Bridging Science Teaching and Learning in Title 1 Schools

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This project addresses a long-standing challenge in science education centered on a national commitment to and interest in advancing the prosperity and welfare of young learners who have been historically underrepresented in science. It addresses challenges with broadening participation in science by providing equity and access to quality science instruction at Title 1 elementary schools in metro Atlanta, Georgia. Title 1 schools are schools with large concentrations of low-income students that receive supplemental funds to assist in meeting educational goals and educational needs of students living near poverty levels. Opportunities to learn science in elementary school are particularly limited; especially in those schools that serve racially and ethnically diverse children and children suffering from poverty. Interventions aimed at broadening participation have been limited in both impact and scope. This project is addressing this challenge through the development, implementation, and evaluation of a professional development model that will prepare teachers to effectively utilize science education practices grounded in culturally responsive pedagogy. It provides a new science instruction model that intersects the best practices in science education with the theoretical principles of culturally relevant/responsive pedagogy found to influence students from low economic, diverse communities. By focusing on both in-service and preservice teachers, the project will make a valuable contribution to the understanding of teacher education across the trajectory of educators’ careers and deepen an understanding of how to prepare teachers to adopt and effectively utilize effective practices in their everyday classrooms, particularly in relation to science teaching and learning.The project will involve 30 preservice and 20 in-service teachers participating in a summer academy and workshops introducing them to instructional features of the model that will later be used during instruction with the students. Instruction provided by the teachers will impact approximately 1,420 students. The goal of the project is to design and test an innovative science instruction model that intersects the best practices in science education with the principles of culturally responsive pedagogy. The two-year design and development project incorporate mixed methods to examine the three components of the model hypothesized as critical for improvements in teacher practice: culturally responsive classroom management, discourse, and anchoring. Use of qualitative and quantitative methods and measures during exploration provides critical information on how to support instruction in Title 1 STEM schools in ways that are feasible, yet effective. The Discovery Research K-12 program (DRK-12) seeks to significantly enhance the learning and teaching of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) by preK-12 students and teachers, through research and development of innovative resources, models and tools. Projects in the DRK-12 program build on fundamental research in STEM education and prior research and development efforts that provide theoretical and empirical justification for proposed projects.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.