Science and Engineering for Grades 6-12 Investigation and Design at the Center (2019) / Chapter Skim
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9 The Education System and Investigation and Design
9 The Education System and Investigation and Design
Pages 245-266
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From page 245... ...
; teachers who have access to high-quality instructional resources and professional learning experiences (see Chapters 6 and 7) ; and the time to prepare and use available resources (touched on in Chapters 7 and 8)
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From page 246... ...
This chapter contains discussion of interacting components of the education system relevant to implementation of investigation and design, a continuous improvement model applied to investigation and design, potential lessons from previous efforts to improve education, and the importance of considering equity and inclusion during reform.
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From page 247... ...
Other components that influence classroom experiences include the approach taken to professional learning and the opportunities and incentives for teachers to participate in professional leaning and to apply their learning to their daily work. In addition, school leaders and teachers' expectations, priorities, and degree of commitment to equity together create an instructional climate that encourage or discourage particular pedagogical approaches.
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Efforts to bring science investigation and engineering design to all students must be cognizant of the constraints and opportunities coming from many directions. Thoughtful analysis can contribute to the ability to leverage opportunities for improvement and to address challenges that might impede improvement.
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From page 249... ...
The fidelity of implementation of the intended curriculum is also influenced by the support that teachers receive either via in-service professional development or in their teacher preparation programs and by the funding allocated for the acquisition of instructional resources and construction of instructional spaces that facilitate the type of instruction conductive to the learning outcomes described in this report. A Framework for K–12 Science Education (hereafter referred to as the Framework; National Research Council, 2012)
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From page 250... ...
When considering science investigation and engineering design, key aspects of this area include familiarity with Framework-aligned approaches, instructional resources of the type described in Chapter 6, and qualified educators with access to quality professional learning experiences such as described in Chapter 7. Another important aspect of educators' beliefs is their perspectives about who can and should do science and engineering, and their knowledge about inequality and inequity in science and engineering.
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This section identifies several education reform efforts in the context of their interactions with the system via consideration of the areas in the continuous improvement structure described above. The observations made about the examples we present are based on available literature and the experiences of the committee.
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However, they are instructive because they show the complexity and difficulty of meaningful and lasting change, and this can inform attempts to secure science investigation and engineering design for all students. Policy and Management: San Diego City Schools In the early 2000s, San Diego City Schools in California began an ambitious effort to improve science instruction at scale (Bess and Bybee, 2004)
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These findings are sobering for those seeking to implement three- dimensional learning at scale. Quality, research-based instructional materials, strong central support, and extensive professional development resulted in modest improvements in student learning as measured on standardized tests, and only after extensive effort and time.
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School administrators monitored professional development and conducted nonevaluative classroom observations to provide the appropriate support to teachers. To help students in need of extra support, teachers also made themselves available before and after school and during lunch periods (Noguera, 2017)
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Capability: Chicago Public Schools Transformation Efforts Managing large urban school districts like Chicago is challenging. From roughly 2006 through 2010, the Chicago Public Schools undertook an extensive high school transformation effort that focused on nearly every aspect of high schools including governance, school incubation, enrollment, and accountability (Elmore, Grossman, and King, 2007)
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From page 256... ...
All included a full suite of laboratory equipment for each classroom, summer workshops for teachers based on the particular instructional materials chosen by the school, in-classroom coaching by expert science teachers, and extensive data to support implementation. The entire high school transformation effort had quite strong financial and administrative resources.
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From page 257... ...
; a method of teaching other high school science courses and topics; a set of instructional materials; a community; and a professional organization called the American Modeling Teachers Association. For more information, see https://modelinginstruction.org/sample-page/synopsis-of-modeling-instruction/ [October 2018]
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From page 258... ...
This example shows how the continuous improvement area of organizational change can expand to include collaboration across schools and between K–12 educators and universities, and provide another viewpoint to illustrate the many interconnections between K–12 and higher education. The development of instructional resources and the organization of multiple types of ongoing professional learning show the importance of attention to capability.
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. In revisiting the continuous improvement model, this example illustrates the challenge of alignment and the opportunities and challenges that lie in efforts to focus all the components on shared goals and approaches.
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Identifying, planning for, making, and sustaining these changes takes time, patience, and commitment from the parties who have a stake in the success of the reform and who, by working together, have the different types of expertise to make it happen. The successes and challenges of the efforts described in this chapter, together with research from other reform efforts, reveal elements that seem to be important when changing science instruction at scale.
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From page 261... ...
Several of these efforts also focused on providing professional learning for educators that was coupled with well-designed instructional materials enacted in line with the local context. These strategies recognize the centrality of teachers to any instructional improvement effort, and the need to ensure that they have sufficient supports and capacity to improve their practices.
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From page 262... ...
Coordination between schools of education, science departments, and state education policies on science teacher qualification could achieve better science teacher preparation and certification for secondary science teaching that achieves Frameworkbased standards, without diminishing the importance of science teachers knowing the science they are teaching. Teacher preparation programs that integrate science learning and learning about appropriate science pedagogy can provide teachers with the types of experiences they will be providing to their students.
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From page 263... ...
If high school course offerings are revised, it is likely that eventually graduation requirements and college entrance requirements would need to be rewritten to move away from requiring a certain number of "laboratory science" courses to instead include descriptions that more closely reflect the role of investigation in three-dimensional learning. Bringing these changes to scale so that all students engage in highquality science investigation and design will require changes to assessment systems in addition to the many other changes already discussed.
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From page 264... ...
This chapter presented a framework for continuous improvement that focused on organizational culture, educatory capability, and policy and management. Although discussed as separate components, it is crucial to recognize the interrelationships among the components of the continuous improvement model to ensure that schools provide high-quality access to science investigations and engineering design.
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From page 265... ...
. Getting down to the core: The Chicago school district takes an ‘inten tional approach' to high school courses.
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From page 266... ...
. High School Physics Teacher Preparation, American In stitute for Physics Reports on High School Physics.
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