Science Teachers' Learning Enhancing Opportunities, Creating Supportive Contexts (2015) / Chapter Skim
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4 The K-12 Science Teaching Workforce
4 The K-12 Science Teaching Workforce
Pages 69-92
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From page 69... ...
CHARACTERISTICS OF THE K-12 SCIENCE TEACHING WORKFORCE It is surprisingly difficult to obtain basic information about who teaches science to the nation's children. Although states regularly collect information on teacher certification and employment, infrastructure and tools for readily synthesizing or comparing this information across states are lacking (Feuer et al., 2013; National Research Council, 2010)
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From page 70... ...
. Relative to their peers who teach other subjects, middle and high school science teachers are more likely to have entered teaching through an alternative to traditional university-based teacher preparation.2 In New York, for example, 35 percent of first-year science teachers were alternatively certified in 2009, an increase from 5 percent in 2002 (Miller, 2013)
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From page 71... ...
has recommended that elementary science teachers be prepared to teach life, earth, and physical sciences. Unfortunately, most elementary teachers are not prepared in
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From page 72... ...
Although most high school science teachers have completed a science major, fewer than half of middle school science teachers and only 5 percent of elementary science teachers have done so. Elementary and middle school teachers without science majors likely have had limited opportunities to engage in scientific investigations and may thus be unprepared to engage their students in science practices in ways that build conceptual understanding.
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From page 73... ...
Much of the avail able research on science teacher preparation focuses on teachers of grades K-8. Overall, there are numerous questions about the preparation of science teachers that remain unanswered.
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From page 74... ...
found that students of middle school teachers certified in science at the secondary level (inclusive of grades 6-12) showed larger increases in learning than students of uncertified teachers or teachers with elementary certification.
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From page 75... ...
, how well graduates of science teacher preparation programs integrate their content knowledge with their instructional practice, and whether and how they were prepared to teach diverse learners (including but not limited to English language learners; children with special needs; and children from cultural, ethnic, and racial backgrounds different from their own)
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From page 76... ...
By comparison, 77 percent and 81 percent of elementary teachers, respectively, felt very well prepared to teach mathematics and reading. These perceptions may reflect the reality that while elementary teachers are prepared as generalists, the greatest emphasis is placed on their literacy and mathematics preparation, and they receive minimal preparation in science content and methods courses and have few opportunities to learn through practice in their field placements.
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From page 77... ...
This observation led the committee to investigate patterns of retention and attrition among science teachers. As shown in Box 4-1, nearly half of all high school science teachers and 42 percent of middle school science teachers have more than 10 years of science teaching experience (Banilower et al., 2013)
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From page 78... ...
. In both Florida and New York, retention of science teachers varies substantially across the preparation pathways through which teachers entered teaching.
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From page 79... ...
The data also suggest that many science teachers are not staying in the profession long enough to develop expertise in science teaching, a situation that requires rethinking how to support early-career teachers so that they develop as much expertise as possible, as quickly as possible. Not only will this benefit students, but if some teachers leave the profession because they feel unprepared, increasing their ability may also stem some of the observed attrition.
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From page 80... ...
Results from the NSSME (Banilower et al., 2013) indicate that 41 percent of responding elementary teachers had participated in no science-focused professional development in the prior 3 years, and only 12 percent had participated for 16 or more hours (the equivalent of approximately 1 day per year)
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From page 81... ...
Roughly one-third of secondary science and mathematics teachers reported attending a professional association meeting; a similar percentage reported taking a formal course for college credit in science or science teaching in the last 3 years. Finally, not only are elementary science teachers less likely to have participated recently TABLE 4-3 Types of Activities among Science Teachers Who Participated in Professional Development in the Past 3 Years Percentage of Teachers Activity Elementary Middle High Attended a workshop on science or 84 91 90 science teaching Participated in a professional learning 55 75 73 community/lesson study or teacher study group focused on science or science teaching Received feedback on science teaching 24 47 54 from a mentor/coach Attended a national, state, or regional 8 35 44 science teacher association meeting NOTE: Does not include teachers who reported that they had participated in no sciencerelated professional development over the past 3 years.
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From page 82... ...
. As shown in Table 4-4, at the elementary school level, only about a third of elementary teachers who had participated in professional development in science, compared with more than half of middle and high school teachers, had substantial opportunities to work with other science teachers and to apply and then talk about what they had learned.
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From page 83... ...
Deepening science content knowledge was emphasized less for elementary than for secondary teachers. The NSSME also asked school science program representatives about locally offered professional development opportunities.
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From page 84... ...
For example, the National Science Foundation (NSF) , which has supported teacher leaders with Presidential Awards for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching, the Master Teacher Fellowship of the Robert Noyce Teacher Scholarship Program, and the Math and Science Partnership Program, recently announced a new effort -- the STEM Teacher Leader Initiative -- whose goal is to explore effective programs for the development and support of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics teacher leaders.
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From page 85... ...
The various new roles of teacher leaders -- lead teacher, curriculum specialist, mentor, collaborating teacher, instructional coach, professional development leader -- often emphasize helping fellow teachers learn. For example, the NSSME asked teachers whether they had served in such roles as leading a teacher study group or serving as a formally assigned mentor or coach (see Table 4-5)
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From page 86... ...
Depending on how teacher leader positions are defined, they can be either full- or part-time, with teachers spending portions of their day working with students. For example, when the NSSME asked school science representatives about individuals providing coaching to science teachers, 24 percent indicated that these individuals had no classroom teaching responsibilities (i.e., they were full-time teacher leaders)
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From page 87... ...
The NSSME reveals that this lack of sustained learning is especially problematic for elementary teachers, close to 90 percent of whom received only 15 hours or less of professional development in science over this period. Even at the secondary level, 54 percent of middle school and 43 percent of high school science teachers received only 15 hours or less of professional development in science over this
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From page 88... ...
On a positive note, the focus of these various professional development opportunities included planning instruction to enable students at different levels of achievement to enhance their understanding of the targeted science ideas, monitoring student understanding during instruction, eliciting students' ideas and prior knowledge prior to instruction on a topic, assessing students' understanding at the end of instruction on a topic, and deepening students' science content knowledge. Conclusion 3: Typically, the selection of and participation in professional learning opportunities is up to individual teachers.
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From page 89... ...
. Secondary Science Teachers and Professional Development: Descriptive Statistics from the Schools and Staffing Survey.
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From page 90... ...
, Elementary Science Teacher Education: International Perspectives on Contemporary Issues and Practice (pp.
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From page 91... ...
Paper commissioned by the Committee on Strengthening Science Education through a Teacher Learning Continuum, Division of Behavioral and Social Sciences and Educa tion, Washington, DC. Murnane, R.E., Singer, J.D., and Willett, J.B.
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