Effecting Change at School and District Levels
It can be a challenge for a regular classroom teacher to change or improve the science program in a school and/or district. I currently work for a K – 5 charter school where our administration pre-determines our curriculum based on the standards set forth by the state. Unfortunately, science is not tested by the state until fifth grade while testing for both math and reading begin in the third grade. Students in grades three and four, who we consider “at-risk” for passing their state assessments in math and reading, generally receive extra instruction in these areas which dramatically reduces the amount of time they receive science instruction. This poses an additional challenge for our fifth grade science teacher who has to prepare all of our fifth graders for their state assessment in science, which measures everything they should have learned in grades three through five. Without a solid basis in science during grades three and four, it only makes sense that many of our students do not pass their state assessment in science each year.
During staff meetings and professional development days, I often bring up the topic of improving our science curriculum. The response I typically receive from my administration is that our students need a stronger background in reading and math before we extend our focus on science instruction. We are encouraged to integrate some state science standards into our math and reading lessons but only on a limited basis. Our reading teachers are instructed to incorporate some science related passages into their reading curriculum and our math teachers are asked to incorporate data collection and analysis whenever possible. Although our fifth graders generally receive about fifty minutes of science instruction each day, the rest of our students receive dramatically less. Needless to say, I feel this is doing a disservice to our students.
I am curious what other suggestions or comments anyone can share that will assist me in getting my school’s administration to understand the importance of improving the quality of our science instruction.
Andrew,
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately, I do not have any compelling suggestions on how to get administration on board to improve science instruction, as I feel I am in the exact same situation in my own district. Students enter my sixth grade classroom after having science for only thirty-minutes twice a week for the past five years. I feel that I must start from square one with these students as the standards they were to cover are not met.
My thought has always been that we read to gain knowledge and write to express knowledge. Why then are the topics of science and social studies not CONSISTENTLY integrated into reading and writing. I understand the need for fictional reading and writing, but the last time I checked their aren't many paying jobs for reading the Harry Potter series or writing acrostic poetry. Reading, writing, and math are skills. It is the topics of science, engineering, and social studies that these skills are put to use
Best of luck in your district and keep up the great work informing others of the importance of science education.