Fourteen years after it was first signed into law and seven years after it expired, the U.S. Senate passed legislation on Thursday, July 16 to overhaul the Elementary and Secondary Education Act–commonly known as No Child Left Behind–by a vote of 81 to 17.

The Every Child Achieves Act, the bipartisan agreement by Senate education committee Chairman Lamar Alexander (R-TN) and Ranking Member Patty Murray (D-WA), contains a significant program for STEM education and retains the requirement that states continue testing in math and science. Overall the bill reduces the role of the federal government and gives states the flexibility not found under No Child Left Behind.

On July 8, the House of Representatives passed the largely partisan Student Success Act (H.R. 5)​ their bill to reauthorize the Elementary and Secondary Education Act.

Next up is work on the final House-Senate conference agreement, as education leaders work to find a compromise between many of the differing issues/ policies (greater accountability, students opting out of testing, Title I portability) in the two bills and produce a final bill acceptable to their respective caucuses and to the White House. Chairman Alexander is quoted as saying he would like to get a bill to the president this fall.

STEM advocates are gearing up now to ensure that the final bill will retain the Senate’s strong STEM focus. Watch for upcoming issues of NSTA Express and special NSTA Legislative Alerts to find out how you can help ensure STEM education remains a priority in the final federal education law.

• Read the Education Week blog on passage of Every Child Achieves Act.
• Read the Senate press release on passage of the bill.
• Read the AP article on the bill.

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 Jodi at jpeterson@nsta.org; follow her on Twitter at @stemedadvocate.

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

Follow NSTA

“Here we go” was a tweet from a delegate attending the 2015 National Congress on Science Education (NCSE), held last week in Omaha, Nebraska, by the National Science Teachers Association (NSTA); excitement was evident from start to finish! Congress was the venue for delegates to tweet “NCSE gave me tools to conquer challenges facing science education in my state.” If you haven’t already figured it out, NCSE became the highlight of social media.

Opening session at #NSTAcongress Let the rich discussion begin. @NSTA pic.twitter.com/BB693uPXNl

— Teshia Birts (@TeshiaBirts) July 15, 2015

Congress started with a special celebration of the 2015 Robert Yager Excellence in Science Education Award recipients. Several tweets appeared while the six recipients made their presentations…“Inspiring to hear examples of truly engaging students as best practice from the Yager Award Winners!” and “Joe Ruhl (Yager Award recipient) sharing with #NSTAcongress about teaching techniques.” His strategies focused on the five “Cs” – Choice, Collaboration, Communication, Critical Thinking, and Creativity. Beverly Kutsunaj, the Robert Yager scholar, shared her success in her first grade class. She “stops talking and brings out a camera.” Creativity was apparent not just in teaching styles but also in how students were encouraged to be “creative in their thinking” as they learn science as a process.

Yager awards on night one of #NSTAcongress in Omaha. @NSTA @caahayes pic.twitter.com/mfImpgNHtJ

— Douglas Hodum (@DougHodum) July 15, 2015

Day two of Congress began with two energizing speakers yielding tweets such as:

• “NSTA membership voice heard – organized advocacy gets STEM into ESEA bill”
• “It’s time to get our teeth”
• “Your teacher voice matters here!”
• “Teacher advocacy is so vital for us to be heard.”

@NSTA @AchieveInc Stephen Pruitt-The most trusted voice in ed are teachers and we must use our voice! #NSTACongress pic.twitter.com/OOu5i6KW0a

— Al (@alsbyers) July 16, 2015

Jodi Peterson from NSTA and Stephen Pruitt from Achieve provided excitement as Jodi shared the work on the ESEA bill and Stephen inspired Congress attendees to be “leaders.” His talk had people saying: “Teachers have been saying for too long I am just a teacher – play an active role.” And he defined a LEADER with works: learn, endurance, aspiration, determination, excellence, and respect. The morning session carried over into the issue forums: Leadership and Advocacy, Elementary Education, and Professional Learning. The issue forums yielded six resolutions. Two resolutions focusing on the NSTA Elementary School position paper and collaboration with CAGs were presented to the NSTA leadership and were passed. Three other resolutions were directed to the NCSE focusing on collaboration and pre-service teacher programs.

Peterson: NSTA’s network, including state chapters like GA, was successful getting STEM language into ESEA rewrite #NSTAcongress

— GA Science Teachers (@GSTANews) July 16, 2015

The NCSE planning committee introduced two new events: a share-a-thon event with “deeper dives” and the “unconference.” These events produced tweets “Where networking really WORKS” and “Professional Learning happens here!” The share-a-thon included fourteen opportunities for NCSE participants to learn about topics such as “Google Tech Tips for CAGs,” “Ideas for Joint Conferences,” and “Teaching Advocacy & Communication Strategies.” Because of the excitement found in the workshops and share-a-thon additional sessions were added for deeper dives. These tweets reflect the energy of these sessions:

• “Share-a-thon sessions at NCSE. Great collaboration happening!”
• “Meeting of great minds”
• “When you get this many science teachers in one place, something fun always happens!”

Share-a-thon sessions at NCSE. Great collaboration happening! #nstacongress pic.twitter.com/7RrzSNJQ1X

— Sally Creel (@Sally_Sci) July 17, 2015

 “Unconference” sessions yielded a surprise that no one expected. These sessions were not only facilitated by the participants of NCSE as planned but from a group who was also holding a meeting at the hotel.  The Society of Women Engineers introduced themselves to the planning committee and learned of the “unconference.” This resulted with NCSE participants being introduced to the initiatives the society supports to get more girls into engineering. A great example of “Where networking really WORKS.”

Mary Gromko President-Elect @NSTA shares that the 2016 #nstacongress will be held Denver in July. pic.twitter.com/KWDHhlDIWr

— Al (@alsbyers) July 18, 2015

With next year’s Congress planned for Denver, NCSE participants want to continue the conversation because “Teaching is the one profession that creates all other professions. Stand proud: I am a Teacher.” “Leadership means finding solutions, together.” The 2015 Congress has left its mark on promoting leadership at the state level. “We as teachers, as leaders, will make the world a better place. I am a teacher.” was a message tweeted to all.

We encourage all NSTA members to share your thoughts about what you have learned from Congress using #NSTAcongress. NSTA will work with our chapters and affiliated groups to continue to “Engineer Next Generation Science Leaders.”

Closing Tweet: “NCSE – great minds are offering ideas to improve & support quality science education acro
ss the nation.”

NCSE – Great minds are offering ideas to improve & support quality science Ed across the nation. #nstacongress pic.twitter.com/1UpjAePOyA

— Sally Creel (@Sally_Sci) July 17, 2015

Carolyn Hayes is the NSTA President, 2015-2016; follow her on Twitter at caahayes.

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

Follow NSTA

This October, the National Science Teachers Association (NSTA) will feature a special strand “Bundling the NGSS and CCSS” at our 2015 Area Conference on Science Education, in Reno, October 22-24. Teachers ask frequently how to connect the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) to the Common Core State Standards (CCSS), and Reno will be the place to get answers! Science learning includes the content areas of mathematics, English language arts, and English language development. Bundling instruction allows teachers to incorporate multiple standards at the same time for purposeful learning and real-world applications. This strand increases participants’ understanding and ability to simultaneously teach science, the CCSS, and beyond.

The featured presentation for this strand will be “Connections of NGSS to CCSS for All Students, Including English Language Learners,” on Friday, October 23 12:30 PM – 1:30 PM, in the Reno-Sparks Convention Center, C1. Presenter Okhee Lee (New York University: New York, NY) will address connections of the NGSS to the Common Core State Standards, in English language arts and mathematics for all students…and English language learners in particular. Okhee Lee will highlight relationships and convergences between the NGSS and CCSS from both a content perspective and a language perspective. In addition, the presentation will engage participants to explore how teachers can promote disciplinary practices in the NGSS and CCSS while promoting language development.

Below is a small sampling of other sessions on this topic:

• Keep Calm and Teach Science…and Math…and ELA: An Integrated Approach
• Science Has Many Stories to Tell: NASA Literacy Resources for Your Students
• Inquiring Minds Want to Know…How to Create a PBL Unit
• Identifying the Hidden Opportunities: Embedding CCSS ELA in Your Current Science Lessons
• Talking Points: The Role of Talk in the Science Classroom

Want more? Check out more sessions and other events with the Reno Session Browser/Personal Scheduler. Follow all our conference tweets using #NSTA15, and if you tweet, please feel free to tag us @NSTA so we see it!

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

Future NSTA Conferences

2015 Area Conferences

• Reno, October 22–24
• Philadelphia, November 12–14
• Kansas City, December 3–5

2016 National Conference

• Nashville, March 31–April 3

2016 STEM Forum & Expo

• Denver, July 27–30

Follow NSTA

“Inquiry” and “practices” are recognized actions in science teaching that are used in the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS).  “Inquiry” was a term which was central to many science education reform efforts–certainly those indicated in the “old” 1996 National Science Education Standards (NSES).  In 1991 the NSTA President asked the National Research Council (NRC) to form a committee to do a background analysis concerning the word “inquiry” for use in identifying how science should be taught in schools.  This resulted in little controversy!  A definition of “Inquiry” has been described as simply asking questions, proposing possible answers, and establishing the validity of proposed answers.  This sequence constitutes the “doing” of science. 

Science is not something we “practice” to achieve known results as in engineering.  Scientists do things differently, and we should specify these differences when referring to science in the NGSS!  The word “practices” should not be used to identify the meaning of “inquiry” when defining science.  Science is not something that is done over and over until the desired outcome has been accomplished as it is with engineering.  Science focuses on identifying the unknown!  It seeks explanations of objects and events encountered by humans and includes evidence to support the explanations proposed.   

The term “inquiry” is often associated with actions by police, lawyers, FBI and CIA, political leaders, business executives, and others who formulate questions and try to find answers to them.  “Inquiry” provides a focus for student actions as well as actions of teachers.  All variations of the word “inquiry” used by teachers suggest ways teachers can achieve and encourage “inquiry” for students.   “Inquiry” is not accomplished by teachers setting parameters to determine what and how something is taught.  Teachers often provide guidance (while not being too directive).    

The word “practices” is also associated with numerous professions, for example, medical doctors who “practice” medicine, lawyers who “practice“ law, actors “practicing” words for a play, dancers “practicing” routine dance steps, artists who “practice” to perfect their painting/drawing skills, as well as engineers working to provide designs for stronger bridges, safer building structures, and even designs of major highways.  “Inquiry” is not a primary focus for engineering. Engineers start with an idea that indicates what they are trying to achieve; they know in advance what they want.  Conversely, scientists are always searching for the unknown as they explore the world around them. 

Robert E. Yager
Professor of science Education
University of Iowa