Other NRC reports National Research Council, b, provide further detail about the role of assessment in science education systems. Plan an inquiry-based science program—e. Guide and facilitate learning—e. Engage in ongoing assessment of their own teaching and of student learning—e. Design and manage learning environments that provide students with the time, space, and resources they need—e.
Develop communities of science learners that reflect the intellectual rigor of scientific inquiry and the attitudes and values conducive to science learning—e. Participate actively in ongoing planning and development of the school science program. They identified five main areas in which the standards agree that teachers must have competence in order to be effective in the classroom: These standards for science teachers are based on professional consensus and limited evidence about science teaching practices and how children learn scientific concepts and processes. They are not based on evidence that if teacher preparation programs are guided by or meet these standards, K students will have higher achievement.
We note, as we have elsewhere, that this approach to identifying standards for professional education is an accepted method of identifying the goals to which programs should aspire, though the lack of supporting empirical evidence reduces our confidence in conclusions about this approach. The teacher of science understands the central ideas, tools of inquiry, applications, structure of science and of the science disciplines he or she teaches and can create learning activities that make these aspects of content meaningful to students. The teacher of science understands how students differ in their approaches to learning and creates instructional opportunities that are adapted to diverse learners.
The teacher of science uses an understanding of individual and group motivation and behavior to create a learning environment that encourages positive social interaction, active engagement in learning, and self-motivation. The teacher of science uses knowledge of effective verbal, nonverbal and media communication techniques to foster active inquiry, collaboration, and supportive interaction in the classroom. The teacher of science plans instruction based upon knowledge of subject matter, students, the community, and curriculum goals.
The teacher of science understands and uses formal and informal assessment strategies to evaluate and ensure the continuous intellectual, social and physical development of the student. Some researchers have examined links between teacher characteristics and student learning in science. For the most part, the reviewed articles were descriptive in nature most were qualitative , with discussion limited to what the teachers know and do in their classrooms.
However, a few studies suggest that three areas have demonstrated effects on teacher practice or student learning.
Teacher decision-making: what information is needed
A small number of studies also indicate that teachers who are particularly concerned about classroom management tend to be less likely to use reform-oriented teaching practices. The knowledge and practices necessary to successfully teach science are also discussed in Taking Science to School National Research Council, The report grounds its discussion of what teachers need to know in findings from research on learning and development that elucidate the progressive nature of science learning.
In order for the concepts and reasoning with which students enter school to evolve into the science knowledge described in standards, the authors argue, teachers must understand the levels of intermediate understanding through which students need to pass. Taking Science to School also describes a range of instructional practices that support students in developing proficiency in the four strands of science proficiency described above , and it offers strategies for applying them with students of different ages.
These strategies include, for example, designing experiments, applying theories to make sense of data,. We caution that these findings are based on a relatively small number of studies; see Davis, Petish, and Smithey for details about their methodology. But the larger point the report makes is that both learning theory and small-scale studies of science instruction support the conclusion that instructional approaches that involve learners in scientific practice will naturally engage students in the specific elements of learning content and learning to think scientifically that are described in the national science education standards.
Taking Science to School also cites the limited evidence that postsecondary study of science is associated with student achievement.
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A meta-analysis Druva and Anderson, found a positive relationship between student achievement and the number of science courses their teachers had taken. Monk presents data from a longitudinal survey that addressed this issue for both science and mathematics and also identified positive effects. The report also notes that if college coursework were better aligned with school curricula, the effects might be more pronounced. The report presents findings from case studies that teachers with less content knowledge are less confident and effective at particular skills, such as sustaining an in-depth discussion or addressing student questions accurately and effectively see, e.
Taking Science to School also addresses the importance of understanding learners and learning, suggesting that teachers need to understand what students do when they learn, as well as the types of experiences that produce engagement and conceptual understanding. A variety of studies indicate that it is important for teachers to have accurate mental models of the way students learn and to understand social and other factors that may influence learning.
Unfortunately, this research has yet to provide clear guidance that specific knowledge and skills in these areas are associated with benefits for students. We return to the question of pedagogical content knowledge below. Another NRC report provides further elaboration of the ways students learn science and how understanding of their conceptual development is critical to effective science teaching. History, Mathematics, and Science in the Classroom National Research Council, applied to specific academic subjects the findings from an earlier report, How People Learn National Research Council, a , that synthesized recent developments in cognitive science regarding learning described in Chapter 5.
Yet, as with the instructional opportunities students need, we see a clear logical justification for the largely inference-based arguments made in standards for science teachers and other consensus documents: The field of science education has established a logical case, bolstered by some empirical evidence, that the following attributes help teachers provide students with the instructional opportunities they need to develop science proficiency:.
With regard to our final question, how teachers might be prepared to teach in the ways we have described, there is very little empirical evidence and less in the way of consensus recommendations from the field than for our other questions. Looking first at the limited available research, Davis, Petish, and Smithey found aspects of preparation that may support the development of effective science teachers. With regard to teaching methods, Davis and colleagues also found some studies that suggest that for elementary teachers, training in planning, organizing instruction around important scientific ideas, and coteaching all appear to help teachers improve their attitudes toward science, boost their expectations of their students, and provide effective learning environments.
Lederman and colleagues , p. The National Science Education Standards National Research Council, offers standards for professional development, which are tightly linked to those we have already discussed for student learning and for teaching. However, the report has little to say about preservice education. Like the standards, it recommends preparation designed to promote the kind of instruction it describes for K students, grounded in general research on critical features of teacher preparation.
Researchers and faculty concerned with science education for undergraduate students have identified similar goals. For example, faculty from several departments have collaborated through a project at the University of California at Los Angeles to promote science education that includes hands-on research for undergraduates who are not science majors see http: Though the program has the goal of promoting science proficiency for all students, it addresses the concern often voiced by the science education community, that K teachers will teach as they have been taught and therefore need improved undergraduate science preparation.
The program is designed to help college faculty approach their teaching in the same way they approach their disciplinary research and thus help students learn the way science is practiced see also Handelsman et al. These recommendations and programs build on earlier work, such as reports from the National Center for Improving Science Education Loucks-Horsley et al. We have little basis on which to offer specific findings about what sorts of instructional experiences teachers need. It also highlights the need for research that explores the causal nature of this relationship.
Partly because the advocated approaches for teacher preparation are complex and multifaceted, it is difficult to determine whether current programs are implementing any of the ideas the field has advocated. We could find no systematic information on the content or practices of preparation programs or requirements for science teachers across the states. According to data collected by Editorial Projects in Education, 33 of the 50 states and the District of Columbia require that high school teachers have majored in the subject they plan to teach in order to be certified, but only 3 have that requirement for middle school teachers data from and , see http: Forty-two states require prospective teachers to pass a written test in the subject in which they want to be certified, and six require passage of a written test in subject-specific pedagogy.
These data updated to show that of the 50 states, American Samoa, the District of Columbia, Guam, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands, 25 require both, 6 have no policy for either, 8 require only alignment with the K curriculum, and 6 require only alignment with standards for teachers. Data on so-called out-of-field teachers, those who are not certified in the subject they are teaching, provide another indication that states are finding it difficult to ensure that all of their science teachers are well prepared.
Unfortunately, the only data available are almost a decade old, although there is no reason to believe the situation has improved. The National Center for Education Statistics reports that in the school year, 17 percent of middle school students and seven percent of secondary students were taught science by a teacher who was not certified to teach science and had not majored in science see http: Teachers of the physical sciences were significantly more likely to be teaching out of field than were biology teachers.
In rural areas there are particular problems with recruiting adequately prepared science teachers, covering all science subjects, and providing adequate professional development and support for teachers in each discipline Education Development Center, Because these circumstances are not unusual, many educators have advocated special preparation for this role, such as a degree in natural sciences that covers biology, chemistry, earth sciences, and physics.
Some institutions have adopted this policy, including some in the California state university system, particularly for prospective teachers who intend to teach middle school. These indicators provide only very indirect information about our question, however. For a more detailed look at actual course-taking patterns and other information about preservice science preparation, we had a limited amount of state-specific information. The report found that 9 percent of both middle and high school science teachers were teaching out of field and that even larger numbers of novice high school science teachers 35 percent are not well prepared because the lack a preliminary credential.
The percentages were highest in low-performing and high-minority schools. They also found that California lacks the capacity to meet the growing demand for fully prepared science and mathematics teachers and that the state is not collecting the data necessary to monitor the supply of and demand for these teachers. However, the analysis did not examine the content of science teacher preparation. Table below shows the average number of science credits earned by Florida science teachers, by certification area although the data do not provide information about the content or nature of the coursework.
On average, elementary teachers earned about 13 credit hours in science and engineering, corresponding to slightly more than four courses. Secondary teachers certified in chemistry and biology earned an average of 70 and 64 credit hours, respectively, in science and engineering, corresponding to roughly 23 and 21 courses.
For both elementary and secondary teachers, more than three-quarters of the science and engineering credit hours came from outside the School of Education. The analysis of the preparation of teachers in New York City public schools Grossman et al. The surveys included items about preparation in science for elementary teachers and middle and high school science teachers. The survey of first-year teachers in New York City included some questions about their preparation in science. The teachers were asked about the extent to which their teacher preparation program gave them the opportunity to do and learn a variety of things, such as hands-on activities for teaching scientific concepts.
They rated their opportunities on a 5-point scale, with 1 being no opportunity and 5 being extensive opportunity. Although the survey was small in scale, it does suggest that New York City teachers who graduated recently from a teacher education program do not report extensive exposure to the elements advocated by the science education community.
Despite these hints, we do not have the information that would be needed to draw conclusions regarding the types of instruction and experiences that aspiring science teachers receive in teacher education programs. Therefore, we cannot tell how consistently teacher preparation programs in science draw on the converging scientific evidence regarding the teaching of science. In our review of the literature pertaining to the preparation of science teachers we found some intriguing research, most of it carried out on tightly focused topics and on a small scale, and a compelling logical case for an integrated approach to science education—one that incorporates factual knowledge, scientific inquiry, and the nature of science.
Samples include only teachers with or more known credit hours in university-designated courses taken in Florida public community colleges and universities prior to their first year of teaching in Florida public schools. No data are available for teachers certified in physics. Mean Response on Scale a. Learn how to facilitate student learning in small groups, such as laboratory groups. Results are for teachers who attended an undergraduate teacher preparation program. See Grossman and colleagues for data on teachers who followed other pathways. Advancing high-quality science instruction that supports student understanding across the strands of science proficiency will require teachers and schools to take action to improve teacher knowledge and practice, support and focus instruction in productive directions, and build systems that measure and sustain ongoing improvement in teaching and learning.
Research can guide practice to some extent, although important questions require additional research. Researchers have identified, in general terms, what expert teachers know about their discipline, how to teach it, and, to a lesser extent, what they understand about student learning. Empirical links between what teachers know and student learning, however, are emergent and can be complicated to establish.
As research advances in this area, more precise definitions are needed of the knowledge that is necessary for teaching and the aspects of knowledge that provide the greatest student learning return. With this understanding in hand, educators will be better positioned to craft teacher credentialing policy and design teacher learning experiences.
There is broad agreement that well-designed opportunities for teacher learning can produce desirable changes in instructional practice and improved science learning for students. Furthermore, research has identified features of quality teacher learning opportunities that can be realized through a diverse array of organizational structures mentoring and coaching, teacher work groups, expert- and teacher-led programs of professional development combined with distinct learning outcomes topic-specific learning strategies, conducting and teaching inquiry science, conducting science discussions, analyzing student work, planning instruction.
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Although there is abundant evidence to support subject-specific teacher learning opportunities, the comparative advantages of one approach or another are not clear. There may be unique learning potential or capacity to influence practice that arises in teacher work groups, or programs that focus on analyzing student work, for example.
Future research will need to examine the potential and comparative advantage of distinct approaches. Given the consensus view that teacher learning should be framed in the context of the science that teachers actually teach, approaches should probably be considered in light of local resources and constraints. For example, given the dearth of K-5 teachers who specialize in science, most elementary schools will benefit from the participation of qualified expert teachers and other science teacher educators.
It may be some time before schools have and can use a comprehensive K-8 or K learning progression like that described in Chapter 7 as the basis of curriculum. However, they can begin to make important steps in that direction by carefully selecting and modifying curricular materials so that they present central scientific ideas across grades.
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Evidence is one of several pieces of information that can inform a teacher to make decisions
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This is necessary preparation for graduating teachers to be able to justify professional decisions they will make in the classroom. An ideal situation is one in which teachers can make and use appropriate interpretations of evidence from accessible research, where their interpretations are consistent with our best theories of learning and teaching mechanisms and theoretical frameworks , to make appropriate decisions about practices that will achieve desirable outcomes for their diverse groups of students in the contexts in which they are teaching. Professional development workshops and conferences, teacher networks, associations, and magazines might all be avenues for teachers to access and evaluate research and evidence.
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