Legislative Update
By Jodi Peterson
Posted on 2017-01-12
In what will likely be the first of many battles to come, teacher unions and civil rights groups have come out swinging against the nomination of Betsy DeVos to become U.S. Secretary of Education while Republican governors are applauding President-elect Trump for his “inspired choice” to reform federal education policy.
The Senate confirmation hearing for DeVos, originally scheduled for January 11, was postponed one week and is now scheduled for January 17 at 5 p.m. Senator Lamar Alexander (R-TN), chair of the Senate Health Education Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee, and Sen. Patty Murray (D-WA), HELP’s ranking Democrat, said in a statement the hearing change was made to accommodate the Senate schedule. Later media reports indicated the hearing date was pushed back because the ethics check on DeVos was not completed.
After meeting with DeVos last week, Sen. Murray said in a statement, “I continue to have serious concerns about her long record of working to privatize and defund public education, expand taxpayer-funded private school vouchers, and block accountability for charter schools.”
Sen. Alexander told The Chattanoogan, “Betsy DeVos and I had a great meeting today, and she is going to make an excellent Secretary of Education. I’m looking forward to her hearing because I know she will impress the Senate with her passionate support for improving education for all children.”
In a letter to Sen. Alexander, 18 Republican governors said that DeVos was an “inspired” choice. “Betsy DeVos will fight to streamline the federal education bureaucracy, return authority back to states and local school boards, and ensure that more dollars are reaching the classroom…Betsy DeVos also is a passionate supporter of increasing parental engagement in their children’s education and of harnessing the power of competition to drive improvement in all K-12 schools, whether they be public, private or virtual.”
The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights—a coalition of more than 200 national organizations—said in a letter, “We reject the notion that children are well served by the dismantling of a public school system that serves 90 percent of all American students or by the elimination of civil rights protections that require the federal government to intervene when students are discriminated against.”
In a Huffington Post piece, AFT President Randi Weingarten called DeVos “a billionaire with an agenda” who could reignite “education wars” between Democrats and Republicans.
The NEA maintains that “by nominating Betsy DeVos, the incoming Trump administration is demonstrating it does not share our vision of public education and what works best for students, parents, and communities.”
More about Betsy DeVos in this New York Times article.
The First 100 Days and Beyond—What’s in Store for Education?
There is lots of talk about what the first 100 days of the Trump administration will look like. Many expect the new Administration will reverse many Obama-era regulations, repeal Obamacare and replace it with a Republican plan, and introduce tax reform.
In education, two education-related regulations likely to be overturned deal with teacher preparation and the ESSA state and education accountability. More here on that.
Although not likely in the first 100 days, look for efforts to scale back the Department of Education Office of Civil Rights.
Many also anticipate some kinds of initiative to expand private school choice, although it is possible this could be done through the ESSA State plans now being developed.
On Capitol Hill, members of Congress will be paying keen attention to the Implementation of ESSA. Two education bills that will likely come up include the the Higher Education Act, which was last comprehensively reauthorized in 2008, and the rewrite of the Perkins Act, which oversees federal funding of career and technical education.
Update on ESSA Implementation
On January 6, the Education Department posted new guidelines for states to help them develop consolidated state plans, state and local report cards, and determine graduation rates under the new federal education law, the Every Student Succeeds Act. Links to the guidance are below.
Consolidated State Plan guidance
State and Local Report Cards Guidance
High School Graduation Rate Guidance
States are allowed to submit their consolidated State plan or individual program plans on April 3, 2017, or on September 18, 2017. Do you know what your state is doing to implement ESSA? Learn more here about how to make STEM a priority in ESSA.
A reminder that the U.S. Department of Education is hosting a series of webinars on the ESSA, Title IV, Part A Student Support and Academic Enrichment grant. More information on the webinars is below. These grants will allow STEM activities.
Thursday, January 26, 2017 at 2 p.m. eastern
Role of State Educational Agencies; Local Application Requirements; and Implementing Effective SSAE Program Activities
Registration: https://safesupportivelearning.ed.gov/node/8739/0/register
Thursday, February 9, 2017 at 2 p.m. eastern:
Allowable Activities to Support Well-Rounded Educational Opportunities; Safe and Healthy Students; and the Effective Use of Technology
Registration: https://safesupportivelearning.ed.gov/node/8740/0/register
And finally, the Department of Education is seeking highly qualified individuals to serve as peer reviewers of State plans required under ESSA. For more information, including a link to the application, visit https://www2.ed.gov/admins/lead/account/stateplan17/index.html.
American Innovation and Competitiveness Act <Finally> Becomes Law
Before the Senate adjourned prior to the Christmas break, on Friday, December 16, 2016 they passed S. 3084, the American Innovation and Competitiveness Act (AICA). President Obama signed the bill into law on January 6, 2017.
This legislation is the successor to the America COMPETES Act, which sets policy for a number of federal STEM education programs and for the National Science Foundation, the National Institute of Standards and Technology, the Office of Science and Technology Policy, and the Department of Energy Office of Science.
The House version of this bill was largely controversial, and it was assumed that the Congressional clock had run out and that this legislation would not pass prior to adjournment of the 114th Congress. However, on December 10, 2016 the Senate passed a modified version of the bill before leaving town that had both bicameral and bipartisan support. The House had already adjourned but still passed the AICA on December 16, 2016 by unanimous consent (both chambers of Congress can bypass their procedural rules and pass legislation with no objections.)
In regard to STEM education, the key new law authorizes a restructure of NSF’s Robert Noyce STEM teacher program, including a new program to partner recently retired STEM professionals with STEM teachers; creates a STEM education advisory panel of non-Federal employees to advise the President and the Committee on STEM education (CoSTEM) on federal STEM programs and STEM policy; asserts that NSF continue grants to broaden participation in STEM; provides continuing K-12 computer science grants; and encourages on-going partnerships between NSF and institutions involved in informal STEM learning, institutions of higher education, and education research centers.
Stay tuned, and watch for more updates in future issues of NSTA Express.
Jodi Peterson is Assistant Executive Director of Legislative & Public Affairs for the National Science Teachers Association (NSTA) and Chair of the STEM Education Coalition. Reach her via e-mail at jpeterson@nsta.org or via Twitter at @stemedadvocate.
The mission of NSTA is to promote excellence and innovation in science teaching and learning for all.
Follow NSTA
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
By Judy Elgin Jensen
Posted on 2017-01-12
In “P-47 and the Double Wasp Engine,” fighter pilot Benjamin Cassiday emphatically states, “It was an aircraft that could get you home.” While adrenaline filled the veins of these courageous WWII pilots, likely there was no greater rush than when they touched down on their home runway.
Driven by the Pratt and Whitney R-2800 Double Wasp air-cooled radial engine, the huge P-47 was able to successfully compete against much smaller adversaries. Find out how in P-47 and the Double Wasp Engine—one of 10 posted videos in the Chronicles of Courage series. The 20-video series from the partnership of NBC Learn and Flying Heritage Collection uses the collection’s WWII airplanes and aviation technology as their focal point.
Like several of the NSTA-developed lesson plans in this series, this plan gives you ideas for prompting students to use paper airplanes as their experimental tool. You’ll see an example of a possible design that could explore the relationship between power and weight whereby students add weight to the wings or fuselage, change the power generated by the rubber-band propeller, or use different sized propellers. Internet references are included to support students as well.
With such an investigation, are you concerned you won’t have the right answer for students? That’s one of the beauties of engineering design investigations—you don’t have to because there is no “right answer.” The best design is the one that performs optimally given the criteria and constraints. Chances are more than one group will end up with optimal design solutions. If so, give students a chance to critique all of the solutions and make claims based on evidence about which one they think is “best.” Witness the effects of your students’ adrenaline as they enthusiastically design and fly their paper airplane solutions.
Video
Chronicles of Courage: Stories of Wartime and Innovation “P-47 and the Double Wasp Engine” explores how the much larger and heavier P-47 Thunderbolt and its extremely powerful engine allows the hulking fighter to be competitive at all altitudes.
STEM Lesson Plan—Adaptable for Grades 7–12
Chronicles of Courage: Stories of Wartime and Innovation “P-47 and the Double Wasp Engine” provides strategies for extracting information from video content and challenging students to explore further plus support for building science literacy through reading and writing.
In “P-47 and the Double Wasp Engine,” fighter pilot Benjamin Cassiday emphatically states, “It was an aircraft that could get you home.” While adrenaline filled the veins of these courageous WWII pilots, likely there was no greater rush than when they touched down on their home runway.
By Judy Elgin Jensen
Posted on 2017-01-10
One of the most familiar WWII airplanes carries the trademark of the Flying Tigers—a long nose painted with a menacing shark mouth. While the Flying Tigers were a hotshot fighter group, the pilots had to develop new tactics to outfly their Japanese adversary—the Nakajima Ki-43 Hayabusa, or what the Americans call the “Oscar.”
Why? Find out in Flying Tigers—one of 10 posted videos in the Chronicles of Courage series. The 20-video series from the partnership of NBC Learn and Flying Heritage Collection uses the collection’s WWII airplanes and aviation technology as their focal point.
Listen to experts describe the innovations of these aircraft and the pilots themselves talk how the plane performs in the air. Then turn students loose to “mess around” with materials as they generate questions to answer through investigation. The NSTA-developed lesson plan will give you a leg up on that, with suggested materials and a few directions investigations might take.
Consider developing a guide to support students as they document what happens when they manipulate materials. Include a place where students write down their questions specifically. Then encourage students to take some chances and try different things with the materials as a way to generate more questions.
Take a moment to look at this video and the array of suggestions for using it in your classes. Can’t make an immediate connection with this one? No worries. Take a look at one of the others. We’re sure you’ll find a fit that excites your students and brings those textbook concepts to life.
Video
Chronicles of Courage: Stories of Wartime and Innovation “Flying Tigers” presents two very different aircraft. The Oscar is light and nimble with especially designed butterfly flaps to give it a turning advantage over it adversaries. The Tomahawk was rugged and strong, which allowed it to dive quickly.
STEM Lesson Plan—Adaptable for Grades 7–12
Chronicles of Courage: Stories of Wartime and Innovation “Flying Tigers” provides strategies for extracting information from video content and challenging students to explore further plus support for building science literacy through reading and writing.
One of the most familiar WWII airplanes carries the trademark of the Flying Tigers—a long nose painted with a menacing shark mouth.
By Peggy Ashbrook
Posted on 2017-01-08
Children like to share their work and tell their families what they do at school or at other times when they are not together. While babysitting for a friend, I appreciated her 2-year-old child’s excitement when she discovered that a toy firetruck had a button to push to turn on (and off) a siren. “Tell Mommy, fire engine has a siren!” she exclaimed several times. I asked her if she would like to write a message to her mother telling her about this and she immediately went to her art shelf and came back with an erasable magnetic drawing board. First she drew the firetruck, then “Me” and then “Mommy,” naming each illustration as she drew it. I took a photo, before the message was erased, to share the moment with my friend when she returned (see it labeled it here). These two technologies, the magnetic drawing board and camera, allowed a child to communicate with her parent, and her parent to be part of her child’s developing understanding of symbols.
Photographs helped me share another child’s work with his parents. As a child care provider in my home I often had water color paint sets available for the four-year-olds. One child was very interested in layering paint colors to mix and blend. Beginning with one color he would add more and more colors to the page until it was a solid page of rich black with no shapes or lines to show how the work progressed. After several days of sending home all black paintings I took a series of photos as the child worked to show his parents what he was working on so they could also enjoy the process.
In the January 2017 issue of Science and Children, I wrote about using technologies available in your program for children to create a message about their interests and work to send, or carry, home. In the Editor’s Note, Linda Froschauer talks about the “selection dilemma” as educators look for “technology that provides the best opportunities for students to access knowledge, build science and engineering skills, and function within a framework of scientific investigation.”
It will be some time before the 2-year-old becomes the “Empowered Learner,” “Digital Citizen,” or “Global Collaborator” envisioned in the International Society for Technology Education’s (ISTE) National Educational Technology Standards for Students but she is already a “Knowledge Constructor,” “Innovative Designer,” and “Creative Communicator” using tools that preceded digital tools. There is still much to learn about young children’s use of technology and the impact it can have on their education.
In a recent episode of ‘black•ish, “Their Eyes Were Watching Screens,” parents were confronted with the fact that they didn’t really know how their children were using technology and what they were viewing. After an initial feeling of panic they found a way to “make technology your family time friend!” Educators’ and parents’ questions about children’s use of media technologies are of interest to researchers at institutions such as The Center on Media and Human Development at Northwestern University, The Erikson Institute’s Technology in Early Childhood (TEC) Center, and The Joan Ganz Cooney Center at Sesame Workshop, and pediatric doctors (Kabali and all 2015). Continuing research will help us be intentional in our choices of technology–old school paper and crayons or digital technology–to help young children create learning moments and document it.
Here are a few additional resources to help early childhood educators and families “make technology our friend” and an appropriate, effective tool for young children.
Lisa Guernsey’s and Michael Levin’s website for their book, Tap, Click, Read: Growing Readers in a World of Screens, has videos about programs supporting young readers and links to app reviewers to help families and educators choose effective tools.
Tech in the Early Years, edited by Chip Donohue and published by Routledge and the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC), is “a thought-provoking guide to effective, appropriate and intentional use of technology with young children.” I love their statement about Mr. Rogers and the use of his quote: Fred Rogers serves as a reminder of what is most important and a perfect stepping off point for your reading, learning and teaching.
“Computers can be useful machines, especially when they help people communicate in caring ways with each other…” Fred Rogers, 1996.
The key messages in Technology and Interactive Media as Tools in Early Childhood Programs Serving Children from Birth through Age 8, NAEYC’s joint position statement with The Fred Rogers Center for Early Learning and Children’s Media at Saint Vincent College, are:
Learn more about these key messages and explore “Selected Resources on Technology in Early Childhood Education” provided by NAEYC.
Communities and education systems must find a way to provide paid hours for early childhood educators who are already in the workforce to be as intentional about the use of technology and interactive media as we are with any choice we make in scheduling young children’s day. The education of the developing minds and abilities of young children are too important for us to, as Froschauer observed, feel that technology is “simply be happening to [us] rather than being carefully considered and selected.”
Children like to share their work and tell their families what they do at school or at other times when they are not together. While babysitting for a friend, I appreciated her 2-year-old child’s excitement when she discovered that a toy firetruck had a button to push to turn on (and off) a siren.
By Mary Bigelow
Posted on 2017-01-07
My ninth grade students enjoy doing labs. But afterward, most do not participate in the debriefing. How can I improve this? —A., Washington
You could try an alternative to teacher-led discussions. Here’s one that worked with my students.
Instead of you asking questions, assign one team of students to present their results to the class in a panel format. Before the activity, choose one team to present. You could assign members’ roles ensuring participation: Person 1 – Introduce the team and present the question, problem, or hypothesis. Person 2 – Summarize the procedure. Person 3 – Provide a display and description of the data, observations, or results, incorporating classroom technology. Person 1 (again) – Relate the results back to the question or hypothesis. Person 4 – Note any questions the team had, how the investigation could or should be done differently, and take questions from the audience.
Give the team time at the end of the activity or at the beginning of the next class to prepare. Rotate roles so the students are doing different components of the report the next time they present.
At first, you may have to model how to summarize and how to make an effective presentation (my students enjoyed it when I modeled an ineffective one, too). You may have to model how to contribute as a respectful audience member and suggest types of questions and discussion prompts: Compare their results to yours. How are they similar? Different? And as a member of the audience, you get to ask questions, too.
This may take more time, but students also get the opportunity to be presenters.
My ninth grade students enjoy doing labs. But afterward, most do not participate in the debriefing. How can I improve this? —A., Washington
You could try an alternative to teacher-led discussions. Here’s one that worked with my students.
By Korei Martin
Posted on 2017-01-05
Want to use technology to enhance your elementary classroom? Looking to get your middle level students to understand how different parts in a system interact? Want ways to help your high school students to think critically? Or do you just need want resources to create case studies for your college students? The January K-College journals from the National Science Teachers Association (NSTA) have the answers you need. Written by science teachers for science teachers, these peer-reviewed journals are targeted to your teaching level and are packed with lesson plans, expert advice, and ideas for using whatever time/space you have available. Browse the January issues; they are online (see below), in members’ mailboxes, and ready to inspire teachers.
Science and Children 
Students are more than digital natives; they are embedded in technology. Thus, teachers must frequently use technologically advanced tools in the classroom. This requires a change in approach and assessment. In this issue, students learn science with technology, which enhances both subjects.
Featured articles (please note, only those marked “free” are available to nonmembers without a fee):
Science Scope 
Understanding how the different parts of a system interact is an important first step in trying to solve the complex problems facing our world today. We hope the activities in this issue of Science Scope will get your students’ gears turning as they explore how systems can lead to solutions both in the classroom and in the real world.
Featured articles (please note, only those marked “free” are available to nonmembers without a fee):
The Science Teacher 
Today’s students are dazzlingly fluent digital natives. They text, blog, Snapchat, Instagram, and Facebook. They use search engines; they ask their smartphones for answers to questions that, in a different era, might have required a trip to the library. But a recent study of middle school, high school, and college students found that many students—over 80% in some cases—couldn’t tell the difference between an advertisement and a news story, distinguish between a real and fake news source, identify bias in a tweet, or determine if a website could be trusted. It is imperative that students learn to think critically and engage in argument based on reliable evidence. What better place for them to learn this than in science class? This issue offers tips and techniques for engaging students in reading critically—including classic science books such as those on this month’s cover—and writing clearly.
Featured articles (please note, only those marked “free” are available to nonmembers without a fee):
Journal of College Science Teaching 
If you are interested in curricula that mirror the interdisciplinary and collaborative research environments of practicing scientists, see how several authors attempted to implement what they termed the Chemistry-Genetics Course Collaborative, a cotaught offering of a human genetics course with an honors introductory chemistry course. Want to create case studies that are more interesting? Read Clyde Freeman Herreid’s article in the Case Study column that describes the secret ingredient that sets great case studies apart: They have personality. And in the Research and Teaching department, find out how models from the literature and iterative feedback were used to help students generate proper data figures for use in posters.
Get these journals in your mailbox as well as your inbox—become an NSTA member!
The mission of NSTA is to promote excellence and innovation in science teaching and learning for all.
Follow NSTA
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
By Lauren Jonas, NSTA Assistant Executive Director
Posted on 2017-01-04
Editor’s Note: This blog originally listed the wrong featured speaker for this strand.
This spring, the National Science Teachers Association (NSTA) will feature a special strand “2017: A STEM Odyssey” at our 2017 National Conference on Science Education, in Los Angeles: March 30–April 2. Students’ science learning has changed dramatically from learning in the past. In a STEM environment, students’ understanding of the world around them is facilitated through the intentional connections between the four disciplines of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. STEM curriculum provides research-based instructional strategies that engage diverse learners and highlights career pathways in STEM-related fields. More importantly, STEM provides opportunities for all students to place themselves in a 21st-century world. Participants will connect and collaborate to increase their understanding and ability to teach STEM-based lessons and instructional sequences.
The featured presentation for this strand will be announced soon!
Below is a small sampling of other sessions on this topic:
Want more? Browse the program preview, or check out more sessions and other events with the LA Session Browser/Personal Scheduler. Follow all our conference tweets using #NSTA17, and if you tweet, please feel free to tag us @NSTA so we see it! Need to request funding or time off? Download this letter of support.
The mission of NSTA is to promote excellence and innovation in science teaching and learning for all.
Future NSTA Conferences
Follow NSTA
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Editor’s Note: This blog originally listed the wrong featured speaker for this strand.
By Debra Shapiro
Posted on 2017-01-02
In the STEM Lab at Englewood Middle School in Englewood, Colorado, eighth graders
discuss plans for building a quadcopter drone of their own design. Students in the
Englewood school district research the careers associated with each of their STEM Lab
projects. Photo by Bill Gilmore
Schools nationwide are adding STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) Labs, spaces where students can apply science and math concepts. “We have two dedicated ‘STEM Labs’ spaces,” shared by two grade-level groups, K–4 and 5–8, says Jessica Boualavong, K–4 STEM teacher at Town School for Boys, an independent school in San Francisco. “For our STEM program, we integrate engineering projects and skills into traditionally science-based units,” she notes.
“One STEM lab is designed for heavy-duty prototyping and experimenting, [with] tool chests and large sinks for easy access and management of supplies and cleanup,” she explains. “It’s essential to have a very well-defined, student-accessible supply area for prototyping across subject areas.”
The second STEM lab “is a forum space with three projectors for…presentations, [where] students can show off their projects or participate in a videoconference,” she explains. This space has a smaller Maker Corner where students can do “open-ended tinkering and practice with tools and supplies,” she relates.
At Franklin Avenue Middle School in Franklin Lakes, New Jersey, STEM Education Teacher Eileen Antonison teaches a 45-day STEM Lab cycle class. “I developed and wrote the curriculum for my [grades 6–8] integrated STEM courses that are aligned to the full-year core science classes…I collaborate with the science teachers to make sure we’re supporting [one another]” and not assigning duplicate projects, she relates.
For example, seventh graders study life science in their science classes and “bioengineering—life science and environmental engineering,” in STEM Lab, she notes. In science, they study photosynthesis; in STEM Lab, they build, use, and collect data from photobioreactors, systems that use light to grow algae using only the photosynthetic mode of cultivation.
Some schools are adding STEAM (science, technology, engineering, arts, and math) Labs. “[W]e built brand-new [ones] in all five of our elementary school[s],” says Tara Kristoff, director of curriculum at Cook County School District 104 in Summit, Illinois, a K–8 school district with high percentages of English language learners and students living in poverty. STEAM classrooms “are state of the art with writable wall[s], windows, and furniture…[T]he furniture is movable to encourage collaboration and discussion,” she explains.
The curriculum delves “deeply into Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) science and engineering instruction and assessment,” she asserts. For example, first graders learn in science class that waves make sound through a material. In STEAM Lab, they create their own drums using different materials and see which sounds they make, and draw the type of sound waves that match their drum’s sound. “Students see the connection of science to everything else in the world,” Kristoff contends.
General education teachers and STEAM teachers co-teach the class. “Many K–5 teachers in our district who [don’t] feel confident teaching science are becoming confident with the help and support of ” STEAM teachers, who have been trained “in the pedagogy shift of NGSS and truly embody the three dimensions in their teaching,” she maintains.
In group projects, students practice teamwork, compromise, and conflict resolution—“the skills to be the best STEM employee possible,” she asserts. “Most importantly, we have [groups] who have been historically [considered disinterested] in STEM thinking about [future STEM] careers.”
In the Powhatan County Public Schools district in Powhatan, Virginia, every school has a full-time STEM lead teacher, and “we have two full-time STEM coaches for our K–5 [STEM Lab] program” because “we believe by building interest early, our students will not only have a better understanding of the types of work people in STEM career fields do, but also they will be more likely to pursue STEM electives” and STEM careers, says Libbey Kitten, K–12 science/STEM curriculum specialist.
The program’s design was based on recommendations from a steering committee of parents, teachers, engineers, and representatives from local businesses. “We’re a small, semi-rural district with limited resources, but we have discovered that if you build it, and you have the support of your community, the money will come,” she relates.
STEM Lab teachers in Colorado’s Englewood School District are certified “through the Colorado Department of Education as CTE [Career and Technical Education] STEM teachers,” says Bill Gilmore, the district’s STEM coordinator and STEM coach. “We have STEM Labs in…our high schools, our middle school, and one elementary school. We hope to [expand to all elementary schools] and our preschool by fall 2017.”
STEM Labs “are stand-alone…classes at the middle school and high school level, and specials at the elementary level…We want these spaces to be places where students can be creative, collaborate, think outside of the traditional boxes, and fail in an environment where failure is expected and part of the process,” he maintains.
“We have three STEM pathways for K–12, based on Colorado’s economy: computer science; natural resources and energy; and engineering, robotics, and advanced manufacturing. In the STEM Lab, students are free to come up with ideas and apply them through a pathway, following the design process,” he explains. Students “explore careers related to their projects and connect their projects to their core classes.”
Crocker High School in Crocker, Missouri, offers STEM Labs as enrichment, says science teacher Marteen Nolan. “Enrichment activities have proven to be strong incentives for our students,” she asserts. Students need “at least a C average and no Fs, 95% attendance,…and no written disciplines” to participate, she explains. Students in level two, Thinking Labs, which involve high-level STEM activities, must have a B average and 100% attendance.
Students in Thinking Labs can program robots, use a 3D printer “for agricultural structure creation,” or join ExMASS (Exploration of the Moon and Asteroids by Secondary Students), an independent research project with a NASA mentor scientist, says Nolan.
STEM enrichment time gives other teachers time to help struggling students, explains Nolan. “This works well in a smaller school like ours…in a rural, high-poverty community…, [and] we’re seeing trends in the right direction so far in all subjects that are tested.”
This article originally appeared in the January 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.
Follow NSTA
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
In the STEM Lab at Englewood Middle School in Englewood, Colorado, eighth graders
Join