Schema for Professional Development to Implement the Framework and NGSSBCSSE Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania June 7, 2013Presenters: Juan-Carlos Aguilar, Georgia Department of Education Sam Shaw, South Dakota Department of EducationBrett Moulding, Utah Partnership for Effective Science Teaching and Learning

Systems and System Models

Effective professional development operates as part of the education system.

Educators must develop a clear understanding of how the new vision for science education will operate in the existing education system before fully accepting the changes.

What are the elements of the system that can be drafted to deliver the professional development teachers need to implement the vision from the Framework?

Change and Stability

“The current reform effort requires a substantive change in how science is taught; an equally substantive change is needed in professional development practices.”NSES 1996

What changes are needed in teacher knowledge to implement the vision described in the Framework?

What changes in professional development are necessary to prepare teachers to create classrooms where student learning meets the standards?

Cause and Effect

“Alignment of teacher preparation and professional development with the vision of science education advanced in this Framework is essential for eventual wide-spread implementation of the type of instruction that will be needed for students to achieve the standards based on it. “

Framework Page 256

Framework

Ultimately, the interactions between teachers and students in individual classrooms are the determining factor in whether students learn science successfully.

Teachers are the linchpin in any effort to change K-12 science education. It stands to reason that in order to support implementation of the new standards and the curricula designed to achieve them, the initial preparation and professional development of teachers of science will need to change.

Schools, districts, institutions of higher education, state agencies, and other entities recruit, prepare, license, and evaluate teachers and provide an array of opportunities for their continued professional learning. A coherent approach to implementing standards would require all of these entities to work toward common goals and to evaluate the effectiveness of their requirements, procedures, teaching experiences, and courses in supporting the desired approaches.

Framework page 255

Framework

“Explicit standards for teaching, professional development, education programs, and the education system were included in the original National Science Education Standards (NSES) published by the NRC in 1996 [7].

Although many of these standards are still relevant to K-12 science education today, the committee did not undertake a thorough review of these portions of the NSES.”

Framework Page 242

NSES Professional Development Standards

STANDARD A: Professional development for teachers of science requires learning essential science content through the perspectives and methods of inquiry.

STANDARD B: Professional development for teachers of science requires integrating knowledge of science, learning, pedagogy, and students; it also requires applying that knowledge to science teaching.

STANDARD C: Professional development for teachers of science requires building understanding and ability for lifelong learning.

STANDARD D: Professional development programs for teachers of science must be coherent and integrated.

STANDARD A: Professional development for teachers of science requires learning essential science content through the perspectives and methods of inquiry. Science learning experiences for teachers must:

Involve teachers in actively investigating phenomena that can be studied scientifically, interpreting results, and making sense of findings consistent with currently accepted scientific understanding. Address issues, events, problems, or topics significant in science and of interest to participants.

Introduce teachers to scientific literature, media, and technological resources that expand their science knowledge and their ability to access further knowledge.

Build on the teacher’s current science understanding, ability, and attitudes.

Incorporate ongoing reflection on the process and outcomes of understanding science through inquiry.

Encourage and support teachers in efforts to collaborate.

NSES Page 59

STANDARD B: Professional development for teachers of science requires integrating knowledge of science, learning, pedagogy, and students; it also requires applying that knowledge to science teaching. Learning experiences for teachers of science must:

Connect and integrate all pertinent aspects of science and science education.

Occur in a variety of places where effective science teaching can be illustrated and modeled, permitting teachers to struggle with real situations and expand their knowledge and skills in appropriate contexts.

Address teachers’ needs as learners and build on their current knowledge of science content, teaching, and learning.

Use inquiry, reflection, interpretation of research, modeling, and guided practice to build understanding and skill in science teaching.

NSES Page 62

STANDARD C: Professional development for teachers of science requires building understanding and ability for lifelong learning. Professional development activities must:

Provide regular, frequent opportunities for individual and collegial examination and reflection on classroom and institutional practice.

Provide opportunities for teachers to receive feedback about their teaching and to understand, analyze, and apply that feedback to improve their practice.

Provide opportunities for teachers to learn and use various tools and techniques for self-reflection and collegial reflection, such as peer coaching, portfolios, and journals.

Support the sharing of teacher expertise by preparing and using mentors, teacher advisers, coaches, lead teachers, and resource teachers to provide professional development opportunities.

Provide opportunities to know and have access to existing research and experiential knowledge.

Provide opportunities to learn and use the skills of research to generate new knowledge about science and the teaching and learning of science.

STANDARD D: Professional development programs for teachers of science must be coherent and integrated. Quality pre-service and in-service programs are characterized by:

Clear, shared goals based on a vision of science learning, teaching, and teacher development congruent with the National Science Education Standards.

Integration and coordination of the program components so that understanding and ability can be built over time, reinforced continuously, and practiced in a variety of situations.

Options that recognize the developmental nature of teacher professional growth and individual and group interests, as well as the needs of teachers who have varying degrees of experience, professional expertise, and proficiency.

Collaboration among the people involved in programs, including teachers, teacher educators, teacher unions, scientists, administrators, policy makers, members of professional and scientific organizations, parents, and business people, with clear respect for the perspectives and expertise of each.

Recognition of the history, culture, and organization of the school environment.

Continuous program assessment that captures the perspectives of all those involved, uses a variety of strategies, focuses on the process and effects of the program, and feeds directly into program improvement and evaluation. NSES page 70

Cause and EffectProfessional Development is

Critical

Hawley and Rosenholtz (1984) concluded that, ``In virtually every instance in which researchers have examined the factors that account for student performance, teachers prove to have a greater impact than programs. This is true for average students and exceptional students, for normal classrooms and special classrooms.''

Immersion

First, high quality professional development must immerse participants in inquiry, questioning, and experimentation and therefore model inquiry forms of teaching (Arons, 1989; McDermott, 1990; Bybee, 1993). Little (1993) argues that these reforms ``constitute a departure from canonical views of curriculum and from textbook-centered or recitation-style teaching'' and represent ``a substantial departure from teachers' prior experience'' (p. 130). Marek and Methaven (1991) found that the programs that model scientific reasoning have a greater influence on student achievement than did programs that taught teachers to use specific curricula.

Intensive and Sustained

Second, professional development must be both intensive and sustained (Smylie, Bilcer, Greenberg, & Harris, 1998; Hawley & Valli, 1999). The National Science Education Standards (NRC, 1996) call for more long-term, coherent professional development plans.

Connected Instructional Practices

Third, staff development must engage teachers in concrete teaching tasks and be based on teachers' experiences with students (Darling-Hammond & McLaughlin, 1995). Studies have shown that staff development undertaken in isolation from teachers' ongoing classroom duties seldom have much impact on teaching practices or student achievement (Zigarmi, Betz, & Jennings, 1977).

Connected to Subject Matter Knowledge

Additionally, professional development must focus on subject-matter knowledge and deepen teachers' content skills (Cohen & Hill, 1998).

Connected to Standards

Fifth, professional development must be grounded in a common set of professional development standards and show teachers how to connect their work to specific standards for student performance (NRC, 1996; Hawley & Valli, 1999). Work in cognitive development suggests that more complex knowledge and problem-solving skills require more sophisticated teaching strategies (Borko & Putnam, 1995), and that this kind of teaching can be achieved through setting higher learning goals (Resnick & Klopfer, 1989).

One of the major findings from the Third International Mathematics and Science Study is that common, high standards are strongly related to national achievement (Schmidt, 1999).

Professional Development Models

South Dakota

Georgia

PESTL

Role of Informal Science Education

South Dakota Science Academies

Outcome: Participants will develop an understanding of a new vision for science education consistent with the student performances described in the Framework for K-12 Science Education and the Next Generation Science Standards.

*This vision is truly a new system, as it functions differently than our existing system.”

Framework pg. 98

South Dakota Science Academies

What is a student science performance?

How can teachers use instructional strategies to engage students in science performances?

“Examine in detail what (the system) is made of and the shape of its parts.” “In building something… apply relationships of structure and function as critical elements of successful designs.”

Framework pg. 98

Structure and FunctionProgression within the

Framework: Examine the relationship between structure and function within a new

system.

The “Vision” presented in the Framework is a complex new system. The South Dakota professional development began by allowing participants to investigate accessible models of instructional shifts.

Engage complex tasks and explain the connection between the parts of the system and how they function.

The professional development engages participants in performances that include the three dimensions. The performances are designed to engage participants in complex tasks to explore the connections between the three dimensions.

Visualize, model, and apply their understanding of structure and function in performance-based situations.

Participants reflect on the performances and instructional design through conceptual models, drawings, written reflection, discussion, and relating concepts to their own classroom.

South Dakota

Next Steps

Georgia’s Professional Development Model

Provides Georgia’s science teachers with the tools necessary to implement the vision of the K-12 Framework for Science Education by:• Engaging teachers in experiences that deepen their

understanding of the science and engineering practices, crosscutting concepts, and core disciplinary ideas.

• Providing teachers with background information that will help them understand the initial ideas students bring to school.

• Strengthening teachers’ science-specific pedagogical content knowledge.

Georgia’s Professional Development Delivery Mechanism

Delivery Mechanisms

• One and two-day workshops for small groups of teachers at 16 Regional Education Service Agencies.

• Three-day grade-band and subject specific professional development workshops.

• Seminar series (face to face and via webinars) for teacher mentors to provide targeted support for “Identified Schools and Systems.”

• Professional Development seminars around teacher developed instructional resources (units, lesson, and frameworks) to support teacher implementation of instructional strategies aligned to the vision of the Framework.

Timeline for Georgia’s Professional Development Model

• May 2013 – August 2014

• Develop and test professional development modules K-6

• Teacher workshops to develop lessons that incorporate the 3-D model based on lessons teachers are currently using

• September 2014 – May 2016

• Develop and test professional development modules for high school

• Professional Development at all Regional Education Service Agencies

• Develop science teacher mentor groups to support teachers at school and classroom levels

• Online professional development

PESTL

Utah Partnership for Effective Science Teaching and Learning

Sustained Professional Development Three years Multiple activities each year

Summer Seminars Content Courses Instructional Alignment Professional Learning Communities

Consistent and focused professional development Addresses three dimensions of Science Focus on Instructional Strategies

Professional Teachers Modeling of Instructional Practices Deepen Teacher Science Knowledge

Matter and Energy

Student Science

Performances

Summer Seminars

Instruction Alignment

s

School PLCs

Content Courses

Patterns

Changes in instructional practices were not found to be significant until year two.

Engaging teachers in small groups for discussion makes a difference in depth of knowledge.

Changes to instructional practices persist beyond three year PD window for teachers who fully engaged in PESTL.

Teachers enjoyment of science is a major contributor to science instructional time.

A new vision for teaching and learning science takes time to become part of the classroom practice.

Scale

These PDs are operating at different scales.

What is the scale (e.g., time, number of systems, numbers of teachers) of the PD your state is working to implement?

Informal Science Education Role

The role of informal science education is critical.

“To provide meaningful science experiences for students, educators need quality science experiences themselves from which to draw. Informal learning contexts, such as museums, are well positioned to provide educators with these professional development experiences.” (L. M. Melber , A. M. Cox-Petersen 2005)

Coherence across multiple programs may be one way to develop more sustained professional development from informal science education providers.

Model

Student Performan

ces Professional

Development

Science and

Engineering

Practices

Crosscutting Concepts

Disciplinary Core Ideas

Discussion

Thank you

Reference

National Research Council. (1996). National Science Education Standards. National Committee for Science Education Standards and Assessment. Washington, DC: National Academy Press.

National Research Council. (2012). A Framework for K-12 Science Education: Practices, Crosscutting Concepts, and Core Ideas. Committee on a Conceptual Framework for New K-12 Science Education Standards. Board on Science Education, Division of Behavioral and Social Sciences and Education. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press.

National Research Council. The Role of Scientists in the Professional Development of Science Teachers, Committee on Biology Teacher Inservice Programs, National Research Council, Washington, DC. National Academy Press.

Melber, L.M. Cox-Petersen, A. M.,(2995) Teacher Professional Development and Informal Learning Environments: Investigating Partnerships and Possibilities, Journal of Science Teacher Education.

Supovitz, J.M., and Turner, H.M. (2000). The effects of professional development on science teaching practices and classroom culture. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 37(9), 963-980.