Below are excerpts from a NEW book that reviews EXEMPLARY middle school
science programs. It's a result of research by the Education Development
Center, Inc., in Boston. I thought it was so important that I took time to
prepare these excerpts.
You can easily download the several pdf documents that constitute the book.
Cheers,
Jane Jackson
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EXCERPTS from:
GUIDING CURRICULUM DECISIONS FOR MIDDLE-GRADES SCIENCE
by Barbara Brauner Berns, Ilene Kantrov, Marian Pasquale,
Doris Santamaria Makang, Bernie Zubrowski, and Lynn T. Goldsmith
Education Development Center, Inc.
copyright 2000
(Contents and page numbers)
Introduction
Aiming for Academic Excellence in Middle-Grades Curricula 1
Principles to Guide Curriculum Decisions 6
About This Guide 17
Chapter 1
Critical Questions in Curriculum Decision Making 23
Chapter 2
Overview of the Curriculum
Selection Process 65
Step 1: Create a Curriculum Selection Committee 65
Step 2: Assess Resources and Needs 69
Step 3: Choose Curricula for Review 74
Step 4: Assemble and Apply Selection Curricula 76
Step 5: Pilot Test the Curricula 81
Summary 85
Chapter 3
Profiles of Exemplary Science Curricula 87
BSCS Middle School Science and Technology 90
Event-Based Science (EBS) 105
Foundations and Challenges to Encourage Technology-Based Science (FACETS) 116
Foundational Approaches in Science Teaching (FAST) 130
Full Option Science System (FOSS) 143
Issues, Evidence and You (IEY) 157
Insights 172
Models in Technology and Science (MITS) 186
New Directions Teaching Units 201
Science Education for Public Understanding (SEPUP) Modules 213
Science and Technology for Children (STC) 227
Aiming for Academic Excellence in Middle-Grades Curricula.
This guide will help educators address
one of these areas of change - identifying and using high-quality
curriculum to promote high standards of student achievement.
"Guiding Curriculum Decisions for Middle-Grades Science" is part of a
series of curriculum guides for middle-grades mathematics, science,
language arts, and social studies. This guide offers a set of
principles for making curriculum decisions and illustrates
these principles with practitioners' descriptions of their experiences
in implementing standards-based curricula.
This guide series was developed at Education Development
Center, Inc. with the support of the Edna McConnell Clark
and W.K. Kellogg Foundations. It is based on interviews with
more than 100 middle-grades educators who are using standards-based
curriculum approaches and materials in their districts,
schools, and classrooms. This introductory chapter sets the
scene for the scope of the guide series, focusing on science,
but drawing examples more broadly from all of the major
middle-grades subject areas.
The need for new approaches to curriculum and instruction is
clear. Over the past fifteen years educators have been taking a
hard look at American students' academic performance. In
the realms of mathematics and science, we have learned that
American students are outperformed by peers in many other
countries.
Educators and employers alike express concerns
about the literacy skills of America's youth. Within the last
decade each major subject area has developed academic standards
that raise the bar for student achievement and performance.
In order to meet these standards, teachers face new academic
and pedagogical challenges. They must teach more
challenging and extensive subject area content, they must
develop different instructional strategies, and they must reach
a wider range of students. Having a high-quality curriculum to
guide instruction is a key to meeting these challenges.
Most currently available texts do not help science teachers provide
an intellectually rigorous education for all the students in
their classes. Frequently, teachers committed to standards-based
instruction find themselves at odds with district-mandated curricula
and testing programs that provide limited opportunity for students
to develop deep understanding of science concepts and to
develop inquiry skills. They spend enormous amounts of time
searching for resources, planning engaging units that address
important concepts, and developing lessons and activities to carry
out their goals. This is no easy task. It requires a sophisticated
understanding of the subject area and knowledge of the ways that
students learn it. Many teachers are only reluctant curriculum
developers and are aching for good materials. Others take satisfaction
from creating their own curriculum, but still find it a
labor-intensive process that reduces their time for classroom planning
and for focusing on individual students' academic needs.
And, too, the effectiveness of homegrown curricula varies considerably.
However, there are some high-quality published materials for middle-grades
educators which can relieve teachers of the burden of inventing their own.
...
Jane Jackson, Co-Director, Modeling Instruction Program
Box 871504, Dept.of Physics & Astronomy,ASU,Tempe,AZ 85287
480-965-8438/fax:965-7331 <http://modeling.asu.edu>
Genius must transform the world, that the world may produce more genius.