When the party celebrating the 10th anniversary of the science education reform organization ASSET Inc. started, Bill Jones, ASSET middle school coordinator, was upstairs with about a dozen teachers explaining the heart of ASSET.

Actually, he wasn't just explaining; he was showing, encouraging teachers to do their own experiments to investigate how balance works using wooden toys. It's an inquiry-based method of teaching that uses hands-on experiments and questioning for science lessons students won't soon forget.

And the hands-on materials coupled with this type of professional development is the heart of the organization that has been aiming to reform science education since 1992.

"Once you empower the teachers and give them a chance to interact across districts, wonderful things happen,'' said E. Peter Benzing, who was a vice president at Bayer Corp. and on the team that started ASSET. He was among those attending the celebration Tuesday.

Reeny Davison, ASSET executive director, said she believes the professional development is critical. She said that schools that have participated in ASSET have achieved higher math and reading test results.

ASSET started with a discussion at the Bayer Corp. in 1992, grew to involve other partners and led to Quaker Valley and Montour becoming the first two pilot districts in 1994. A National Science Foundation grant enabled the program to expand to serve 30 districts.

When that ran out in 2001, the organization took a risk to survive: It started charging districts for everything, instead of just the materials that are in module kits.

By then, many districts saw ASSET as a necessity. The list of members has grown to 44 school districts and charter and nonpublic schools. ASSET expects to train more than 2,100 teachers this school year.

This year, the organization changed what ASSET stands for, from Allegheny Schools Science Education and Technology to Achieving Student Success Through Excellence in Education.

This fall, ASSET moved into new quarters at River Park Commons on the South Side, giving it room for professional development, a supply warehouse, space for teachers to preview materials and a center for packing new supplies into the kits.

The organization is looking to expand throughout the state.

It has formed partnerships with three universities. ASSET will work with California and Edinboro universities of Pennsylvania for them to become satellite training sites for teachers and to help prepare their student teachers. Robert Morris University also has a partnership for student teacher preparation.

ASSET also is expanding its breadth. A module on science and literacy is being developed, and one on science and math is being considered for the future. Even the social studies has been discussed as a future endeavor, using the inquiry-based method of teaching.

"I see us being a professional development center that goes deeper and deeper," said Davison.