So you’re coming to Minneapolis and it’s your first NSTA conference!  Where do you start?  Can you do anything prior to the conference to get ready and hit the road running?  I have the answers to these questions, and I invite you to ask me anything else you want to know about the conference.  On Tuesday, October 18, from 8:30 to 9:00 pm ET, I’ll be hosting a special Twitter Chat (#NSTAchat) to talk about the what, why, and how of attending an NSTA conference. This is your chance to chat with NSTA leadership, veteran NSTA conference attendees, to find out what works and what’s most likely to make your participation a success.

In case you miss this Twitter chat, you can always attend the First Timers’ session on October 27, from 8:00 am – 9:00 am, in the Hilton Minneapolis, Minneapolis B/C.  I will be leading the session with tips, shortcuts, and suggestions to make your conference experience one you will not forget.

So join us to learn tips and strategies to make your conference experience positive on October 18 at 8:30 pm ET. Learn more about the Minneapolis conference here.

New to Twitter? Here’s a quick overview on how to participate in a Twitter Chat.

5-10 minutes before the tweetchat begins:

• Log-in to Twitter at twitter.com. If you do not have an account, click the “Sign-Up” button in the top, right corner and create a profile.
• Once logged in, open a new window in your browser and visit Tweetdeck. (We recommend you use the TweetDeck application to actually view and participate in the chat.
• Once logged in to TweetDeck, enter #NSTAchat in the search field at the top-left (click on the little magnifying glass).
• Tweets using the hashtag will appear in reverse order in the next window.
• To enter a tweet, enter your comment in the “Message to #nstachat” field and click Update
• Click to retweet a poster’s tweet or  reply to a tweet.

Pro tips:

• Introduce yourself, and say hello to your fellow chatters.
• Try to restrict your tweets to well under the number of characters you are allotted on Twitter (this will make it easier for others to retweet your message).
• Most importantly, please share any insight you have!  This is an interactive experience!

Dr. Carolyn Hayes is the retiring president of the National Science Teachers Association (NSTA). She began serving her one-year term on June 1, 2016. Dr. Hayes is a retired high school biology teacher from Greenwood, Indiana. Hayes earned a B.S. degree in biology from Indiana University in 1973, a M.S. degree in secondary education from Indiana University in 1976, and an Ed.D. in secondary education and biology from Indiana University in 2005. 

The mission of NSTA is to promote excellence and innovation in science teaching and learning for all.

2016 Area Conferences

• Minneapolis, Minnesota: October 27–29
• Portland, Oregon: November 10–12
• Columbus, Ohio: December 1–3

National Conferences

• Los Angeles, California: March 30–April 2, 2017
• Atlanta, Georgia: March 15–18, 2018
• St. Louis, Missouri: April 11–14, 2019
• Boston, Massachusetts: March 26–29, 2020
• Chicago, Illinois: April 8–11, 2021

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On Oct. 12 the U.S Department of Education released final rules that will require states to establish an accountability system for their teacher preparation programs that includes how graduates perform as teachers based on their students’ academic success. Low performing programs that don’t measure up will risk the loss of federal TEACH grants.

The final regulations are designed “to provide transparency around the effectiveness of all preparation programs” (traditional, alternative routes, and distance) and will require states to report annually – at the program level – on the following measures:

• Placement and retention rates of graduates in their first three years of teaching, including placement and retention in high-need schools;
• Feedback from graduates and their employers on the effectiveness of program preparation;
• Student learning outcomes measured by novice teachers’ student growth, teacher evaluation results, and/or another state-determined measure that is relevant to students’ outcomes, including academic performance, and meaningfully differentiates amongst teachers; and
• Other program characteristics, including assurances that the program has specialized accreditation or graduates candidates with content and pedagogical knowledge, and quality clinical preparation, who have met rigorous exit requirements.

States have the flexibility to report on additional measures, and how to weigh all outcome measures, but must use at least three levels of performance indicators (effective, at-risk, and low-performing).

States (and stakeholders) must design their reporting system in 2016-17 academic year. They may choose to use 2017-18 as a pilot year and the system must be fully implemented in 2018-19. The first year for which any program might lose TEACH grant eligibility will be 2021-2022.

They must engage with stakeholders to develop and/or improve their teacher preparation systems to identify effective and low-performing programs and provide technical assistance to any program rated as low-performing.

The new regulations—which took about five years start to finish –largely reflect the administration’s original proposal from 2014. These regulations, especially language that ties preparation programs to student learning outcomes, faced (and continues to face) huge opposition from many groups.  (In their press release, the Department flagged a “notable” change in the final rule was providing states with “increased flexibility in how they measure student learning outcomes and weigh various components of their systems, specifically by allowing states to determine their own student learning outcome measures that are relevant, but not necessarily directly tied, to student achievement or educator evaluation results.”)

In a statement American Association for Colleges of Teacher Education President Sharon Robinson says “ At first glance, it appears that the voices of the profession may have been heard, as the new rule includes some adjustments that reflect concerns raised during the public comment periods. While the main oversight structure remains in place as described in the initial notice of proposed rulemaking, the final rule gives states more leeway in determining some aspects of the accountability system. Therefore, as it is with the implementation of the Every Student Succeeds Act, the advocacy of AACTE members at the state level remains critical.”

The American Association of State Colleges and Universities statement notes “AASCU has long opposed a federally mandated state-rating structure for programmatic offerings of colleges and universities.  It sets a dangerous precedent for political intervention in academic policy. We are disappointed that the Department did not delay the regulations that address teacher education. We urged them to wait until after Congress, state colleges and universities, and other key stakeholders could work together, through the reauthorization process of the Higher Education Act (HEA), to address the underlying policies and practices around preparing America’s teachers.  Additionally we disagree with the department’s view that the regulation will have only a minimal affect on costs for our institutions.”

The rules were roundly condemned by union leaders:  American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten said it was “ludicrous to propose evaluating teacher preparation programs based on the performance of the students taught by a program’s graduates . . . Instead of designing a system to support and improve teacher prep programs, the regulations build on the now-rejected high-stakes testing system established under NCLB and greatly expanded under this administration’s Race to the Top and waiver programs. It’s stunning that the department would evaluate teaching colleges based on the academic performance of the students of their graduates when ESSA—enacted by large bipartisan majorities in both the House and Senate last December—prohibited the department from requiring school districts to do that kind of teacher evaluation.” 

National Education Association President Lily Eskelsen García says the regulations “takes us back to the failed No Child Left Behind days . . . Using P-12 student test data to measure the quality of teacher preparation ignores whether new teachers are more likely to work in schools with limited resources for textbooks, technology, engaging learning experiences such as connections to community projects. It ignores potentially crucial differences between the quality of mentoring available in one school but not in another, class sizes and class loads beginning teachers may encounter, and the availability of supplemental services to ensure that each student can come to class ready to learn.”

Congressional leaders were equally displeased with the final rules. House Education and Workforce Chairman John Kline said in a statement “While more needs to be done to ensure teachers are prepared for the classroom, the department is taking a one-size-fits-all approach that will lead to unintended consequences. It will be impossible to effectively implement this vast regulatory scheme, and it may lead to fewer teachers serving some our nation’s most vulnerable children. And to add insult to injury, this new rule does not reflect the bipartisan consensus that was reached in our recent efforts to improve K-12 education. This is an issue policymakers should discuss and resolve through broader reforms of the Higher Education Act, not through the unilateral actions of the Department of Education.

Senate education committee Chairman Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) noted “Today’s regulation appears to violate the Higher Education Act, which specifically says that states—not bureaucrats at a distant department in Washington—are responsible for evaluating whether a college’s program gives teachers the skills they need for the classroom. The regulation also effectively mandates teacher evaluations and forces states to focus on students’ test scores in a way that Congress explicitly rejected just months ago when we fixed No Child Left Behind and its unworkable National School Board approach.” 

Several education reform groups, including Education Reform Now, Chiefs for Change, National Center for Teacher Quality support and praised the Department of Education for the new rules.

The regs can be found here.

The press release from the Department of Education can be found here. 

Read the letter from the Association for Science Teacher Education on the proposed regulations

Check out this article from Ed Week:  Final U.S. Teacher-Prep Regs Allow Flexibility on Student-Outcome Measures and Inside Higher Ed:  New Accountability for Teacher Prep

 Having a Seat at the Table with ESSA Implementation

ASCD and the National Education Association are jointly hosting a webinar on how educators and key stakeholder groups can get involved in the ESSA implementation process. Hear state and local education leaders talk about their experiences and lessons learned so that you can advocate effectively for the best ESSA-related policies to support schools and students. The webinar will be held 7:30 pm eastern time, Monday, October 17, 2016. Learn more and register to attend here.

New STEM Playbook for State Policymakers

The Education Commission of the States Promising Practices: A State Policymaker’s STEM Playbook, highlights the Utah STEM Action Center, the road to the successful legislation tthat created the center, and the three essential elements to the STEM practices in Utah–coordination, resources, and the evaluation of funded programs. Read more.

Jodi Peterson is Assistant Executive Director of Legislative Affairs for the National Science Teachers Association (NSTA) and Chair of the STEM Education Coalition. e-mail Peterson at jpeterson@nsta.org; follow her on Twitter at @stemedadvocate.

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The Four Strands of Science Learning and the Next Generation Science Standards from Science Scope is an informative article for teachers of any grade level.

Science Scope – Earth Science Activities

According to the editor, “Today’s students will become adults tasked with making decisions about environmental issues that will require a solid understanding of the Earth sciences.” And the Earth sciences are so interesting, too! If I were designing curriculum, Earth science would be the capstone course, integrating concepts from physics, chemistry, and the life sciences.

• The 5E lesson in Earth History Theories: Relative Age Dating Lab With Additions for Mining and Mineral Exploration integrates stratigraphy, age-dating, fossil and ore deposits as students make and use models of rock layers
• Exploring Lunar and Solar Eclipses Via a 3-D Modeling Design Task has a lesson idea to help students understand the phenomenon and dispel misconceptions.
• Teacher’s Toolkit: Puzzle Boxes for 3-D Learning About Natural Hazards describes how an observation activity can be adapted for in-depth discussions.
• Classic Lessons 2.0: Using Multiple Representations to Teach Science uses the example of moon phases to describe how to guide students through a sequence of concrete to abstract representations.
• Citizen Science: Clouds in the Classroom describes a project that’s been around for a while, gathering data from student observations—authentic science. And students investigate clouds in the classroom with the 5E lesson in Disequilibrium: Forming Clouds in the Classroom
• Earth science has many phenomena to explore, using the ideas in Teacher to Teacher: Phenomenal Engagement.
• Listserv Roundup: Finding and Saving Earth Science Resources lists additional resources on related topics.
• Science for All: Literacy Engagement and Its Role in the Science Classroom has resources for finding reading material appropriate for various student reading and interest levels.
• Scope on the Skies: Connected Computing describes how classrooms can contribute to authentic projects.

Articles that describe lessons include a helpful sidebar documenting the big idea, essential pre-knowledge, time, and cost.

For more on the content that provides a context for these projects and strategies see the SciLinks topics Clouds, Earthquakes, Eclipses, Layers of the Earth, Minerals and Rocks, Moon Phases, Natural Hazards and Disasters, Stratigraphy, Water Cycle.

The Science Teacher – Adding Art to STEM

The featured articles in this issue focus on the overlap and integration of science and the arts (STEAM, as some call it). As the editor notes, “…science and the arts both spring from the same deep well of human creativity and imagination.”

• The Art-Science Connection has examples of the artwork create by students to communicate the results of their research and demonstrate their learning.
• The National Park Service turns 100 this year. Science and Art in the National Parks traces the history of the arts in the Parks and has suggestions for using them as inspiration for art and writing activities and a context for the sciences, such as geology. (Is it time to bring back the Federal Art Project from the 1930s?)
• Getting an A in STEM shows how chemistry and art can “cross-pollinate” using the concepts of chromotography, molecular structure, the Periodic Table,
• Sculpting the Barnyard Gene Pool illustrates how creativity doesn’t have to involve music or drawing. The interdisciplinary project focuses on engineering challenges and genetics. Likewise, designing investigations, as described in Measuring Metabolism, involves creativity and problem-solving.
• It may not be in the same arts league as dancing, but as Focus on Physics: Skateboard Physics shows, sports use physics creatively.
• Career of the Month: Acoustical Consultant describes how to use physics to create spaces for the performing arts.

For more on the content that provides a context for these projects and strategies see the SciLinks topics Acoustics, Cell Division, Chromatography, DNA, Genetics, Heredity, Homeostasis,  Microscopes, Molecular Shapes, Periodic Table, Photosynthesis, U. S. National Parks.

Science and Children – Natural Hazards

The featured articles this month describe how to tap into children’s interest in these phenomena, including the causes and how to protect ourselves. The lessons described in the articles include connections with the NGSS.

• Storm Warning challenges students to design, build, and structures that can withstand natural disasters.
• On a similar topic, What’s Shaking?! examines earthquakes through technology-based simulations. Students then design an earthquake-proof city.
• Science and social studies are Complementing Curricula in an integrated lesson on environmental science topics.
• Using direct and indirect evidence, students can observe, investigate, and analyze In Our Neighborhood: Who’s Been Here?
• The Early Years: Navigating Natural Disasters describes how children can be year-long weather watchers and includes a lesson on modeling how water moves and can be contained.
• The Poetry of Science: Hurricanes includes a poem to read aloud and discussion questions.
• Teaching Through Trade Books: Forecasting Hazardous Conditions has resources and 5E lessons for students learning about severe storms and hurricanes, including their causes and how to survive them.
• Science 101: What Causes Severe Thunderstorms and Tornadoes? has background information for teachers and activities on these topics.

For more on the content that provides a context for these projects and strategies see the SciLinks topics Adaptations, Earthquakes, Ecosystems, Erosion, Food Webs, Forecasting the Weather, Habitats, Hurricanes, Natural Disasters,  Storms, Tornadoes, Water Cycle, Watersheds, Weather.