and strategies for student learning: using stories and songs to teach biology and establishing business partnerships.

In 2001, Dr. Moss was named a Milken Family Foundation National Educator for her expertise in kinesthetic learning, her ability to help low achieving students succeed, her passion and enthusiasm in the classroom, and her tireless work with the environment. She won a renewable Environmental P rotection Agency grant for her students at Independence High School in Charlotte, North Carolina to create a Groundwater Guardian plan and engage the community in environmental conservation efforts. Her students host a Water Festival for elementary schools and have published a standards-aligned book for fourth graders on water quality and environmental issues.

Dr. Moss has authored articles and textbooks, as well as books for the National Parks Service and National Science Teachers Association, and has worked with the North Carolina State Board of Education to revise North Carolina's biology curriculum.