JoinOff the Deep End: Reflections on my time as a NOAA Teacher at Sea
By Korei Martin
Posted on 2017-09-14
Sunset/Sunrise over a fjord in Kodiak, Alaska
The Bering Sea is cold, even in June. The water temperature is just above freezing in summer and the spray across the deck of our ship in rough weather can feel so cold it’s startling. Of course, the weather in the Bering can get rough. It’s been 10 years, and I remember it so well. I can still hear the calm sound of the crew’s voices as I looked at ocean swells as tall as buildings towering over us. I thought we would never get through those waves; but for the crew, this was just another work day. Our ship kept plowing on through those storms without complaint; so much steadier than I was. I think of the smell of salt, fish, and diesel fumes from the engine greeting me as I came on deck at 4 A.M. to start my long shift. I remember the rough feel of the harness around my waist which I used to tie myself to the ship while I helped deploy equipment. I recall how grateful I was for that harness as we leaned off the deck and the waves tried in vain to ease me over the side into the waiting water below. These are powerful memories, for me and for my students, because science is not always done in a lab. To understand the world, you must go out into it … not to where it is comfortable or easy, but to where you can find data you need. Sometimes that means going to places like the Bering Sea. That simple truth is something which eludes too many students. They walk away from classrooms and labs thinking that science is an indoor pursuit; the domain of geeks and nerds who forgo a life of adventure, choosing instead to bury themselves in a sunless world of test tubes, lab coats and computers.
We can offer students a more realistic, better-informed perspective. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA’s) Teacher At Sea Program helps teachers and students understand and participate in the real adventure which science offers. Teachers become part of the science crew on a research ship. I’ve been out with them on the Bering Sea, the Gulf of Alaska and along the northeastern United States. Teachers work alongside the scientists, gathering data, which for me meant processing different species of fish that were brought up in our various nets (you use different kinds of nets depending on what you are trying to catch, and where in the water column you are trying to catch it). We counted, weighed and measured fish. Sometimes we took samples and packed them to go back to the lab. I handled rays, crabs, lobsters, and sea stars of more types than I can describe. These were some of the most beautiful wildlife I have ever seen. I sorted through the strange creatures our nets dragged up from the deep. There was one kind–Monkfish from the northeastern US–which seemed to have two full sets of remarkably sharp teeth, an outer and a set further inside its wide, gaping mouth. I haven’t eaten any Monkfish since. I saw a whale leap with its whole body out of the water and come crashing down three times in a row, and then disappear again into the depths in less time than it took for me to pick up my camera. I saw a long slow sunset in a quiet fjord in Alaska that somehow, unexpectedly, at least for me, gave way to a sunrise and then to a full day. That midsummer night in Alaska was one of the most beautiful sights I have ever seen. I spent several glorious nights working alone on the back deck of a ship in the Gulf of Maine, surrounded by a pod of dolphins that swam circles around our ship all night long. No matter how fast our ship tried to go, those dolphins never seemed to get tired. At least they never complained to me.
NOAA Ship Miller Freeman arrives in Dutch Harbor, Alaska
Back home, my students got to see all of that, too. They read my blog posts and saw my photos while I was away. In real time, they sent questions to me and the scientists. Whenever my students stumped me (which happened so many times), I had an entire staff of scientists to call on. The interactions where I mediated between the scientists and the students are some of my favorite moments in my nearly three decades as a teacher. One fifth-grade class designed an experiment to test how lobster shells reacted to vinegar – a weak acid – and sent their results to a scientist on our ship. He was studying how lobster shells react to the changes in ocean chemistry (called ocean acidification) which happens when the carbon dioxide we add to our air gets absorbed into sea water.
Jacob Tanenbaum helping deploy nets in the Gulf of Alaska
When you work with one superb program in a government agency, and see the extraordinary benefits to the local community of that participation, it can lead to participation in other programs which they offer. I’ve been a Peer Leader in NOAA’s excellent Climate Stewards Education Program for the last several years. That program offers teachers advanced training and certification on climate science directly from scientists working in the field, and has been an invaluable resource in my work. I also had the opportunity to work with NOAA’s Teacher on the Estuary training program. I began attending NSTA’s national conference as part of my participation with NOAA. I then presented as part of NOAA’s NSTA workshops and later wrote my own proposals for presentations and began presenting those materials at NSTA. For me, participating in NOAA’s programs has been transformative. You should do it, too.
Jacob Tanenbaum and friend on the Bering Sea
Jacob Tanenbaum teaches third fourth and fifth grade science and technology in Cottage Lane Elementary School in Blauvelt, New York, just north of New York City. His writing has appeared in Scientific American, Education Week, the New York Times Dot Earth Blog and others.
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Sunset/Sunrise over a fjord in Kodiak, Alaska
Commentary: Reasoning Versus Post-truth
By sstuckey
Posted on 2017-09-14
Nicolaus Copernicus’s heliocentric model of the universe was reasoned from evidence but conflicted with popular beliefs of the day.
The Oxford Dictionaries word of the year for 2016 was post-truth, defined as “denoting circumstances in which objective facts are less influential in shaping public opinion than appeals to emotion and personal belief.” Science is not immune to appeals to emotion and belief rather than fact.
To help us challenge the drift toward post-truth, the history of science reminds us of the qualities that support all the practices of science, including evidence-based reasoning.
The evolution of evidence-based reasoning
Empirical evidence and reasoning have not always been at the heart of the scientific enterprise. Evidence-based reasoning evolved in response to beliefs that were increasingly untenable to early natural philosophers. In the early 1600s, the first scientific academies were established in part to uphold the primacy of experiment in questions about the natural world. Such a stance was counter to scholasticism, the dominant medieval method of learning “rooted in Aristotle and endorsed by the Church, [which] involved certain beliefs about the celestial realm … as well as the terrestrial realm of Earth” (Carlin 2009, p. 5).
Synthesizing Christianity and Aristotelian thought, scholasticism viewed the universe as simultaneously religious and physical. The scholastic reaction to the heliocentrism put forth in the 1543 publication of De revolutionibus orbium coelestium is entirely understandable: Copernicus challenged not just a “scientific” model of the universe but also a view of man’s place in creation.
The difficulty that philosopher and scientist Francis Bacon had with deductive scholasticism was that it was static, not permitting new knowledge to develop. By introducing and promoting induction as a method for studying nature, Bacon profoundly influenced the course of scientific inquiry: “Under the leadership of Francis Bacon, most of the empiricists would come to believe that a natural philosophy rooted in experimentation, as opposed to the purely theoretical … method employed by scholastics, was crucial to understanding nature’s ways” (Carlin 2009, p. 11, emphasis in original).
Empiricism challenged scholasticism by relying on rigorous observation, experience, and, increasingly, the belief that “all natural change can be explained in terms of the mathematical properties of matter in accordance with laws of nature” (Carlin 2009, p. 11). One of the centers of this intellectual struggle was Florence.
The Accademia del Cimento
Artists and natural philosophers, supported by the House of Medici, helped make Florence, capital of the Grand Duchy of Tuscany, a cultural, political, and economic powerhouse. After Galileo died in 1642, both Grand Duke Ferdinano II and his brother Prince (later Cardinal) Leopoldo recognized the political value of continuing to support Galileo’s experimental practices.
This led to Leopoldo’s creation of the scientific Accademia del Cimento in 1657. In 1664, the Accademician Francesco Redi recorded that Leopoldo was interested in science “not for vain or idle diversion, but rather to find in things the naked, pure, genuine truth” (Feingold 2009, p. 231). Leopoldo’s commitment to experimentation was captured in the Accademia’s motto: Provando e riprovando (Test and Test Again).
The Accademia was charged with the standardization of measures and scientific methods and the development of standard scientific instrumentation. The main experimental interests centered on thermometry, chemistry, medicine, and pneumatics. Experimental work was carried out in Florence, Livorno, Pisa, and Pistoia.
Leading Accademicians included the physicist and mathematician Viviani; the physiologist, physicist, and mathematician Borelli; and the physician, biologist, and poet Francesco Redi, whose seminal 1668 work, Esperienze Intorno alla Generazione degl’Insetti (Experiments on the Generation of Insects), marked the beginning of the end of abiogenesis.
Experimentation and evidence
The Accademicians regarded experimentation as central to the practice of science, directly in contrast to both Aristotle and the Church. The preface to the Accademia’s famous Saggi di naturali esperienze (Essays on Natural Experiments) (the “Saggi”), published in 1667, argued that experimentation was central to understanding the physical world:
… there is nothing better to turn to than our faith in experiment. As one may take a heap of loose and unset jewels and seek to put them back one after another into their setting, so experiment, fitting effects to causes and causes to effects… performs enough so that by trial and error it sometimes succeeds in hitting the target.
The preface was also clear on the need to reason from evidence, recognizing that it was necessary at times to return to prior experimentation and reasoning:
Besides trying new experiments, it is not less useful to search among those already made, in case any might be found that might in any way have counterfeited the face of truth.
The Saggi emphasized the importance of mathematical reasoning in descriptions of experimental work. In doing so, the Accademicians worked to remove any reference to philosophy or mythological cosmology from experimental science and so establish the authority of experimentation in questions about the natural world. This was an overt challenge to the prevailing scholastic view of the natural world.
To reason from evidence is not simple, as it opens the evidence to speculation and argumentation. The Accademicians often struggled to reconcile their interpretations of the experimental data. Leopoldo, the Accademia’s patron, actively engaged in these scientific conversations, challenging, and being challenged by, the other Accademicians to the extent that some “thought they could speak freely” with him (Feingold 2009, p. 232). A particular point of contention within the Accademia was the range of views about the relationship between experimentation and the still powerful approach of Aristotle. These competing views stimulated “sharp confrontation, often resorting to insults” among the Accademicians (Beretta 2002, p. 12).
The authority of reason
Leopoldo ordered that individual contributions not be credited in the Saggi so that readers would be convinced by the evidence presented rather than the reputation of the author. Also, the Accademicians desired to “underline the impersonal nature of the scientific enterprise” (Beretta 2000, p. 142). In asserting the primacy of the experiment and reason over the hegemony of scholasticism, the publication of the Saggi was a landmark in the history of science.
Understanding modern science
The work of the Accademia set out the need for replicable tests, the control of variables, and the standardization of measurement and instrumentation. It also demonstrated that modern science is more than just knowledge; science is a human endeavor based on curiosity about the natural world, observation, argument, creativity, and reason. These qualities are found in the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS Lead States 2013). As science teachers, we must model, teach, and practice these qualities if we are to engage our students with the need for evidence and reasoned argument.
The Accademicians struggled to establish the ascendancy of evidence and argument over reputation. While “sharp confrontation, often resorting to insults” may be a bit harsh for our classrooms, scientific discourse requires an environment in which ideas can be put forward, challenged, refined, and challenged further. This practice also includes a willingness to return to experiment and evidence to develop explanations that more closely reflect our current understandings. Such an environment must be crafted by those in authority within the classroom and not left to chance.
Leopoldo promoted and funded the Accademia, and as a powerful Medici, could have demanded deference. That his scientific reasoning was open to challenge serves as an important example. As educators, our challenge is to use our authority in the classroom to engage, alongside our students and as learners ourselves, with all of the practices of science, and thus build trust in those practices.
Conclusion
Post-truth relies on the distrust of both the sources and value of information. This loss of trust in institutions and academic disciplines—including science—along with the wide availability of misinformation that conforms to what people want to hear, diminishes expertise and learning. Drawing from history, we can give students the tools and attitudes needed to challenge those who would devalue reason so that reasoned decision-making can triumph. Just as the Accademicians challenged scholasticism and eventually prevailed, so must we challenge the very idea of post-truth.
Wayne Melville (wmelvill@lakeheadu.ca) is professor of science education and assistant dean at Lakehead University in Thunder Bay, Ontario.
Resources
Applying Knowledge in Context: http://ngss.nsta.org/applying-knowledge-in-context.aspx
National Research Council (NRC). 2015. Science teachers’ learning: Enhancing opportunities, creating supportive contexts. Washington, DC: National Academies Press.
Nature of Science: www.nsta.org/about/positions/natureofscience.aspx
Scientific Inquiry: www.nsta.org/about/positions/inquiry.aspx
References
Beretta, M. 2000. At the source of western science: The organization of experimentalism at the Accademia del Cimento (1657–1667). Notes and Records of the Royal Society of London
54 (2): 131–151.
Beretta, M. 2002. Court scientists: The art of experimentation in the Galilean Accademia del Cimento (1657–1667). Institute and Museum of the History of Science, Florence.
http://brunelleschi.imss.fi.it/cimento/eframeintro2.html
Carlin, L. 2009. The empiricists: A guide for the perplexed. London: Continuum.
Feingold, M. 2009. The Accademia del Cimento and the Royal Society. In The Accademia del Cimento and Its European Context, ed. M. Beretta, A. Clericuzio, and L.M. Principe, 229–242. Sagamore Beach, MA: Watson Publishing International.
NGSS Lead States. 2013. Next Generation Science Standards: For states, by states. Washington, DC: National Academies Press.
Editor’s Note
This article was originally published in the September issue of The
Science Teacher journal from the National Science Teachers Association (NSTA).
Get Involved With NSTA!
Join NSTA today and receive The Science Teacher,
the peer-reviewed journal just for high school teachers; to write for the journal, see our Author Guidelines, Call for Papers, and annotated sample manuscript; connect on the high school level science teaching list (members can sign up on the list server); or consider joining your peers at future NSTA conferences.
Nicolaus Copernicus’s heliocentric model of the universe was reasoned from evidence but conflicted with popular beliefs of the day.
Natural phenomena: awe inspiring and trauma inducing
By Peggy Ashbrook
Posted on 2017-09-13
Guest blogger Carrie Lynne Draper joins me in writing this post about supporting children affected by natural disasters. Carrie Lynne Draper, M.Ed, is the Executive Director of 
Readiness Learning Associates, a STEM Readiness organization, in Pasadena, CA, growing children’s learning processes using science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. Focusing on the development of scientific dispositions through STEM and pedagogical design of equity-oriented STEM learning environments, Carrie has worked in early childhood STEM education for more than thirty years as a classroom teacher, program administrator and university instructor. As a long time NSTA member and past board member of NMLSTA, she is frequently asked to present at national and state meetings on early learning STEM, NGSS and STEM Excellence.
Welcome Carrie!
As summer ended, some children in the United States had traumatic experiences due to natural phenomena. Forest fires in the western states once again displaced some families, closed schools, and contributed to dangerous outdoor air quality for many. Fires continue to burn, upending children’s routines. Flooding from heavy rainfall closed schools. Hurricane Harvey flooding and the resulting on-going damage from mold and trauma from disrupted routines make returning to school difficult.
Elsewhere in the US, Hurricane Irma, a category 5 storm, tore roofs off homes, schools, and hospitals in the US Virgin Islands and left an unrecognizable landscape as tree trunks and branches, shorn of their foliage, appeared dead. Wind knocked down trees and wires carrying electricity and phone service, blocking driveways and roads and flooding caused other damage and displaced families and schools. More flooding, wind damage, and power outages were caused as Hurricane Irma moved across Florida and into Georgia.
When children feel threatened, their higher-level thinking can be inhibited. Even after routines return to normal or near-normal, learning may be impaired (Statman-Weil). Educators reach out to families and health experts to learn how we can best help our students.
Educators can support children by advocating for their program and state to develop and implement emergency plans for protecting children in disasters. See the 2015 report from Save the Children, Still at Risk: U.S. Children 10 Years After Hurricane Katrina to find out if your state has met four minimum emergency planning standards for child care and schools (page 13). The first standard is:
“Standard 1: A plan for evacuating children in child care. The state must require that all child care providers have a written plan for evacuating and safely moving children to an alternate site. The plan must include provisions for multiple types of hazards. Many states have different licensing requirements and regulations for different kinds of providers.”
“A rule is considered mandated if it is (1) in statute, (2) in regulation, or (3) provided by the relevant agency as mandatory guidance. Mandatory guidance includes forms, templates, and technical assistance that are provided to child care providers and are required to be completed or implemented.”
Valeria Strauss reports about the effects of a disaster on children in The Serious and Long-Lasting Impact of Disaster on School Children (Washington Post 9-11-2017). In her interview with David Schonfeld, head of the National Center for School Crisis and Bereavement at the University of Southern California, he says, “Children don’t easily get over it. They don’t forget it. They don’t go back to the way they were before.” Strauss also reported that the Center on Conflict and Development’s 2016 research brief, “The Impact of Natural Disaster on Childhood Education,” found the same effects on young people in Nepal from devastating earthquakes.
Learn how you can support young children who have been through one of this year’s or previous natural disasters. Read Statman-Weil’s article, “Creating Trauma-Sensitive Classrooms” in the May 2015 Young Children, including her “Suggestions for Helping Children Who Have Experienced Trauma.”
Sesame Street’s short videos at Here For Each Other addresses “Big Changes” and includes a series about when a hurricane went through Seseme Street and blew away Big Bird’s nest. The characters model a variety of tools to support young children after an emergency: hugs, flashlight shadow play, and talking about what happened.
Natural and manmade disasters can happen anywhere and at any time. It’s important for children to know the causes, what can happen, prevention, first aid and other related issues. (See the list of children’s books at the end of this post.) The support of children’s primary caretaker and other adults, including teachers, can have the biggest impact on how a child recovers and heals after disasters. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Human Services, Emergency Preparedness & Response offers the Early Childhood Disaster Related resources for Children & Families website providing fact sheets, tips on talking to young children, activities for children that help you prepare, respond, and recover from disasters.
Nature continues the seasonal changes that we admire: yellows and reds are revealed in tree leaves in northern states and plants form seeds in interesting shaped pods. Losing your shelter due to a natural disaster and having limited access to food is a wretched way to learn about the needs of living organisms, needs children may have previously taken for granted if they were always provided with a secure home and plentiful food.
When children can again play outdoors, these seasonal changes and the rebounding of living organisms in areas affected by natural disasters are opportunities for children to build their understanding of the NGSS Disciplinary Core Ideas, LS1.C All animals need food in order to live and grow. They obtain their food from plants or from other animals. Plants need water and light to live and grow, and LS2.A Animals depend on their surroundings to get what they need, including food, water, shelter, and a favorable temperature. Animals depend on plants or other animals for food. They use their senses to find food and water, and they use their body parts to gather, catch, eat, and chew the food. Plants depend on air, water, minerals (in the soil), and light to grow. Animals can move around, but plants cannot, and they often depend on animals for pollination or to move their seeds around. Different plants survive better in different settings because they have varied needs for water, minerals, and sunlight.
NASA’s Earth Observatory article by Rebecca Lindsey, Devastation and Recovery at Mt. St. Helens, shows regrowth in Mount Saint Helen’s blast zone documented in a series of images captured by NASA’s Landsat series of satellites between 1979 and 2016.
Burn area in Yellowstone National Park June 4, 2006 by Mav. Lodgepole pine forests continue to grow back into areas that were burned in 1988.
In the December 2008 Teton Science Schools news story, “Park field trips spark student interest in wildfire,” Traci Weaver, Fire Communication and Education Specialist in Grand Teton National Park wrote, “When children describe a wildfire, they often reflect what they have heard from the news media: Fire is scary and it destroys everything.” She goes on to tell how students learned about fire’s role in the Greater Yellowstone ecosystem. Fire scars are present for a long time, but “so is an amazing display of nature’s regeneration,” including 8-12 foot tall lodgepole pines, Douglas fir, and spruce trees, covering much of the burned acreage.
We wish we could deliver more tangible support to educators and their children who have experienced natural disasters. There are other kinds of disasters in young children’s lives, such as separation from family members. This interview by Mary Kelly Persyn of the EmbraceRace community with Dr. Lisa Gutierrez Wang offers many ideas on how to address children’s questions, but also “instill a sense of security, empowerment, and hope” in those who have experienced family separation. It will also be helpful for those who experience natural disasters.
Additional resources, for preschool and up, depending. Use your understanding of your children and what trauma they have experienced to decide if these books will help them understand disasters and feel secure. Add books and other resources you have found helpful by making a comment to share your experience.
Fiction
Drowned City: Hurricane Katrina and New Orleans by Don Brown. 2015. HMH Books for Young Readers
Non-Fiction
Disaster Zone: Hurricanes by Cari Meister. 2016. See other titles in the Disaster Zone series, including Earthquakes and Volcanoes. Jump! Publisher.
Gopher to the Rescue!: A Volcano Recovery Story by Terry Catasus Jennings. 2012. Sylvan Dell Publishing.
Hotshots! By Chris L. Demarest. 2003. Margaret K. McElderry
Hurricanes by Matt Doeden. 2008. Lerner Publications Co.
Hurricanes! by Gail Gibbons. 2010. Holiday House. The book makes it clear that hurricanes don’t only affect the continental United States with maps include that include Caribbean nations and the US territories, the US Virgin Islands. The illustrated chart, “When a Hurricane is Approaching,” pictures how to prepare but focuses on evacuation.
Hurricane Hunters! Riders On The Storm by Chris Demarest Publisher: Margaret K. McElderry Books; Big edition (January 1, 2006)
Ready. US Department of Homeland Security. Parts of the website about disasters are designed for use with children. https://www.ready.gov/kids
Ready, Set . . . WAIT!: What Animals Do Before a Hurricane by Patti R. Zelch. 2010. SylvanDellPublishing.
Smokejumpers One to Ten by Chris L. Demarest. 2002. Margaret K. McElderry Books.
Volcanoes: Nature’s Incredible Fireworks by David L. Harrison. 2002. Boyds Mills Press.
W is for Wind: A Weather Alphabet by Pat Michaels, illustrator Melanie Rose. 2005. Sleeping Bear Press.
Wildfires by Matt Doeden. 2010. Capstone Press.
For upper elementary or use with younger children based on your understanding of your children and what trauma they have experienced.
Fiction
A Storm Called Katrina by Myron Uhlberg, illustrator Colin Bootman. 2011. Peachtree Publishers, Ltd.
Non-fiction
The Firefighters Bookstore lists “real-life children story books so they know what to do in the chaos that arrives with a wildfire, earthquake or other disaster.”
Awesome Forces of Nature: Howling Hurricanes by Louise and Richard Spilsbury. 2004. Heinemann Library.
Hurricanes by Seymore Simon. 2003. HarperChildrens.
Inside Hurricanes by Mary Kay Carson. 2010. Sterling Publishing Co., Inc.
Amazing Science: Eye of the Storm — A Book About Hurricanes by Rick Thomas. 2005. Picture Window Books
Guest blogger Carrie Lynne Draper joins me in writing this post about supporting children affected by natural disasters.
Focus on Physics: Eight Tips for New (and not so new) Teachers
By sstuckey
Posted on 2017-09-12
Being a teacher can be a wonderful experience. Making it so is greatly aided by qualities that you can acquire. Needless to say, you must know your subject and be able to explain it well. Beyond that
are traits and practices that make the difference between loving teaching and enduring teaching.
Have the right attitude
Consider your attitude toward students and science in general. Don’t try to come off as the master of your classroom; instead, be the main resource person, the pacesetter, the guide. You are the bridge between your students’ ignorance and some of the information you’ve acquired in your years of study.
Steer them away from the dead ends and time-draining peripherals you’ve encountered and keep them focused on the essentials. If students see you as their helper, they’ll appreciate your efforts. This is a matter of self-interest. An appreciated teacher has an altogether richer teaching experience than an unappreciated one.
Don’t be a “know-it-all”
When you don’t know something, don’t pretend you do. You’ll lose more respect faking knowledge than not having it. If you’re a new teacher, students will understand that you’re still pulling it together and will respect you nonetheless. But if you fake it—and they can tell—whatever respect you’ve earned plummets.
Be both firm and fair
Be firm and expect good work from students. But be fair and get assignments graded and returned quickly. Design exams that are within the abilities of students who’ve put effort into learning the material. If you have excellent students, some should score 100% or near 100% on exams. This way you avoid having to curve grades to compensate for low exam scores.
The least respected teacher in my memory was one who made exams so difficult that the highest marks were some 50%.
Answer this legitimate question
“Will that be on the test?” This often-belittled question is actually perfectly reasonable. From a student perspective, what’s important—by definition—is what you test them on. If you consider a topic important, put it on your test. How frustrating to study a topic covered extensively in class only to find it’s not on the test. Or worse, the test includes material not covered in class or in reading assignments.
Students can’t predict the questions you’ll ask, but they should be able to predict what topics the test covers. Many short questions that span course content is the way to go. Knowledge that you expect them to learn should be reflected by your test items.
Give them a second chance
Consider allowing students to repeat poor work—before a final grade. A note on a paper offering another try before grading is the sign of a concerned and caring teacher. Who among us has not sadly experienced “off” days as a student? During my teaching days, my policy was that a student could retake a similar exam, and the average of the two scores would be recorded in my gradebook.
That students could move a score down as well as up kept the number of retakes to about one-quarter of the class. If all students took retakes, the process would have been unmanageable.
Ask lots of questions
Do less lecturing and more questioning. This keeps students engaged, and the feedback can be valuable for all. And knowing “where they stand” is important before you move on. Frequent “check with your neighbor” intervals can be an important and nonthreatening feature of your class. Students discuss their ideas with the person next to them before volunteers share their answers with the whole group.
Beware of the pitfall of answering your own questions too quickly. Use wait time, where you allow ample time before giving the next hint. Interestingly, a common difference between a new teacher and an experienced one is that the new teacher is quick to answer his or her own questions while the experienced teacher is likely to guide students to answering them.
Give respect. Get respect.
Show respect for your students. Although all your students know less than you of the science you’re teaching, some are probably smarter than you. This needn’t be a threat. We should relish bright students, even those brighter than ourselves. Underestimating the intelligence of your students is likely overestimating your own. Student respect for a teacher depends on teacher respect for them.
Care about your students
Ideally you should love your students as if they were family. Experiencing the camaraderie that goes with being family is quite wonderful. And if that can be the spirit of your classroom, hooray! Your teaching efforts will very likely produce more positive results than those of your not-so-compassionate, not-so-caring colleagues. In my student days I learned much more from teachers who cared not only for their field but for us.
Lucky are the students who feel valued by empathetic teachers. And lucky are the teachers who in return enjoy the students’ love and respect. How to be one of the loved and respected teachers in your school? If you practice the eight teaching tips of this article, they will love you.
How wonderful to be in a profession in which we can be loved for what we do.
Paul G. Hewitt (pghewitt@aol.com) is the author of Conceptual Physics, 12th edition; Conceptual Physical Science, 6th edition, coauthored with his daughter Leslie Hewitt and nephew John Suchocki; and Conceptual Integrated Science, 2nd edition, with coauthors Suzanne Lyons, John Suchocki, and Jennifer Yeh.
On the web
Complementary student tutorials that reflect teaching tips are on www.HewittDrewIt.com and www.ConceptualAcademy.com.
Editor’s Note
This article was originally published in the September issue of The
Science Teacher journal from the National Science Teachers Association (NSTA).
Get Involved With NSTA!
Join NSTA today and receive The Science Teacher,
the peer-reviewed journal just for high school teachers; to write for the journal, see our Author Guidelines, Call for Papers, and annotated sample manuscript; connect on the high school level science teaching list (members can sign up on the list server); or consider joining your peers at future NSTA conferences.
Being a teacher can be a wonderful experience. Making it so is greatly aided by qualities that you can acquire. Needless to say, you must know your subject and be able to explain it well. Beyond that are traits and practices that make the difference between loving teaching and enduring teaching.
Legislative Update
Senate Restores $2 Billion Teacher Training Fund
By Jodi Peterson
Posted on 2017-09-11
Congress returned to D.C. after Labor Day and immediately started work to fund the government, raise the federal borrowing limit and supply relief funds to disaster victims.
On Thursday, the Senate Appropriations committee approved the FY2018 bill for Labor, HHS and Education. The good news is that the Senate did not follow the Administration’s plan to significantly reduce funding at the U.S. Department of Education and increase options for school choice. The Senate funded the Title II state grants at $2.1 billion dollars, a highly popular grant program which provides resources for teacher and principal training and class-size reduction efforts. The House bill had eliminated this program and the Administration did not request funding (see chart). This is great news for teacher professional learning. The final number for the program will still require a compromise between the Senate and House bill, but the fact that the Senate funded this program is a strong sign it wants the program to continue. Thanks to all who participated in the National Day of Action push to save Title II funding. (Read the letter NSTA and NCTM sent to appropriators here.)
The Title IVA Student Support and Academic Enrichment Grants program received $450m, an increase of $50 million from FY2017 levels, but less than the $500 million requested by the House. The President also sought to eliminate this program.
The 21st Century Community Learning Centers, which provide after school and summer programs for thousands of students, received $1.2 billion. This program was also slated for elimination by the Administration.
Overall, the FY2018 spending bill includes $68.3 billion in funding for the Education Department, which is $29 million above this year’s level. The Administration’s proposals to create a $250 million private school choice program and a program that would have allowed Title I funds to follow students to the school of their choice was not approved. The bill does provide $367 million to charter schools, an increase of $25 million. Read more here.
Update on ESSA
Many states are still facing Sept. 18 deadline to send their Every Student Succeeds Act plans to Education Secretary Betsy DeVos for review and approval.
So far, the U.S. Department of Education has approved the ESSA plans from Connecticut, Louisiana, Nevada, New Jersey and New Mexico, North Dakota, Vermont, Maine, the District of Columbia, Illinois, Oregon, and Tennessee.
To find out what’s going on in your state, check out the Collaborative for Student Success Understanding ESSA website.
This is Us
The National Center for Education Statistics recently released the 2015–16 National Teacher and Principal Survey (NTPS), a nationally representative sample survey of public K–12 schools, principals, and teachers in the 50 states and the District of Columbia. Highlights:
During the 2015–16 school year, there were an estimated 90,400 K–12 public schools in the United States, including 83,500 traditional public and 6,900 public charter schools. These schools served nearly 49.3 million students, with about 46.2 million in traditional public schools and another 3 million in public charter schools.
In the 2015–16 school year, there were an estimated 3,827,100 teachers in public elementary and secondary schools in the United States. About 3,608,600 taught in traditional public schools and about 218,500 taught in charter schools. About 80 percent of all public school teachers were nonHispanic White, 9 percent were Hispanic, 7 percent were non-Hispanic Black, and 2 percent were non-Hispanic Asian.
Among public school teachers, 77 percent were female and 23 percent were male. In addition,relatively more women were teachers in primary schools (89 percent) than in middle schools (73 percent), combined schools (70 percent), and high schools (59 percent).
On average, public school teachers had about 14 years of experience. In addition, teachers in traditional public schools had relatively more teaching experience on average (14 years) than teachers in public charter schools (10 years)
The largest percentage of public school teachers listed a master’s degree as their highest degree earned (47 percent), followed by a bachelor’s degree (41 percent).
On average, regular full-time teachers in public schools spent 53 hours per week on all school-related activities, including 27 hours that they were paid to deliver instruction to students during a typical full week. Public school teachers were required to work an average of 38 hours per week to receive their base pay.
In 2015–16, the average base salary of regular full-time teachers in public schools was $55,100. Learn more here.
I #LovePublicEducation
The American Association of School Administrators has launched the “I Love Public Education Campaign,” a year-long effort to highlight why public schools are essential to developing the future generations that will maintain our country’s status as a world leader. Learn more at http://lovepubliceducation.org/
And finally . . . NSTA mourns the loss of Representative Vernon Ehlers, who served in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1993 until his retirement in 2010. Representative Ehlers was a strong champion of science and science education in Congress, and he will be truly missed. Read more about Rep. Ehlers here.
Congress returned to D.C. after Labor Day and immediately started work to fund the government, raise the federal borrowing limit and supply relief funds to disaster victims.
Answers to Your Questions About NSTA's District Professional Learning Packages
By Carole Hayward
Posted on 2017-09-11
Professional development at the district level is now available for science educators from the National Science Teachers Association (NSTA). Based on new research about the ways students best learn science and how science is best taught, we have a cutting-edge toolkit of innovative professional learning offerings that we can bring to your school or district. Our authors and experts can guide your team to new levels by introducing them to the frameworks and providing them with the hands-on experiences they need to succeed through our District Professional Learning Packages.
The following list is a sample of the teaching strategies NSTA offers:
- Connect science and literacy in the early years with the Picture-Perfect Science
- Capture the vision behind the Uncovering Student Ideas books and learn everything you need to know about using formative assessment probes.
- Take a deep-dive into three-dimensional instruction and the Next Generation Science Standards.
- Introduce your colleagues to the concepts behind Outdoor Science.
- Harness The Power of Questioning.
- Or line up another topic of your choice—including Using Gadgets and Gizmos, Solar Science, Once Upon a Science Book, and many others.
You probably have questions about how all of this could work for your district. Let’s see if we can answer them for you.
Q: How do we partner with NSTA to develop a professional learning package that is right for our school district?
A: We discuss your needs and go into detail about the content that we can provide in a series of communications involving e-mail, phone, and face-to-face contact, so that we can better understand what your goals are and how we can help.
Q: How is pricing determined?
A: Pricing is determined based on the set of events you choose. For example, is it a one- or a two-day program? Is it all face–to-face, or is there an online component as well? For pricing information, contact Kim Stilwell at kstilwell@nsta.org or 703-312-9247.
Q: How can districts transform their elementary science programs using the Picture-Perfect Science books and workshop series?
A: Literacy experts and former science teachers Karen Ansberry and Emily Miller have spent years developing the Picture-Perfect Science series, which is designed to help elementary school teachers save precious teaching time by combining reading and science. These teaching techniques and books have been classroom-tested and reviewed by our experts. Individual teachers tell us that they love the books and that seeing the teaching methods modeled in a workshop takes them to a new level. We now offer a way to share this with many teachers at once.
Q: In addition to onsite professional learning, do you also offer online courses?
A: Yes! Our online courses offer additional opportunities to explore Picture-Perfect Science or the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) professional learning packages and how they can be customized for your particular district’s needs.
Q: What materials do we walk away with after the train-the-trainer sessions?
A: After attending these sessions, participants come away with the complete presentations to take the concepts back to their school districts along with knowledge of how to present them.
Q: When you come to our district, how is the training conducted?
A: We send trainers based on how many participants you have, sending one trainer for every 50 participants, so we can address individual questions and concerns thoroughly. The pricing matrix is based on the number of participants as well.
Q: What are formative assessment probes and who uses them?
A: Learn how to transform your district’s middle school curriculum using Page Keeley’s Uncovering Student Ideas formative assessment probes. These probes—which cover physical, life, Earth, and space sciences, as well as nature of science and unifying themes—are invaluable formative assessment tools you can use either at the beginning of each topic or unit or as you progress through specific lessons.
Q: How can districts transform their high school curriculum using the Argument-Driven Inquiry (ADI) book and workshop series?
A: Victor Sampson and his co-authors developed the ADI model to meet the need for all students to become proficient in science by the time they finish high school. The ADI instruction model was designed as a way to make lab activities more authentic and educative for students and thus help teachers promote and support the development of science proficiency. The stages of the model range from question identification, data analysis, and argument development to double-blind peer review and report revision.
Q: Do you come to me, or do I bring my teachers to you?
A: Our authors and expert trainers can come to you to offer training tailored to your needs, but other face-to-face workshops, as well as online courses and webinars, are available as well.
Q: Which of your professional learning programs have a Train-the-Trainer component?
A: Our Picture-Perfect Science, Argument-Driven Inquiry, and NGSS programs all offer a Train-the-Trainer component.
Q: What grade levels are these appropriate for?
A: We have professional learning packages available for all grade levels.
Q: Who developed them?
A: These professional learning packages were developed by NSTA Press authors, NGSS experts, and NSTA training staff to provide high-quality learning experiences for you and the teachers in your district.
Q: How do these packages work with the Standards?
A: We offer extensive professional learning opportunities around NGSS specifically and three-dimensional instruction more broadly. Engage in a three-dimensional lesson yourself, see a three-dimensional approach in a real classroom, and dig into each of the science and engineering practices, disciplinary core ideas, and crosscutting concepts. In addition, our Picture-Perfect STEM package aligns with the Common Core Math Standards.
Learn more about NSTA’s District Professional Learning Packages at www.nsta.org/district or 703-312-9247.
The mission of NSTA is to promote excellence and innovation in science teaching and learning for all.
Future NSTA Conferences
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2017 Area Conferences
2017 Discover the NGSS “Train the Trainer” Workshops
2017 NGSS Administrator Institute
2018 National Conference
2018 STEM Forum & Expo
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Ed News: How to Build Community Leaders Through Student Genius Hours
By Kate Falk
Posted on 2017-09-08
This week in education news, new state tests show more than 50 percent of Alaska students are not proficient in science; new science standards come to NY schools; President Trump nominates Jim Bridenstine to lead NASA; teacher effectiveness is an essential factor to ensure that each student is achieving their highest potential; lawmakers reject Trump teacher-funding cut and school choice proposals; to judge teacher effectiveness, parents must look at the environment in which that teacher is teaching; Nebraska State Board of Education to vote on new science standards that include climate change; and new ACT report reveals underserved learners lag far behind their peers in college and career readiness.
Alaska’s Students Failing, State Tests Show
More than half of Alaska’s schoolchildren are not proficient in math, science and English, according to the results of the state’s new standardized tests. According to advance figures released to reporters Wednesday, 68.2 percent of students were rated “below proficient” or “far below proficient” in math, 61.6 percent of students were in those two categories in English, and 53.5 percent were in those two categories in science. Read the article featured in the Peninsula Clarion.
New Science Standards Come To NYS Schools, Including New Approach To Climate Change Education
The organization representing more than 600 public school boards across the state says how science is taught in the classroom will influence how a generation of students think about climate change. Starting this fall, new standards for teaching science go into effect in New York. They put a much more specific emphasis on the role of human activity in global warming. Read the article by WXXI AM News.
Jim Bridenstine To Be Nominated By Trump To Lead NASA
Representative Jim Bridenstine, Republican of Oklahoma, will be nominated by President Trump to serve as NASA’s next administrator, the White House said. If confirmed by the Senate, Mr. Bridenstine would be the first elected official to hold that job. Read the article featured in The New York Times.
The 2 Stages Of Successful Early STEM Education
Working alongside teachers and helping their students with rapidly evolving technology is an incredible experience. Each year has been slightly different because students and teachers are, of course, different, and each year we move at the pace they need while building upon the skills from the previous year. We emphasize two learning stages to build fluid STEM integration from kindergarten to 4th grade. Read the article featured in eSchool News.
How To Build Community Leaders Of Today—And Tomorrow—Through Student Genius Hours
When it comes to personalized learning in the classroom, no single thing has been as powerful as Genius Hour for my students. Genius Hour has its early foundations at companies like Google which gave their employees 20 percent of their work week to study and implement innovative ideas that would better the company. Ideas like Gmail, Google News, and Adsense were born from this time. It’s not a bad model for teachers to emulate, either. Read the article featured in EdSurge.
How To Have A Coach For Every Teacher, Without Breaking The Bank
Every good athlete needs a coach to help them improve their practice, from student athletes to superstars like LeBron James and Serena Williams. This same principle can—and should—be applied to our teachers. Teacher effectiveness is an essential factor to ensure that each student is achieving their highest potential in school. Read the article featured in eSchool News.
Senate Panel Rejects Trump Teacher-Funding Cut, School Choice Proposals
Lawmakers overseeing education spending dealt a big blow to the Trump administration’s K-12 budget asks in a spending bill approved by a bipartisan vote Wednesday. The legislation would leave intact the main federal programs aimed at teacher training and after-school funding. And it would seek to bar the U.S. Department of Education from moving forward with two school choice initiatives it pitched in its request for fiscal year 2018, which begins Oct. 1. Read the article featured in Education Week.
To Judge Teacher Effectiveness, Parents Must Look At The Whole School
As a former teacher, I often find that parents’ initial reactions lead me into long conversations about what it means for their child to have access to good teaching. Policymakers, too, are grappling with how to measure good teaching, driven in part by the new federal education law requiring every state to define the term “ineffective teacher” and ensure students have equal access to effective teaching. Whether I’m talking to a parent or a policymaker, here’s what I say: Whether your child is going to learn and grow, feel safe and nurtured, love and succeed in school depends in part on their individual teacher(s), but perhaps even more on the environment in which that teacher is teaching. Read the article featured in EdSource.
Experts Tout Importance Of Interdisciplinary Approach To STEM
In the first Education Dive #DiveIntoSTEM Twitter chat Thursday, experts from the National Science Teachers Association, the National Science Foundation and Gallup Higher Education discussed the importance of an interdisciplinary approach to STEM education in both K-12 and higher ed settings. Read the timeline by Education DIVE.
Nebraska State Board of Education To Vote On New Science Standards That Include Climate Change
After months of public debate, the Nebraska State Board of Education is poised to add climate change to state science standards. The final version of the proposed standards would introduce climate change in high school science classes. Read the article featured in the Omaha World-Herald.
Underserved students lag far behind their peers when it comes to college and career readiness, and the more underserved characteristics that students possess, the less likely they are to be ready. These findings are reported in The Condition of College & Career Readiness 2017, ACT’s annual score report, which was released today. Read the press release for more information about the ACT report.
Stay tuned for next week’s top education news stories.
The Communication, Legislative & Public Affairs (CLPA) team strives to keep NSTA members, teachers, science education leaders, and the general public informed about NSTA programs, products, and services and key science education issues and legislation. In the association’s role as the national voice for science education, its CLPA team actively promotes NSTA’s positions on science education issues and communicates key NSTA messages to essential audiences.
The mission of NSTA is to promote excellence and innovation in science teaching and learning for all.
Follow NSTA
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Interacting with students
By Mary Bigelow
Posted on 2017-09-06
I’m looking for ideas to get to know my students better and interact with them. My head spins with six different groups of students each day. –M., Maryland
You may have heard the idea that students don’t care what you know until they know you care. But in a secondary classroom, trying to connect with 150 students each day seems impossible.
Some students demand our attention: those who raise their hands, have outgoing personalities, or use negative behaviors. But the quiet or contemplative students, students learning English, or those with issues interacting socially may require more of our effort to connect with them. These students and their interests can be overlooked in a busy classroom.
Perhaps you ask students to record data on an index card: name, birthday, nickname, interests/hobbies, extracurriculars, and out-of-school activities such as jobs, community organizations, or volunteer work. (You may have an app to record this information electronically). Use these cards to select a different student each class period. This is not a formal student-of-the-day designation, but a subtle way of ensuring that you interact with all students. For example, greet them at the door, inquire about their activities, call on them for answers or to share thoughts, ask them to be class assistants, or discuss topics with them during seatwork or group work. As you repeat the process, you will get to know each student a little better.
At first their responses might be a “You talkin’ to me?” especially from students not used to teachers’ attention. But most will appreciate your efforts. I was the “quiet” one in class, but I still had something to contribute, and fortunately some of my teachers were able to tap into my thinking.
Photo: http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2618/3948369923_93c3419fe9.jpg
I’m looking for ideas to get to know my students better and interact with them. My head spins with six different groups of students each day. –M., Maryland
You may have heard the idea that students don’t care what you know until they know you care. But in a secondary classroom, trying to connect with 150 students each day seems impossible.
Partnering With Scientists
By Debra Shapiro
Posted on 2017-09-01
A Vanderbilt University Scientist in the Classroom Partnership fellow helps middle school students in the Nashville, Tennessee, area test their car design for speed.
While it’s common for many teachers to have a scientist visit their classroom once or twice a year, some teachers have formed long-term partnerships that enable scientists to spend significant time with their students. Cindy Hopkins, science teacher at Kaffie Middle School in Corpus Christi, Texas, met one of her scientist partners— Janel Ortiz, a graduate student from Texas A&M University-Kingsville (TAMUK)—at a professional development session on quail that Ortiz led at TAMUK. “There is no extra money for field trips, so I actively seek science professionals to come to my class and connect students with real-world science,” Hopkins explains.
“This past spring, I had Janel come to my class [twice a week for two months] and teach a unit about quail (her area of expertise)…Researchers and scientists are another voice for my students, and they pay more attention [to them],” Hopkins contends.
“Janel brought good binoculars, and my students used them…to [examine] bird bands…She asked students to give her evidence, and taught them how to do it…When [scientists do] this, students make connections from the classroom to the field,” Hopkins maintains.
“I did activities alongside the students. They got to see me as a learner. I asked questions to help students connect her material with what I’ve taught them,” she relates. Having Ortiz teach the unit also “allowed me to sit down with students that need one-on-one attention and connect with them,” she notes.
David Lockett, middle-level science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) teacher at Edward W. Bok Academy in Lake Wales, Florida, benefitted when Principal Damien Moses helped bring Keith Young, CEO of Detroit-based Ecotek—a research organization promoting science education and careers for students ages 10 to 17 (www.ecotek-us.com)—to the city’s charter school system for two semesters. Young co-taught “and deliver[ed] lessons on citrus greening and alternative battery and fuel options with our STEM classes,” says Lockett. “We had a community need because a plant and tree disease was affecting citrus crops.”
Young even took some middle school and high school students to the U.S. Department of Agriculture National Lab for Genetic Research Preservation in Fort Collins, Colorado. “Students made bactericide and did directional drone studies of infected trees. [The trip] showed students how something in Florida could also affect the rest of the country and the world,” Lockett reports.
“In grad school, one of my friends was working on his thesis and was required to do outreach as part of his own graduate work. That school year, Dr. J. P. Trasatti ( J.P.) came to my classroom to share his research with the students,” recalls Nichole Mantas, a biology teacher in New York, “then he and I designed a hands-on activity to simulate his research. He had been worked similar[ly] to a zipper in the blood-brain barrier,” Mantas notes.
“In recent years, J.P. has moved on from his graduate work, and our lessons have changed as well…For two years, J.P. came [to my classroom] and shared how tissue engineering works,” she relates. “It helped engage a group of students who might have just considered science a hobby.”
Forming Partnerships
Scientist in the Classroom, a program of the National Center for Science Education in Oakland, California (https://goo.gl/enR2gb), connects scientists with middle and high school teachers “because teachers feel more confident teaching potentially contentious issues” like climate change and evolution “with a scientist [there] to answer questions,” says program coordinator Claire Adrian-Tucci. Early career scientists, such as graduate students and postdocs, participate because they “tend to have more flexible schedules,” she points out.
After the program’s required two visits, some teachers continue their conversations with the scientists, often via Skype, Adrian-Tucci notes.
“Teachers need to plan ahead and communicate with scientists,” she advises. “Don’t set your goals too high; find a fun activity, and get everyone involved.”
The New York Academy of Sciences (NYAS) Scientist-in-Residence program (https://goo.gl/z12Q8C) matches scientists from all disciplines with public school teachers in New York City, Syracuse, and Utica. Scientists commit to 10 hours a month, January through May. “Teachers are becoming more comfortable with outside experts visiting. Scientists can seem intimidating, [but we’re finding they’re] more welcome than in years past,” says NYAS Director of Education Kristian Breton.
The program’s graduate students and postdocs “are interested in checking out possible teaching careers. [About] 10–15% of [these] scientists go into teaching,” he notes.
Schools chosen to participate “are [located] 35–40 minutes from where the scientist lives or works” to spare scientists a long commute, Breton explains.
In Vanderbilt University’s Scientist in the Classroom Partnership (SCP; https://goo.gl/kh1q23) Program, scientists work in classrooms in the Nashville, Tennessee, area “one full day per week all year,” says program director Jennifer Ufnar. Scientists have “run competitions (middle school), developed PBL [Problem-Based Learning] units, infused science across the curriculum, started science clubs, pushed science into other disciplines, infused inquiry-based science and PBL across the school, and co-taught curriculum they’ve developed with the teachers,” she reports.
In addition to taking teachers to meetings and conferences at universities, “fellows provide an extra set of hands, plus materials and kits. It takes a load off the teachers,” she asserts.
A Scientist’s Advice
Retired scientist and engineer Rick McMaster of Austin, Texas, regularly visits classes. The first teacher who invited him “provided all the details— schedule, location, asked what I needed, etc.—to minimize the effort on my part,” McMaster recalls.
Teachers should support visiting scientists with “logistics, materials (if needed), [and] classroom discipline. They should arrive early to meet the visitor,” he emphasizes.
Teachers should also “follow-up with feedback. Thank-you notes from the students go a long way. The local administration should also provide encouragement for a long-term relationship,” he stresses.
And be sure to invite students’ parents who are scientists, McMaster suggests, because some “continue to visit…even after their children are no longer there.”
This article originally appeared in the September 2017 issue of NSTA Reports, the member newspaper of the National Science Teachers Association. Each month, NSTA members receive NSTA Reports, featuring news on science education, the association, and more. Not a member? Learn how NSTA can help you become the best science teacher you can be.
The mission of NSTA is to promote excellence and innovation in science teaching and learning for all.
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A Vanderbilt University Scientist in the Classroom Partnership fellow helps middle school students in the Nashville, Tennessee, area test their car design for speed.
Ed News: Teacher Shortages Affecting Every State As 2017-18 School Year Begins
By Kate Falk
Posted on 2017-09-01
This week in education news, federal data shows that every state is dealing with shortages of teachers in key subject areas; the University of North Carolina in Charlotte has launched an on-campus high school for aspiring teachers; several districts and states have begun eliminating K-12 standardized tests; CA bill proposing creation of state-run STEM school draws strong support and opposition; millennials around the world are concerned about climate change; and more than 1 million students affected by Hurricane Harvey so far.
Teacher Shortages Affecting Every State As 2017-18 School Year Begins
The 2017-18 school year has started in many places across the country, and federal data shows that every state is dealing with shortages of teachers in key subject areas. Some are having trouble finding substitute teachers, too. The annual nationwide listing of areas with teacher shortages, compiled by the U.S. Education Department, shows many districts struggling to fill positions in subjects such as math, the traditional sciences, foreign language and special education, but also in reading and English language arts, history, art, music, elementary education, middle school education, career and technical education, health, and computer science. Click here to read the article featured in The Washington Post.
The Next Generation Of Teacher Prep?
The University of North Carolina in Charlotte has launched an on-campus high school for aspiring teachers. The Charlotte Teacher Early College High School opened its doors to 50 9th graders in the second week of August. Students will spend their first two years completing high school requirements, and in the remaining three years tackle general-education college requirements while training to lead classes of their own. By graduation, they will have earned up to 60 college credits that can be transferred to Cato College of Education where they can earn their teaching degrees. Click here to read the article featured in Education Week.
Science Classroom Excitement Is Infectious
Emotions can spread from person to person. Someone’s bad mood, for instance, can bring an entire crowd down. Interest in science can be catching, too, and in a good way, a new study shows. The more that students in a high school science class are into the material, the more likely an individual student will pursue a science, technology, engineering or math (STEM) career. Click here to read the article featured in Science News for Students.
States Begin Shedding Standardized Tests In K12
In just the last few months, several districts and states have eliminated tests and cut assessment time to make room for instruction and reduce stress. Concern with over-testing picked up steam around 2015, says Julie Rowland Woods, policy analyst at the Education Commission of the States. And since, a slow trickle of state policies have moved forward to mitigate it, she adds. Click here to read the article featured in District Administration.
Strong Support And Opposition To Proposed State STEM School
The California Department of Education directly runs only three schools, two for deaf children and one for the blind. Under a bill before the Legislature, it would add a fourth — specializing in math and science and serving low-income, ethnically diverse middle and high-school students in Los Angeles County. The legislation to create a state-authorized, independently managed STEM school has the support of heavyweights in high tech and higher ed. But Assembly Bill 1217 also has achieved what few bills do: unifying labor unions, school management organizations and the state Department of Finance in opposition. Click here to read the article featured in EdSource.
Millennials around the world are concerned about climate change, according to the World Economic Forum’s 2017 “Global Shapers Survey,” released Tuesday. Nearly half of the more than 31,000 survey participants, who were ages 18 to 35 in 186 countries, chose climate change as their top concern, and 78.1% said they would be willing to change their lifestyle to protect the environment. Click here to read the article by Business Insider.
There Is No Silver Bullet For Education Reform
Public educators find themselves in something of a Catch-22 situation these days. When we celebrate the great things that are going on in our schools, we are told that we are simply slaves to the status quo who don’t recognize the struggles that our system is facing. When we articulate the challenges that our schools face, there are those who are quick to jump on us for making excuses or to fault us for not abandoning our current system entirely. Click here to read the article featured in District Administration.
More Than 1 Million Students Affected By Hurricane Harvey So Far
More than a million students are now affected by the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey in some way, according to the Texas Education Agency, as the remnants of the storm shifted east and its devastating effects on the education community continue. In Texas, district officials with undamaged schools are scrambling to get students quickly enrolled and back into school to avoid lost learning time. Up to 220 districts have closed at some point due to the storm. Click here to read the article featured in Education Week.
How STEM Education Can Help End Poverty
STEM education is increasing in popularity–more schools are incorporating STEM into their curriculum and making it a key part of what they teach. STEM can help students learn to think logically, improve math test scores, and give students career training. But STEM education can also help bring an end to poverty. Click here to read the article featured in Education Week.
Stay tuned for next week’s top education news stories.
The Communication, Legislative & Public Affairs (CLPA) team strives to keep NSTA members, teachers, science education leaders, and the general public informed about NSTA programs, products, and services and key science education issues and legislation. In the association’s role as the national voice for science education, its CLPA team actively promotes NSTA’s positions on science education issues and communicates key NSTA messages to essential audiences.
The mission of NSTA is to promote excellence and innovation in science teaching and learning for all.
Follow NSTA
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