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13 Looking Toward the Future: Research and Development to Inform K-12 Science Education Standards
Pages 311-328

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From page 311...
... enhancing understanding of how students learn the core ideas and practices of science and how best to support that learning through instruction and (2) developing a better understanding of how nationaland state-level standards are translated and implemented throughout the K-12 science education system and how they eventually change classroom practice and affect student learning.
From page 312...
... RESEARCH TO INFORM IMPLEMENTATION AND FUTURE REVISIONS OF THE FRAMEWORK In the following subsections, we lay out a plan for programs of research to exam ine key elements of science learning and teaching that should serve to influence the future development of science education standards and implementation of the framework. To do so, we draw heavily from the prior National Research Council (NRC)
From page 313...
... That resilience highlights the importance of a carefully designed research program to inform and support teaching to achieve conceptual change from naive preconceptions toward a more sophisticated scientific understanding of a topic. Although research of this sort is often the domain of cognitive scientists and education researchers, their efforts can be enriched by the participation of experienced teachers and by detailed study of exemplary practice.
From page 314...
... Assessing students' engagement in instructional activities requires research on how young people of different backgrounds, cultures, races, genders, abilities, and languages can enter and become full participants in the sci entific classroom community. Such research is especially needed if the framework's expectation that all students will have opportunities for accomplished scientific and engineering learning is to succeed.
From page 315...
... Such research may focus on a particular core idea and ask what sequence of learning experiences, including engagement in practices, around that idea best advance student understanding and address common misconceptions. Research should also focus on whether other ideas and practices, if found across multiple science topic learning progressions, ought to be specified as well.
From page 316...
... People also need to learn which scientific and engineering practices are likely to pose significant challenges in terms of teacher knowledge with regard both to content and pedagogy. Development of Curricular and Instructional Materials As discussed in Chapter 11, the framework and its resulting standards have a number of implications for implementation, one of which involves the need for curricular and instructional materials that embody all three dimensions: scientific and engineering practices, crosscutting concepts, and disciplinary core ideas.
From page 317...
... The high-quality evidence that derives from careful assessment allows practitioners, researchers, and policy makers to explore critical questions about the student's knowledge or a program's effectiveness and its possible need for revision Designing Assessments. The first requirement for developing quality assessments is that the concepts and skills that signal progress toward mastery of a subject be understood and specified.
From page 318...
... In particular, it is now possible to charac terize student achievement in terms of multiple aspects of proficiency rather than in a single score; to chart students' progress over time instead of simply measur ing performance at a particular point; to deal with multiple paths or alternative methods of valued performance; to model, monitor, and improve judgments based on informed evaluations; and to evaluate performance not only at the level of students but also at the levels of groups, class es, schools, and states. However, further research is needed to (a)
From page 319...
... Teachers should understand stu dents' naive ideas and learning processes well enough to assess and guide them, and they should understand the crosscutting concepts, disciplinary core ideas, and scientific and engineering practices well enough to select appropriate instructional materials and strategies and apply them effectively. Teachers should use assess ments to plan for, revise, and adapt instruction; to evaluate teaching and learning; 319 Looking Toward the Future: Research and Development to Inform Standards
From page 320...
... The typical learning trajectory for teachers and how it changes with learning opportunities also require empirical investigation. Questions for inquiry include: Under what conditions and in what contexts can teachers best learn particular sci entific and engineering practices, crosscutting concepts, and disciplinary core ideas during their teacher preparation and with ongoing professional development?
From page 321...
... Resources designed to accommodate diverse learners, including those learning English as a second language, would support the focus of the standards on all students having access to opportunities to learn important science and engineering concepts and practices. Key questions related to tracing the influence of the framework and stan dards on the curriculum include What curriculum development efforts have been undertaken to provide • materials that are well aligned to the framework and new standards?
From page 322...
... Teacher preparation programs would prepare prospective teachers to teach in diverse classrooms, and the distribution across schools of teachers with the knowledge and practices for implementing effective science and engineering education would be such that all learners would have access to high-quality learn ing opportunities. Policies and fiscal investments at the local, state, and federal levels would focus on recertification criteria, professional development opportunities, and system-wide support strategies aligned with the framework.
From page 323...
... What kinds of professional development programs have been offered to the • administrators themselves so that their understanding, interpretation, and uses of the framework and standards support their decision making? Assessment and Accountability Consideration of assessment involves a careful study of how it interacts with accountability; how teachers conduct and use classroom and state assessments; how assessment influences teacher practices; and how it is used by schools, states, and districts.
From page 324...
... Are resources for science learning and qualified teachers equitably distribut • ed across schools and districts of varying socioeconomic levels and differing populations? What efforts have been made to improve equity of opportunity to learn science?
From page 325...
... Research on school level factors -- such as professional development targeted at administrators' and teachers' knowledge and practices, the design and testing of learning progressions across the framework's three dimensions -- would support choices about where to place particular scientific and engineering practices, crosscutting concepts, and dis ciplinary core ideas in future K-12 science standards. Perhaps most important, research is needed on classroom-level contexts, materials, and discourses that engage and support a wider range of students in high-quality teaching and learning experiences with the concepts, ideas, and prac tices.
From page 326...
... . Research on science teacher knowledge.
From page 327...
... . The construction of subject matter knowledge in primary science teaching.


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