Science Teachers' Learning Enhancing Opportunities, Creating Supportive Contexts (2015) / Chapter Skim
Currently Skimming:
Summary
Summary
Pages 1-10
The Chapter Skim interface presents what we've algorithmically identified as the most significant single chunk of text within every page in the chapter.
Select key terms on the right to highlight them within pages of the chapter.
From page 1... ...
, which call for all students to have opportunities to be actively engaged in investigating scientific phenomena and designing solutions to compelling problems offer an opportunity to respond to this challenge (Next Generation Science Standards Lead States, 2013)
|
From page 2... ...
Recognizing the challenges entailed in making these changes and the need for guidance on how to address them, the Board on Science Education within the Division of Behavioral and Social Sciences and Education of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, with support from the Merck Company Foundation, convened a 14-member expert committee to undertake a comprehensive study of how to provide coherent support for elementary, middle, and high school science teachers' learning across their careers. The committee considered science teachers' learning from a perspective that acknowledges the rich and complex contexts of their work -- the diversity of students and communities, the pressures of resource limitations, and the array of salient district and state policies.
|
From page 3... ...
Conclusion 4: Science teachers' learning needs are shaped by their prepa ration, the grades and content areas they teach, and the contexts in which they work. Three important areas in which science teachers need to develop expertise are • the knowledge, capacity, and skill required to support a diverse range of students; • content knowledge, including understanding of disciplinary core ideas, crosscutting concepts, and scientific and engineering practices; and • pedagogical content knowledge for teaching science, including a reper toire of teaching practices that support students in rigorous and conse quential science learning.
|
From page 4... ...
Conclusion 11: Teacher leaders may be an important resource for building a system that can support ambitious science instruction. There is increas ing attention to creating opportunities for teachers to take on leadership roles to both improve science instruction and strengthen the science teacher workforce.
|
From page 5... ...
The seven recommendations that follow, based on the above conclusions, highlight how districts and schools can improve the learning opportunities available to science teachers. These recommendations are intended to help both in determining science teachers' learning needs and in developing a comprehensive approach to meeting those needs, with particular attention to the ways that the current education system needs to be changed in order to support teachers' ongoing learning as they respond to the demands placed by current reforms in science education.
|
From page 6... ...
It is critical to support teachers' opportunities to learn how to connect with students of diverse backgrounds and experiences and how to tap into relevant funds of knowledge of students and communities. District personnel and school principals, in collaboration with teachers and parents, should identify the specific learning needs of science teachers in their schools and develop a multiyear growth plan for their science teachers' learning that is linked to their growth plan for students' science learning.
|
From page 7... ...
The portfolio of teacher learning opportunities should include structured, traditional professional development; cross-school teacher professional communities; and collaborations with local partners. Recommendation 4: Design and select learning opportunities for science teachers that are informed by the best available research: Teachers' learning opportunities should be aligned with a school system's science standards, and should be grounded in an underlying theory of teacher learning and in research on the improvement of professional practice and on how to meet the needs of the range of adult and student learners in a school or district.
|
From page 8... ...
quality indicators to identify, endorse, and fund a portfolio of teacher learning opportunities, and should provide guidance for school leaders and teachers on how to select high-quality learning experiences in science appropriate to specific contexts. Recommendation 5: Develop internal capacity in science while seeking external partners with science expertise: School and district leaders should work to build school- and district-level capacity around science teaching.
|
From page 9... ...
At the elementary level, district and school leaders should work to establish parity for science professional development in relationship to other subjects, especially mathematics and English language arts. Recommendation 7: The potential of new formats and media should be explored to support science teachers' learning when appropriate: Districts should consider the use of technology and online spaces/resources to support teacher learning in science.
|
From page 10... ...
Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. Next Generation Science Standards Lead States.
|
Key Terms
This material may be derived from roughly machine-read images, and so is provided only to facilitate research.
More
information on Chapter Skim is available.