Rural Science Education

Oliver, J. Steve; Hodges, Georgia W.

doi:10.4324/9780203097267.ch14

Cited by 9 publications

(11 citation statements)

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“…However, regardless of experience, teachers in rural areas still experience pressure to teach all subjects equally well and the workload demands to prepare and teach multiple subjects has been linked to teacher career dissatisfaction (Goodpaster et al, 2012). Recruitment of science teachers is difficult and new teachers often do not remain in these positions for very long unless they have strong ties to the community (Oliver, 2007). This mirrors findings reported by Ingersoll and Merrill (2010) in which they report that teacher turnover differs across states, regions, and school districts.…”

Section: Challenges To High School Ess Educationsupporting

confidence: 62%

“…On the whole, in our study we found that the science teachers we interviewed noted that it takes time, effort, and money to seek out professional development in ESS because it is not offered by their school districts and many Nebraska school districts are too small to have a science-specific curriculum coordinator to assist them. Given time a motivated veteran, rural science teacher is more likely to have learned how to teach all subject areas than a new science teacher with only an initial teaching endorsement (Oliver, 2007). However, regardless of experience, teachers in rural areas still experience pressure to teach all subjects equally well and the workload demands to prepare and teach multiple subjects has been linked to teacher career dissatisfaction (Goodpaster et al, 2012).…”

Section: Challenges To High School Ess Educationmentioning

confidence: 99%

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A Case of Fragmented High School Earth and Space Science Education in the Great Plains: Tracing Teacher Certification Policy to Students' Access

Lewis

2017

Journal of Geoscience Education

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Section: Challenges To High School Ess Educationsupporting

confidence: 62%

Section: Challenges To High School Ess Educationmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Case of Fragmented High School Earth and Space Science Education in the Great Plains: Tracing Teacher Certification Policy to Students' Access

Lewis

2017

Journal of Geoscience Education

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“…Rural locales were a positive predictor of physics performance in the multivariable model, suggesting there may be underlying pedagogical and school characteristics that should be explored in these contexts. Although rural science education has been neither easily defined nor extensively studied [57], there may be common attributes in rural academic contexts to inform physics educational reforms.…”

Section: Successes and Limitations Of Physics Education In Rural Schoolsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Physics teacher isolation, contextual characteristics, and student performance

Krakehl

Kelly

Sheppard

et al. 2020

Phys. Rev. Phys. Educ. Res.

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Physics, as a foundational science, has particular importance in predicting the postsecondary success of students who major in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. This quasiexperimental, observational study examined teacher-level and school-level predictors of student performance in physics, with a focus on isolated teachers. A New York State case study is useful since the teacher certification policy is largely determined at the state level in the U.S. The overall sample included New York State public schools that offered physics (N ¼ 960), physics teachers (N ¼ 1584), and student physics test takers (N ¼ 47 734) in the academic year 2016-2017. Teacher-level variables included the content preparation and certification of physics teachers, physics course load, professional age (years of experience), whether the teacher was isolated, whether the teacher taught mathematics, and whether the teacher taught Advanced Placement Physics; and school-level variables including physics standardized test passing rates, school size, socioeconomic status, locale, and physics course taking ratio. Data were collected from a variety of publicly available sources that were verified by state education agencies. Results indicated a significant proportion (40%) of physics teachers were isolated, and their students tended to have weaker physics performance scores than students of nonisolated teachers. Compared to the nonisolated teachers, a larger percentage of isolated physics teachers were uncertified in physics and taught in urban and rural schools. There was no significant difference in professional age between isolated and nonisolated teachers, but urban teachers had less teaching experience than suburban and rural physics teachers. When analyzing the subset of isolated teachers (n ¼ 449), a multiple linear regression model indicated urban locale and schoollevel socioeconomic status were the main negative predictors of student physics performance, while rural physics locale and professional age were positive predictors of physics performance; the model explained 38% of the variance, a large effect. Teaching experience acted as a mediator of poverty and urban locale in predicting student physics performance with a small effect size. Implications related to equity considerations and physics education policy are discussed.

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“…Research also suggests that well-prepared teachers typically teach in suburban schools (Lankford, Loeb, & Wyckoff, 2002; National Center for Education Statistics, 2012), while urban and rural schools are more likely to be staffed by beginning teachers and teachers with weaker science backgrounds (Barton, 2007;Oliver, 2007). Similar disparities are evident in the distribution of wellprepared teachers among schools grouped by percentage of students eligible for free or reducedprice lunch (FRL) (Zumwalt & Craig, 2005).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 82%

Widening the gap: Unequal distribution of resources for K–12 science instruction

Smith

Trygstad

Banilower

2016

EPAA

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Inequalities in educational opportunity are well documented. Regardless of the nature of the disadvantage—low income, underrepresented minority status, or prior achievement—students from backgrounds associated with a given disadvantage have less access to educational opportunities. In this article, we use data from the 2012 National Survey of Science and Mathematics Education to explore how resources are allocated for science instruction specifically. We focus on how three kinds of resources—well-prepared teachers, material resources, and instruction itself—are allocated to classes that are homogeneously grouped by prior achievement level. Regardless of the resource, we find that classes of students with low prior achievement (as perceived by their teachers) have less access. Some of the differences are striking, particularly regarding access to material resources, while others are more subtle. There is also evidence that some policies do not impact teachers equally. For example, time allowed for teacher professional development is perceived differently by teachers in terms of its impact depending on the achievement level of students in the class. The study supports the assertion that what is known about ability grouping in general applies in science instruction specifically. When students with low prior achievement are grouped together, their classes have less access to critical resources for science learning opportunities, potentially widening the gap between them and their higher-achieving peers.

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Rural Science Education

Cited by 9 publications

References 0 publications

A Case of Fragmented High School Earth and Space Science Education in the Great Plains: Tracing Teacher Certification Policy to Students' Access

A Case of Fragmented High School Earth and Space Science Education in the Great Plains: Tracing Teacher Certification Policy to Students' Access

Physics teacher isolation, contextual characteristics, and student performance

Widening the gap: Unequal distribution of resources for K–12 science instruction

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