Curriculum Reform and Professional Development in San Diego City Schools

Abstract

In the spring of 2001, the San Diego City Schools (SDCS) initiated a science reform program that involved several significant changes. The first was to resequence the science courses to have students take physics first (in ninth grade), followed by chemistry, then biology. Second was a change in the students' high school graduation requirement to specifically name physics, chemistry, and biology as being required. Physics is now required for all freshmen in 18 SDCS high schools. These new regulations align with the University of California's recommendation of three years of laboratory science for freshman admission. To accommodate the dramatic increase in physics enrollment that resulted from these changes, SDCS needed to augment its existing physics faculty. The only option was to ask approximately 40 “out-of-discipline” (credentialed in science but not in physics) teachers from the district to teach ninth-grade physics.

The influence of mathematical knowledge for teaching towards elementary teachers’ mathematical self-efficacy

“…As many studies claimed, student achievement is strongly determined by teacher performance, primarily when mathematics is taught to elementary students (e.g., Ball et al, 2005;Carnoy et al, 2012;Taylor & Taylor, 2013;Taylor & Vinjevold, 1999). Therefore, to teach mathematics effectively, teachers need to know what to teach (content knowledge-CK) and how to teach it (pedagogical knowledge-PK).…”

Preparing Historically Underserved Students for STEM Careers: The Role of an Inquiry-based High School Science Sequence Beginning with Physics

“…Implementing Physics First requires science teachers to have strong content knowledge and possess the pedagogical knowledge to implement modeling and inquiry effectively with all students (Asghar et al, 2012;Gibson & Brooks, 2012;Kesson & Henderson, 2010;McGee et al, 2013;National High School Center, 2011;Penuel et al, 2007). Converting to a Physics First approach will also require disruption of the teaching assignments of some science teachers in addition to the time and expense of professional development (Mervis, 1998;Popkin, 2009;Taylor et al, 2005). Based on the literature, I argue that professional learning opportunities addressing teacher knowledge and beliefs increases the likelihood of successful implementation of Physics First and thus improvement in the science college readiness of historically underserved students.…”