Teachers' perceptions of policy influences on science instruction with culturally and linguistically diverse elementary students

Abstract

This study asked elementary school teachers how educational policies affected their science instruction with a majority of English language learners. The study employed a questionnaire followed by focus group interviews with 43 third and fourth grade teachers from six elementary schools in a large urban school district with high populations of English language learners in the southeastern United States. Results indicate that teachers' opinions concerning all areas of policy evolved as the state enforced stronger measures of accountability during the 2‐year period of the study. Although relatively positive regarding standards, their opinions became increasingly negative regarding statewide assessment, and even more so toward accountability measured by reading, writing, and mathematics. The results suggest that it is important to understand how teachers perceive the influence of policies, particularly those relating to English language learners, as science accountability becomes more imminent across the states. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 44: 725–746, 2007

Student Teachers’ Approaches to Teaching Biological Evolution

“…In this study, the student teachers all described the influence of the state exam on their instruction. Consistent with previous literature, they described pressure to prepare for the state exam (Donnelly & Sadler, 2009;Pringle & Martin, 2005;Shaver, Cuevas, Lee, & Avalos, 2007), limited time to cover evolution (Donnelly & Sadler, 2009), inclusion of practice test items (Pringle & Martin, 2005), and use of standards to selected evolution topics (Donnelly & Boone, 2007). Like the previously studied student teachers (Dotger et al, 2009) and inservice teachers (Donnelly & Boone, 2007;Borgerding, 2012;Bramschreiber, 2013;Fowler & Meisels, 2010), Deanna also had planned to use the standards to defend her evolution instruction (''it's something we have to teach you for the OGT''), but she ultimately chose not to use this disclaimer.…”

Beyond Beliefs: Teachers Adapting Problem-based Learning to Preexisting Systems of Practice

“…Research studies involving accountability measures such as end of course testing, cite teaching to the test (Shaver, Cuevas, Lee, and Avalos, 2007), eliminating non-tested material (Abrams, Pedulla, & Madaus, 2003), and minimizing student-centered instruction (Bianchini & Kelly, 2003) as concerns (Donnelly & Sadler, 2009). To better reconcile this difference between beliefs and practice, teachers should understand how components of the PBL strategy encourage reform-based constructivist practices and can increase student performance on high-stakes tests by increasing student gains in cognition, development of skills, independent learning, cooperation, and motivation (Chiappetta & Koballa, 2005;Smith, Powell, & Wood, 1995;Sonmez & Lee, 2003;Weller & Karp-Boss, 2007).…”

Effective Science Instruction: Impact on High-Stakes Assessment Performance

“…Many teachers fear the implications of devoting extended time for investigations may be lower performance on statemandated assessments, due to less time for drill and practice (Anderson, 2002;Johnson, 2006;Lee & Luykx, 2006;Rivet & Krajcik, 2008). Further, we know little about the long-term influence of instructional environments on student learning and retention of science concepts (Shaver et al, 2007). Often, teachers struggle with students who have retention issues when they experience traditional science instruction, which does not allow students opportunities to engage in "doing science" (Anderson, 2002).…”

“…High-stakes assessments have created a barrier to science education reform (Johnson, 2007;Settlage & Meadows, 2002). As a result, science instructional time, especially at the elementary and middle level, has been minimized, and little support has been provided to improve practice for teachers (Johnson, 2007;Barton, 2001;Shaver, Cuevas, Lee, & Avalos, 2007).…”

“…At this level, science instruction is often focused on memorization of factual information in preparation for statemandated multiple-choice science assessments (Shaver et al, 2007;Settlage & Meadows, 2002) and reading large selections from textbooks and conducting verification labs to prepare students for high school study (Anderson 2002). These strategies are not supported by research as effective practices.…”