Science Education Now: How Science Teachers Interpret and Enact Reforms to Develop Students' Scientific Literacy

Abstract

ways. The NGSS documents make direct connections to CCSS for ELA, linking science and disciplinary literacy through the inquiry process, and promoting inquiry-based instruction while articulating a vision for integration of science and engineering practices with crosscutting concepts and core disciplinary ideas. Although NGSS maintain the distinctness of traditional science disciplines (Biology, Chemistry, Earth Science, and Physics), the standards also encourage blurring the lines between these disciplines, engineering, and technology. The essence of this integration is captured by the term Interdisciplinary Science Inquiry (ISI) (National Academy of Science, 2004).Since "literacy skills are critical to building knowledge in science" (Achieve, Inc., 2013, p. 1), connections to literacy are made explicit through NGSS connections to CCSS for ELA, including "understanding the nature of evidence used, attention to precision and detail, and the capacity to make and assess intricate arguments, synthesize complex information, and follow detailed procedures and accounts of events and concepts" (Achieve, Inc., 2013, p. 1). There are also clear expectations for writing and orally defending positions in scientific arguments by conveying evidence derived from media as well as acquired through hands-on experimentation. Given the demands that NGSS and CCSS for ELA place on science teachers, it is crucial that all stakeholders are aware of factors influencing implementation of these reforms within the classroom. To explore science teachers' beliefs and practices as they attempt to incorporate disciplinary literacies for science within the ISI framework, we asked two questions: (1) how did three urban science teachers enact knowledge of CCSS for ELA curricula when they conducted ISI; and (2) what relationship, if any, existed between their beliefs and perceptions of CCSS for ELA and its implementation in their science classrooms within the context of ISI? Theoretical PerspectivesSocial constructivism (Vygotsky, 1978) frames this study: the knowledge, beliefs and values teachers held for teaching, and how these impacted their instructional actions. With its focus on language, learning, and literacy, social constructivism provides an effective lens for viewing the work of teachers in mediating learning, the dynamics of classroom instruction, and systems that support or fail students (Moll, 1990). One crucial element of social constructivism is the notion of scaffolds: temporary supports enacted to assist students while learning a new concept or skill and removed as students reach independence. The most directive scaffolds (Silliman & Wilkinson, 1991) presume that the teacher's primary job is knowledge transmission and assessment and are defined by teacher control such as seen in the initiation-response-evaluation (IRE) teaching sequence (Cazden, 1988). Whereas supportive scaffolding (Palincsar & Brown, 1984) more closely emulates Vygotsky's ideas as it positions learning as a search for understanding, provides opportunities for r...