Karen Worth directs teacher preparation programs at Wheelock College and teaches courses in elementary education and science education for both pre-service and in-service teachers at the graduate and under graduate levels. A current focus is developing teacher skills in the use of language in science as a critical tool for scientific reasoning. She has been the principal investigator on several National Science Foundation projects in which she developed and published science curriculum materials for early childhood and elementary classrooms and led large scale efforts to support the implementation of inquiry based science programs in schools.  She was part of the development team for the National Science Education Standards, chairing the Working Group on Science Teaching Standards. She consults nationally and internationally on the implementations of inquiry based science programs for children at pre-school and elementary levels and has served as an advisor to several informal science organizations, public television stations, and national science reform projects.