In the climate of standards-based instruction and accountability, scaling up educational innovations is necessary to bring about system-wide improvements. As a result of fundamental tensions involving effective educational policies and practices for diverse student groups, scaling up is especially challenging in multilingual, multicultural, and inner-city settings. In this article, grounded in the instructional congruence framework, the authors highlight the challenges facing schools and teachers in articulating science disciplines with nonmainstream students’ linguistic and cultural experiences while also promoting English language and literacy. Rigorous attention to such challenges is needed to make scaling up of educational interventions more effective and to answer the question of what constitutes “best policies and practices” for diverse student groups.

This study examined the impact of a professional development intervention aimed at helping elementary teachers incorporate elements of students' home language and culture into science instruction. The intervention consisted of instructional units and materials and teacher workshops. The research involved 43 third-and fourth-grade teachers at six elementary schools in a large urban school district. These teachers participated in the intervention for 2 consecutive years. The study was conducted using both quantitative and qualitative methods based on focus group interviews, a questionnaire, and classroom observations. The results indicate that as teachers began their participation in the intervention, they rarely incorporated students' home language or culture into science instruction. During the 2-year period of the intervention, teachers' beliefs and practices remained relatively stable and did not show significant change. Possible explanations for the limited effectiveness of the intervention are addressed, and implications for professional development efforts are discussed. ß

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The achievement gaps in science and the under-representation of minorities in science-related fields have long been a concern of the nation. This book examines the roots of this problem by providing a comprehensive, 'state of the field' analysis and synthesis of current research on science education for minority students. Research from a range of theoretical and methodological perspectives is brought to bear on the question of how and why our nation's schools have failed to provide equitable learning opportunities with all students in science education. From this wealth of investigative data, the authors propose a research agenda for the field of science education - identifying strengths and weaknesses in the literature to date as well as the most urgent priorities for those committed to the goals of equity and excellence in science education.

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