| The
goal of the Capital Region's Science Education
Partnership LSC Project is to provide professional
development for science teachers that expands and
deepens their content and pedagogical knowledge.
The primary focus of this professional development is
assessment in the service of teaching (Wiggins and
McTighe 1998). This innovative approach will also
develop
district and school cultures that will sustain
K-8 science teachers as they strengthen their teaching practices
to enable all students to meet state and national science
standards.
 The
rationale for choosing to focus on grades K-8 was
influenced by two overriding factors. The
first, that by establishing a solid foundation for
excellence in science teaching at the elementary and
intermediate levels, students will achieve the
benchmarks of science
knowledge and understanding that are requisite for
achieving standards at the commencement level.
Secondly,
the new high stakes
New York State Science assessments offer a perfect
opportunity to align Local Systemic Reform with
accountability in a standards-based curriculum.
What
CRSEP has to offer to participating districts:
- Quality
workshops presented by professional Development
Specialists who are teachers on special assignment
from the participating districts for the duration of
the grant, SUNY Graduate Assistants, and
Professional Development Associates identified at
the district level
- Overview
of the Science and Technology for Children
program and STC materials management
- Assistance
in identifying STC Life Science, Earth Science and
Physical Science units to pilot
- Development
of criteria to evaluate STC pilot units
- Introduction
to each of the STC units
- ESPET
and Intermediate Awareness Workshops to familiarize all
teachers K-3 and 5-7 of the skills necessary to
be successful on NYSED exams and identify where
those skills are introduced and reinforced
- An
opportunity to engage teachers in a deeper
understanding of how the standards relate to student
achievement, assessment, and student learning
- An
opportunity for teachers to look for and identify
their own misconceptions, as well as how to analyze
students' responses for evidence of misunderstanding
- Assistance
in data analysis of the ESPET and Intermediate
Science exams to identify trends and patterns at the
district level
- Active
involvement of teachers in designing and
implementing their own professional development
- Skills
to design a sustaining process to facilitate
continued growth
What
teachers will gain:
- A
deeper knowledge of the content in the STC units
through concept maps developed by the CRSEP project
- A
relationship between the content in the STC units
and the NYSED Standards
- Strategies
for analyzing the alignment of Local program goals
with State Standards
- Information
to identify gaps in the science program by using
data to drive curriculum evaluation and to support
further curriculum development
- Knowledge
to align classroom practices with NYSED standards by
designing assessment tasks and performance
expectations based on what students are expected to
learn
- Improved
ability to design assessment tasks and performance
expectations aligned with the National Science
Education Standards, the Science Standards contained
in the New York State mathematics, Science and
Technology Learning Standards, and the goals of
the Science and Technology for Children
program and intermediate level science curricula
- Improved
ability to use performance expectations to plan
instruction
- Skills
necessary to use data from the administration of the
assessment tasks to monitor student progress and
plan future instruction
- Development
of content knowledge in the context of the analysis
of the standards
- Development
of content knowledge embedded in professional
development
|
