Student Achievement Through Active Science Learning

Dr. Michael Klentschy, SuperintendentEl Centro School District

El Centro, California

A Field Trip to El Centro, California

Valle Valle Imperial Imperial Project in Project in Science Science

Imperial Valley Imperial Valley

Science ProjectScience Project

In partnership with

Case Study Critical Questions

What is the context?

What is the infrastructure?

What is the evidence?

What are the implications?

Context

Need

Our Region

Our Community

Our Students

Where is El Centro?

El Centro

Our Community and StudentsIn Imperial County Mean income $16,322 Poorest of all 58 counties

in California 30% unemployment rate 22,500 students in 14 Districts

In El Centro

6,500 K-8 students11 Title I, School-wide Project Schools77% Free/Reduced Lunch61% English Language Learners10% Migrant81% Hispanic, 12% Caucasian, 4% African-American, 3% Asian

Five Critical Elements for Reform

High Quality CurriculumSustained Professional DevelopmentMaterials SupportAdministrative and Community SupportAssessment and Evaluation

VValle alle IImperial mperial PProject roject inin SSciencecience

High Quality Curriculum Developmentally Appropriate Researched Based Leads to a “big idea” in Science Balanced

-Physical-Earth-Life

3-4 Units Per Year

High Quality Curriculum Middle School

High Quality Curriculum

Provides Opportunities to:ExploreInvestigateInquireQuestionTest HypothesisCollect DataAnalyze Data

Sustained Professional Development University Level - Preservice School District Level-Inservice

Initial TrainingAdvanced TrainingLesson Study GroupsInstitutesDebriefing

In-classroom Support Leadership Advanced Degrees

Set Goals Plan Do Reflect

ContextCriticalIssues

Knowledge& Beliefs

15Strategies

Professional Development Design

Loucks-Horsley (1998)

Sustained Professional Development

School-Based Professional Development

Lesson Study Focus on lesson

• Design• Implementation• Content• Culture

School District Level In-Service Lesson Lab

Lessonlab/Lesson Study Reflective Teaching Practices

School District Level Inservice Leadership Training

Materials Support SMRC VIPS Offices Training Center Materials Center

Materials Support Training Center

-University Classes

-District Inservice

Materials Support Materials Center

-Order

-Manufacture

-Inventory

-Refurbish

-Deliver Cost Sharing

Materials Support Materials Center Staffing

• Director• 2 Media Technicians• Administrative Clerk

Administrative and Community Support Vertical Team Administrative Training Science Volunteers Parent Education Periodicals

Administrative and Community Support• Vertical Team

• Superintendents• Central Office

• Curriculum and Instruction• Business Services

• Principals• Science Director• Business and Industry• University

• Decisions by Consensus

Administrative and Community Support

Administrator Training

-Content

-Pedagogy

-Classroom Supervision

-Teacher Evaluation

-Assessment

Administrative and Community Support Volunteer Scientists

• Recruitment Strategies

Administrative and Community Support Volunteer Scientists in El Centro come from

• Cal Tech• Agriculture• Veterinarians• Pharmacists• El Centro Regional Medical Center• San Diego State University• University of California• Water and Power Company• El Centro Naval Air Station• Union Pacific Mining

Administrative and Community Support Science Volunteers

• Training

Administrative and Community Support Periodicals

Administrative and Community Support Parent Education

• Family Science Nights School Board Meetings

Assessment and Evaluation

Performance Tasks/Products Standardized Tests Notebooks

Evidence

SAT 9 TIMSS Released Science Science-Literacy Connections Science-Mathematics Connections

Assessment and Evaluation Stanford Achievement Test: Science Scores

1998-99 NPR

Gr4 Gr6

# Tested 630 638

Mean NPR 36 40

Participating 43 49

n=393 n=358

Non-Participating 25 31

n=237 n=280

Assessment and Evaluation Stanford Achievement Test: Science Scores

1998-99 NPR - Sorted by Years in ProgramYears Gr4 Gr6CUM 36 40

0 21 27n=137 n=174

1 32 32n =150 n=121

2 38 42n=141 n=132

3 47 50n=111 n=107

4 53 64n=91 n=104

Student AchievementScience Raw Scores By English Proficiency Grade 4 - 1999

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

Year 0 Year 1 Year 2 Year 3 Year 4

Limited Proficiency English Fluent 50th %ile

Student AchievementScience Raw Scores By English Langugage Proficiency

6th Grade 1999

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

Year 0 Year 1 Year 2 Year 3 Year 4

Limited English Proficiency English Fluent

Assessment and Evaluation TIMSS Released Multiple Choice: Science Scores

2000-2001 Mean Raw Scores- Sorted by Years in Program

Years Gr7 Gr8 Gr7/8CUM 9.4 11.1 10.2

0 8.7 10.0 9.5n=48 n=107 n=155

1 8.9 10.5 9.7n =136 n=103 n=239

2 9.0 10.7 9.8n=168 n=112 n=280

3 10.4 11.1 10.7n=125 n=90 n=215

4 11.0 13.3 12.7n=84 n=93 n=177

p<.023 p<.001 p<.01

Assessment and Evaluation TIMSS Released Multiple Choice: Science Scores

2000-2001 Mean Raw Scores- Sorted by Units Completed

Grade 7 Mean SD

High (4+ units) 10.335 3.998Low (3 or less units) 8.892 3.435

p<.001

Grade 8

High (4+ units) 12.137 4.319Low (3 or less units) 10.558 3.551

p<.001

0.00%

2.00%

4.00%

6.00%

8.00%

10.00%

12.00%

14.00%

2000 2001 2002 2003 2004Imperial County

California

UC Eligibility Rate for Underrepresented Students

For additional information on this research

http://brj.asu.edu/content/vol26_no2/pdf/ART2.PDF

Amaral, O., Garrison, L. and Klentschy, M. (Summer 2002). Helping english learners increase achievement through inquiry-based science instruction. Bilingual Research Journal, 26:2, 213-239.

A Model of Student Cognitive Processes (Glynn and Muth)

Perception of Science Phenomena

Working Memory

Learning Science

Science Knowledge

Science Process skills

Reading Skills

Writing Skills

Long Term Memory

Metacognition

Speaking/ Listening

Construction Construction

Science/Literacy

Chapter 10Focus on:- Coherence- Context- “Real World”

Experiences

Coherent Instruction…

is teaching that connects. It connects the student’s reading skills to writing. It connects reading and writing to content. It links content learning to student interests. Coherent teaching makes it easy for students to learn because it combines the strange-new with the familiar-old. When the classroom is coherent, teachers help students make connections among reading, writing and content.

(Guthrie, 2000)

Evidence from Imperial County, California Stanford Achievement Test: Reading Scores

1998-99 NPR – Grade 4 Sorted by Years in ProgramYears LEP EOCUM = 33

0 21 30

1 22 39

2 39 51

3 34 57

4 49 64

Evidence from Imperial County, California Stanford Achievement Test: Reading Scores

1998-99 NPR – Grade 6 Sorted by Years in Program

Years LEP EOCUM = 40

0 23 38

1 28 42

2 34 46

3 35 56

4 51 69

Evidence from Fresno, California Stanford Achievement Test: Reading Scores

Study found that students who received 4 years of exposure to a systemic science program (1998-2001) scored significantly higher on the SAT 9 Reading subtest compared to students who did not receive the science instruction

Opportunity to learn in the systemic science program produced achievement results that closed the reading achievement gap between ethnic groups

In all cases, a positive relationship was found between the number of years of participation in the systemic science program and SAT 9 Reading Score gains

Evidence from Dade County, Florida Stanford Achievement Test: Reading Scores 1996

Study found that students ( n = 2420) in grades 3 and 5 who received instruction in a systemic science program (1996) scored significantly higher (10 percentile points in both grade levels) on the SAT 9 Reading subtest compared to students (n = 4145) who did not receive the systemic science instruction.

The same students also scored significantly higher (11 and 14 percentile points) in Mathematics Application on the

same SAT 9 test.

Science - Literacy Notebooks

Things to Consider About Notebooks

Best Record of Lesson/Unit Implementation Student Performance

Quality of communicationConceptual and/or procedural understanding

Teacher Feedback

Ruiz-Primo, Li and Shavelson, 2002, Looking Into Student Science Notebooks: What Do Teachers Do With Them? CRESST Technical Report 562.

Additional Things to Consider About Science Notebooks Writing may enhance thinking Writing demands the learner to

organize knowledge link evidence to claims draw conclusions

Transfer effect to student achievement Opportunity for “student voice”

Klentschy, M. and Molina-De La Torre, E. (2004). Students’ science notebooks and the inquiry process. In W. Saul (Ed.). Crossing Borders in Literacy and Science Instruction: Perspectives on Theory and Practice. Newark, DE: International Reading Association Press.

What Others Have to Say

“Writing provides a status of our thoughts and forces us to grapple with what we know and what we don’t know.”

Santa and Havens (1991)

“If you cannot – in the long run – tell someone what you have been doing, your doing has been worthless.”

Nobel laureate Edwin Schrodinger (1951)

What should a science notebook contain?

Components and Criteria Question/Problem/Purpose Prediction Planning Data/Observations

Claims and evidence What have you learned? Next steps/New questions

What have I learned?

Stages of Teacher Development - 1

Stages of Teacher Development - 2

Stages of Teacher Development - 3

Stages of Teacher Development - 4

Stages of Teacher Development - 5

Getting Started

Today I (or we) __________________

(description of activity) Today I learned__________________ I noticed________________________ I wonder________________________ Questions I have now______________

For additional writing stems visit www.vipsscience.com

Science – Literacy ConnectionsImperial County, CA

District Writing Proficiency

Grade 6

Spring 1999 Results

Cumulative Pass 64%n=636

Participating Classes82%n=357

Non Participating Classes 41%n=279

Science – Literacy ConnectionsImperial County, CA

District Writing Proficiency

Grade 6 Spring 1999

Cumulative Pass 64% n=636

Years %Pass n0 23% 174

1 68% 119

2 71% 132

3 90% 107

4 89% 104

Implications

Project design which is data driven

Project design which develops a local and regional K-16 collaborative partnership between districts, business, volunteer scientists and the university

Project design resulted in improved student achievement in science and other core areas of the curriculum

This work is supported, in part, by National Science Foundation Grant #ESI-9731274. The opinions expressed in this work are those of the authors and not necessarily those of the National Science Foundation.