Implementing and sustaining science curriculum reform: A study of leadership practices among teachers within a high school science department

Abstract

This study presents a description and analysis of a ninth‐grade integrated science curriculum developed and implemented by teachers within a high school science department and subsequently sustained for over 25 years. The Integrated Science Program (ISP) at Lakeside Southwest High School depicted here offers a unique example of longitudinal science education reform. In this study, we examined ISP as an artifact of teacher leadership. Findings affirmed the importance of shared philosophical purpose among teachers, attention to public perceptions, staff stability, the distribution of responsibilities, and instructional coherence. This study also demonstrated how curricular reforms might change over time in response to contextual pressures as was the case with the equity challenges faced by the current teachers of ISP. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 46: 813–835, 2009

Toward Integrating Nanotechnology in the K-12 Science Curriculum: A Note of Hope in the State of the Union

“…Courageous and dedicated high school science teachers have in some cases done it on their own: as early as 2000, chemistry teachers at a high school in Wisconsin working toward an integrated science curriculum dropped some of their "foundational topics" and added a unit on nanotechnology [12].…”

“…Moreover, a teacher-driven integrated science program (ISP) that has sustained itself for more than two decades successfully added a unit on nanotechnology to the 9 th -grade curriculum in chemistry as early as 2000 [12]. This fascinating change in course content emerged when the teachers realized that the ISP was working so effectively that they could afford to drop "some foundational topics" in favor of the new technology [12].…”

“…This fascinating change in course content emerged when the teachers realized that the ISP was working so effectively that they could afford to drop "some foundational topics" in favor of the new technology [12]. In their study, Larkin et al (2008) attributed the longevity and prosperity of this instance of curricular reform to teacher leadership-the key ingredient in any attempt to transform the classroom [12].…”

Being professional: accountability and authority in teachers’ responses to science curriculum reform

“…Melville, 2008, Rigano andRitchie, 2003), often with an emphasis on leadership practices (e.g. Larkin et al, 2009, Melville et al, 2011) H response; as constituted through social interactions.…”

Resisting the marginalization of science in an urban school: Coactivating social, cultural, material, and strategic resources

“…Later documents described benchmarks or standards students should meet by certain grade‐levels (American Association for the Advancement of Science, 1993; National Research Council, 1996). Yet, feminist, critical, multicultural, and social justice critiques assert that standards fail to articulate how to achieve science for all (Calabrese Barton & Osborne, 2001; Eisenhart, Finkel, & Marion, 1996; Lee & Fradd, 1998; Rodriguez, 1997; Stanley & Brickhouse, 2001). Thus, science for all may become a politically correct way of claiming inclusiveness without challenging deep‐seated beliefs about science or science education practices, especially for children whose race, gender, ethnicity, language, culture, or class positions them outside the borders of mainstream science or society (Calabrese Barton, 1998; Costa, 1995).…”