May 2007
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Field Testing with CSE: Elementary and High School
Training for Elementary PD Facilitators for Connecting Science
and Literacy Project (CSLP)
Professional development facilitators from around the country got together
at EDC for two days in January to learn how to implement CSE’s NSF-funded
eight-module professional development course on connecting science and literacy
in the elementary classroom. Field testers from Colorado, Florida, Indiana,
Maine, South Dakota, and several sites in Massachusetts joined CSEers Karen
Worth, Jeff Winokur, Sally Crissman, and Martha Davis. Project evaluators from
PERG, who will be collecting data from the facilitators throughout the field
test, participated on the second day.
Participants were presented with background information about the project and reviewed the structure and content of each module. Each facilitator received a sizable binder that included scripts for conducting each session, handouts, and overheads. Transcripts from classroom science discussions and student work, which are key components of all CSLP modules, were also included in the binder. In addition, participants received 8 CSE-produced DVDs that included classroom video of science discussions and students using science notebooks.
The field-test facilitators are all highly qualified and have a great deal of experience in classrooms and in conducting PD sessions for teachers. CSE is already receiving relevant and productive feedback. When the field test is completed in June, comments and suggestions from all the facilitators will be reviewed and incorporated into the next draft of the modules.
For more information on the Connecting Science and Literacy Project, contact Karen Worth, Principal Investigator, at kworth@edc.org.
A Teacher Reports on the Benefits of
Participating in a Foundation Science
Field Test
The Foundation Science curriculum project is currently seeking high
school science teachers who are interested in field testing chemistry, physics,
or biology during the 2007–2008 school year.
When teachers
consider whether or not to participate in field testing a curriculum under
development, a primary consideration is often the extent to which the curriculum
seems engaging and/or educational for their students. In his interview
with CSE’s Jud Hill, Dave Kelso, a fall 2005 Foundation Science:
Physics field-test teacher from Manchester, NH, speaks of how his participation
provided benefits to both his students and himself. In terms of student
gains, Dave stated, “My students gained conceptual understanding and
developed scientific process skills… By [the end of the semester] they
realized that they can only test one variable at a time…. They got good
at designing an experiment.” Despite the observation that “my
students grew during the entire experience,” it appears that they were
not the only ones whose skills were enhanced by the experience. Dave noted, “The
curriculum materials forced me to ask questions that required students
to use complete answers” as well as the fact that, “I have more
time to do one-on-one discussions with students while they are working on activities.
I can actually ask six different students the same question… and get
six original answers because each did not hear the other students’ responses.”
“Students gained conceptual understanding and developed scientific process
skills.”
Want to learn more about the Foundation Science curriculum or apply to be a 2007-2008 Physics, Chemistry and Biology field-test teacher?
Read more or download an application at http://cse.edc.org/foundationscience/
Bioethics Curriculum Seeking High School Biology Teachers to Field Test for Spring Semester 2008
Funded by the National Institutes of Health, the Center for Applied Ethics at EDC and CSE are collaborating on the development of a bioethics curriculum that can serve as a supplement to high school biology classes. The overall purpose of the project is to prepare high school students to
Although the curriculum is in the process of being written, the content of the lessons currently proposed consist of the following:
The proposed lessons are being written with alignment to the following standards in mind: the National Science Education Standards (NRC), the National Assessment of Educational Progress, and the American Association for the Advancement of Science, upon which many states base their own science standards. The bioethics project will provide all student books, teacher’s guides, and evaluation materials to those teachers selected to participate in the field test.
For additional information, contact Erica Jablonski at ejablonski@edc.org
CSE Offers Customized Support
From the state level to the school level, educators find it challenging to
put into place new ways of selecting curricula, new ways of teaching science,
and new ways of assessing students’ learning. Some go at it alone;
some turn to CSE for consultation, support, and advice.
New York City
Currently, CSE is providing assistance to New York City where the Chancellor’s
Children’s First initiative is underway to select and implement a core
science curriculum K–8. The goal is the development of a rigorous and
comprehensive K–8 science program citywide. Each school will select among
recommended instructional materials and will develop their own implementation
plans. For each grade level, schools will be able to select among several options:
kit-based programs, modular approaches, and textbooks (with kits). Schools
will also have access to specific science materials developed by local cultural
and science-rich institutions. If a strong science program is already in place,
a waiver process will be available.
CSE staff assisted the NYC Department of Science, regional science instructional specialists, and other elementary and middle-grades science leaders in the selection process. Our first task was to help reviewers examine the alignment of materials with the city’s Science Scope and Sequence. While the city developed its own selection instrument, CSE staff encouraged reviewers to ask hard questions, collect information, and use evidence to make decisions. Through this selection process, reviewers were able to strengthen their own expertise and expand their own understandings of standards-based science teaching and learning. As a result of this process, school principals will be able to select from among the recommended instructional materials.
CSE staff
also helped plan and facilitate sessions with teacher leaders and selected
principals, soliciting their ideas about best practice, what is working well
now, and what implementation challenges may arise when the science core curriculum
is in place.
As the implementation process begins, CSE will be consulting and offering technical
support as needed.
Washington, D.C.
CSE is currently working with the Washington, D.C., Early Childhood Leadership
Institute to develop understanding of how science fits with the D.C. Early
Learning Standards. In addition to planning and facilitating two separate
two-day institutes last summer in
collaboration with staff members from EDC’s Center for Children and Families,
CSE staff member Jeff Winokur has visited with teachers four different times
during the school year.
Portsmouth, New Hampshire
CSE has been working with Portsmouth schools for three years, helping groups
of teachers improve their elementary science teaching. Work has been carried
out in a number of formats: workshops, small-group discussions, and classroom
modeling, all based on several topics, including inquiry-based science teaching,
work with specific elementary science modules, and connecting science and literacy.
Portland, Oregon
This winter and spring, CSE’s Marian Pasquale worked with the Portland
Public Schools’ Science Resource Team to develop a high-quality professional
development program for the Elementary, Middle and High School Science Leadership
Teams. These teams work with teachers in their schools to facilitate standards-based
science teaching.
The Elementary Science Leadership Team works with science teachers in grades preK–5 surrounding the new science standards, with a literacy emphasis. The Middle and High School Science Leadership Teams are focusing on literacy, specifically literacy anchor assessments. Leadership teams will assist science teachers in grades 6–12 with the implementation of the new science standards. The goal is to help science teachers understand and implement a core curriculum that is aligned with national standards, is based on national models, and involves a change in course sequences.
Central Florida
CSE, funded by the University of Central Florida, provided a series of three
workshops for middle-grades science teachers on the science literacy connection.
Working on Friday evenings and all day Saturday, teachers engaged in in-depth
inquiry investigations and explored the role that reading, discourse, and
writing played in the development and support of students’ science
understanding during inquiry. Teachers learned how to select and use text
for different purposes, how to create student-to-student conversations using
literature circles, and how to organize student science notebooks so that
students might take the best advantage of their thinking during investigations.
Connecticut
CSE is planning its fourth year working with Connecticut’s State Education
Resource Center (SERC). Sessions to date have included large-group whole-day
workshops, workshop sessions at individual schools with smaller groups of teachers,
and in-classroom science teaching that was observed and analyzed by groups
of teachers.
Most of the previous work had been in early childhood science teaching and learning. We are planning to work on connecting science and literacy at the elementary level during 2007–08.
Professional Development via the Web
The members of the Foundation Science team are applying advanced technologies to professional development with the help of Elluminate’s virtual meeting software. A collection of scientific minds have been meeting on Tuesday evenings; seven remote science teachers, one guest scientist, and a few of our own professionals discuss the current learning experience. These two-hour meetings often span four time zones, but provide face-to-face interactions with the writers of the curriculum, a scientist who specializes in the topic, and the educators who are in the process of putting the learning experiences into practice. While the e-conference provides a great way for the teachers to learn more about the material, each session also allows them to ask any questions they may have regarding the session’s topic, as well as submit immediate feedback to aid the fine-tuning of Foundation Science’s products.
Pictured below is a slide displayed by participating scientist Mark Waner. The slide is being used to help explain covalent bonds and to engage teachers in conversation. Bettina Dembek, a CSE research associate, is shown taking part in the conversation.
Exploring the Impact of Elementary Science Specialists Invitational Conference
Advisory Group Meeting
CSE has been funded by the National Science Foundation to convene this invitational
conference, which will begin to build a foundation of knowledge about various
models of support for science learning at the elementary level. From the conference
findings, CSE will develop a research agenda that will lead to more informed
decision making about how best to ensure adequate and appropriate elementary
science instruction. The Advisory Group met April 22–23, 2007, to focus
the goals, identify important questions, and shape the conference agenda. The
work of the advisors is to determine how we should frame the debate about using
or not using science specialists—how do we think about children’s
learning, teacher needs, and efficient and effective use of resources. We will
review the proposed agenda, refine it, and identify speakers and participants.
The invitational conference will be held in Boston on September 24–26,
2007.
Advisory group members include Scott Stowell, science director, Spokane, Wash., School District; Julie Gess-Newsome, University of Utah; Loren Pitt, University of Virginia; Michelle Cambier, regional instructional specialist, NYC; and Linda Gregg, former science director for Las Vegas.
CSE will undertake a new project for Massachusetts’ and Maine’s Departments of Education through NEIREL (Northeast and Islands Regional Education Laboratory). This study will catalog the science performance assessments that states are currently implementing by providing overviews of all identified instruments and in-depth descriptions of up to nine instruments. The features that will be described include instruments’ purpose, format, administration procedures, scoring methods, cost/funding, piloting procedures, development processes, technical qualities, reporting methods, and processes for gaining district/school buy-in. This information has not been collected previously. It will provide users with an overview of how states are utilizing performance assessments to gauge student understanding and the issues that decision makers need to be aware of when considering the design and implementation of a performance assessment in their state.
For more information on this work, contact Abigail Jurist Levy at alevy@edc.org.
Spring Conference Season Comes to a Close
CSE staff were kept busy this spring presenting sessions at conferences from Boston to Phoenix, Chicago to New Orleans. Below is a brief summary. For a full listing of conferences and sessions, go to http://cse.edc.org/news/2007Conferences.asp
Welcome New Staff to CSE
CSE is pleased to introduce our newest staff members.
Dr. Pamela Ellis
Pamela Ellis, CSE senior research associate, is conducting research on teacher
retention strategies in New England to inform policymakers, practitioners,
and institutions of higher education. She began her career in education with
after-school programs. During 15+ years, she served as a tutor, curriculum
designer, consultant, board member, and fundraiser with programs supporting
underserved youth in Chicago, New York, Phoenix, and the San Francisco Bay
Area. Her administrative expertise was garnered through finance and operations
experiences with Citibank, GM, and Lucent Technologies. Prior to her doctoral
program, she was a director with SCORE! Learning Centers, where she participated
in the early stages of distance K–8 curriculum delivery and supplemental
services.
Dr. Amie Mansfield
Amie Mansfield, CSE senior research associate, collects and analyzes data for
the Boston Science Partnership project. She has 14 years of educational research
and evaluation experience. Her work has focused on a variety of topics, including
technology’s role in learning and assessment, learning with models,
universal design for learning, and the impact of state-mandated testing on
teaching and learning. Prior to joining CSE, Amie worked as a statistician
and research scientist at Concord Consortium, and as a senior research associate
at Boston College’s Center for the Study of Testing, Evaluation and
Educational Policy (CSTEEP) and inTASC (Technology and Assessment Collaborative).
Dr. Shari Metcalf
Shari Metcalf, CSE research associate, is working on evaluation for projects
on high school science curricula and professional development.
Prior to joining CSE, Shari worked at Concord Consortium for nine years on projects involved with sustainability, math, and science education for K-12. Her experience in project research and evaluation includes qualitative and quantitative data collection and analysis, in-depth case studies, large-scale distributed research, development of research instruments, and teacher professional development. Shari also has a background in educational technology, and, in 2000, she served as an instructor for a class on educational software design at the Harvard Graduate School of Education.
Zachary Hallinan
Zachary (Zach) Hallinan, CSE research assistant, assists in the research and
development of high school curricula at CSE. He has designed and conducted
research projects in community and chemical ecology, with an emphasis on
aquatic systems. Prior to joining CSE, he was an AmeriCorps volunteer at
Four Corners School of Outdoor Education in Monticello, Utah, where he was
involved in the planning of a rural science center. He also interned at the
Lubee Bat Conservancy in Gainesville, Fla. As part of his doctoral work,
he has served as a graduate researcher in community ecology and a graduate
teaching assistant for biology laboratories.
Kevon Tucker-Seeley
Kevon Tucker-Seeley, CSE research assistant, contributes to projects in the
areas of science instruction, assessment, professional development, and the
teacher workforce; coordinates field-data-collection activities; establishes
and maintains quantitative and qualitative databases; and also assists in
the development of research instruments.
Prior to
joining CSE, he was a gifted-education specialist and taught for five years
in St. Louis, Mo., and Framingham, Mass. Prior to his career as a teacher,
Kevon served in the U.S. Air Force and traveled the world in support of NASA
satellite launch missions. Kevon is currently working on his dissertation as
a doctoral candidate in the Educational Research, Measurement, & Evaluation
program at Boston College.
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The 2006 EDC Annual Report has just been released. To view both print and interactive versions, see http://main.edc.org/annualreport/ |
