One of the advantages of being an NSTA member is getting a hard copy of the journal appropriate to your teaching assignment (Science and Children, Science Scope, or The Science Teacher for those in K–12). Even if you don’t get a hard copy, as a member you have online access to the others, including the searchable archives. You can read the articles online or download them as PDF files to read later.

As you’re skimming the table of contents of other NSTA journals, don’t overlook the Journal of College Science Teaching! Even though it’s geared for those in higher education, I’ve often found articles that are relevant to K–12 educators. In the July 2010 issue (there are four per year), there are several of these gems:
How many textbooks or curriculum guides still promote the misconception (often in the first chapter) that there is a single, accepted “scientific method” that is universally used? An article that really caught my eye was The Scientific Method Ain’t What It Used to Be. The author provides a guided tour of a web-based resource Understanding Science: The Way Science Really Works that every science teacher should become familiar with. It includes a model of inquiry processes (note the plural), common misconceptions about science and scientific research, case studies, and teaching suggestions (including how to modify your current lessons to “incorporate, reinforce, and make explicit the nature and process of science”) for all grades K–16. I could (and did) spend hours here. This is from the University of California Museum of Paleontology   which also created the Understanding Evolution website,  another excellent resource.

If you substitute “high school” for “college,” Achievable Inquiry in the College Laboratory: The Mini-Journal has suggestions for turning traditional cookbook labs into investigations that model the work of real scientists. The authors include a before/after comparison of traditional labs with the mini-journal ones, including student comments. The also include the checklist/rubric used to evaluate the mini-journal reports. It’s worth a look, especially for high school classes.
Another article of interest to high schools is Dual Enrollment: Postsecondary/Secondary Partnerships to Prepare Students. The author compares and contrasts AP, IB, and dual-enrollment options for high school students.

And if you’ve read the suggested books in the K–12 journals, And the Winners Are…Award-Winning Science Books of 2009 has suggestions to add to your reading list, with brief reviews/summaries.