Improving science achievement at high-poverty urban middle schools

Abstract

A large percentage of U.S. students attending high-poverty urban middle schools achieve low levels of science proficiency, posing significant challenges to their success in high school science and to national and local efforts to reform science education. Through its work in Philadelphia schools, the Center for Social Organization of Schools at Johns Hopkins University developed a teacher-support model to address variation in science curricula, lack of materials, and underprepared teachers that combined with initial low levels of proficiency block improvements in science achievement. The model includes a common science curriculum based on NSF-supported materials commercially available, ongoing teacher professional development built around day-to-day lessons, and regular inclass support of teachers by expert peer coaches. One cohort of students at three Philadelphia middle schools using the model was followed from the end of fourth grade through seventh grade. Their gains in science achievement and achievement levels were substantially greater than students at 3 matched control schools and the 23 district middle schools serving a similar student population. Under school-by-school comparisons, these results held for the two schools with adequate implementation. Using widely available materials and techniques, the model can be adopted and modified by school partners and districts.

Effective Science Instruction: Impact on High-Stakes Assessment Performance

“…Motivation to engage students in authentic science was a key factor in effective teachers' pedagogy (Johnson, 2009(Johnson, , 2006Keys & Bryan, 2000). It is clear from the literature, and also supported by findings from this study, that science teacher professional development is needed to change teacher beliefs about pedagogy and to support teachers as they make the transition from teachercentered to student-centered, contextualized, reformbased classrooms (Johnson, 2006(Johnson, , 2009Keys & Bryan, 2000;Ruby, 2006).…”

“…The transformation of science instructional environments to a more inquiry-based, studentcentered approach could enable many more students from all backgrounds to develop the rich science background that is often lacking (Ruby, 2006;Kahle et al, 2000). This transformation may translate into not only enhanced science performance for students but also an increased interest in STEM fields and more students who are better prepared to lead the 21st-century workforce.…”

“…Overall, results have been mixed, as some have found little to no difference longitudinally (Shymansky, Yore, & Anderson, 2004), and others have demonstrated gains on pre/ post assessments and annual state assessments during the duration of professional development programs (Czerniak, Beltyukova, Struble, Haney, & Lumpe, 2005;Johnson, Kahle, & Fargo, 2007a;Kahle, Meece, & Scantlebury, 2000;Ruby, 2006). Currently, a dearth remains in the science education literature on long-term performance for students who experience effective science learning environments including the use of contextualized instruction, inquiry, questioning, and cooperative learning as main foci.…”

Urban School Reform Enabled by Transformative Professional Development: Impact on Teacher Change and Student Learning of Science

“…Urban schools face unique challenges that other schools may not experience in terms of resources, school climate, variation in teacher quality, leadership, and student achievement (Johnson, Kahle, & Fargo, 2007a;Ruby, 2006). In many cases, urban teachers are forced to rely on teacher-centered instruction to survive, covering their own grade-level material with little or no time for remediation or differentiation.…”

“It depends on what science teacher you got”: urban science self-efficacy from teacher and student voices

“…Roughly 40% of middle school Hispanic students are performing below grade level in science (National Center for Educational Statistics 2006). Many of the nation's urban schools serving high poverty and high minority populations therefore face great challenges due to characteristics concerning the neighborhood, student background, lack of teacher preparation, and depleted or nonexistent learning materials (Ruby 2006). Ineffective science instruction can make learning extremely challenging, and often, lower achieving students have the least effective teachers (Lynch et al 2005).…”