Sandra K. Abell is Professor of science education and Director of the Science Education Center at the University of Missouri-Columbia. A former elementary school science teacher, Abell has conducted numerous teaching and research projects in elementary and middle level science classrooms in collaboration with classroom teachers. She is the author of numerous articles for teachers and researchers, coeditor of the forthcoming Handbook of Research on Science Education, and past president of the National Association for Research in Science Teaching (NARST).