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Participatory science conducted in formal K–12 settings has many benefits, including the potential to engage teachers and students authentically in the scientific enterprise and to make learning more meaningful. Despite these benefits and others, school-based participatory science (SBPS) is not widespread. In this essay, we put forth a theory of SBPS that is emerging from a four-year study of efforts to integrate participatory science in elementary classrooms. The theory captures the complexity of SBPS and describes factors that shape the experience teachers and students have with participatory science. First, we describe the landscape of SBPS. Second, we describe our study and the data we have collected on teachers’ efforts to implement SBPS. Next, we describe the emerging theory and illustrate it with vignettes constructed from our data. Finally, we discuss recommendations for participatory science projects that wish to gain a foothold in K–12 classrooms and for research that can further test the theory of SBPS. 

Science education is an important component of a full education beginning in primary grades. In recent decades, research has identified young learners’ rich knowledge of the natural world and their potential to connect with sophisticated science ideas. Elementary teachers face many challenges to implementing reform-based science instruction in their classrooms. Some teachers may choose to enhance their students’ science experiences by introducing them to citizen science (CS) projects. Unfortunately, few CS projects offer substantial guidance for teachers seeking to implement the projects for instructional purposes, placing a heavy burden on teachers. To address these burdens, our research team collaborated with Teacher Advisory Group (TAG teachers) during the development and revision of educative support materials for two CS projects. We present data about how the TAG teachers informed our CS support materials’ revisions, how they implemented the two CS projects with and without educative support materials, and how they perceived their students’ classroom and outdoor experiences with the CS projects. These data demonstrate the importance of including teachers’ voices and experiences in reform efforts, particularly when trying to incorporate instructional elements that teachers may perceive as deviations from what they are expected to teach.