Education Partnerships Foster Students' Science Literacy

Scholarly reports and headlines in the popular press continue sounding the alarm: United States students, compared with students of other nations, perform at mediocre to abysmal levels in science and mathematics. We see evidence of this deficiency in our classrooms, work settings, and social interactions. Today's high school graduates, generally speaking, do not understand basic science concepts, have no interest in pursuing scientific careers, and have numerous misconceptions about and mistrust toward scientists and scientific institutions. To help remedy this situation, many scientists these days are taking time to share their world--and themselves--with teachers and students from kindergarten through high school. These scientists have a variety of motives: Some simply want to provide assistance in response to a pressing need; they are expressing a concern for providing the next generation of scientists and technicians. Others are seeking a way to reciprocate for the mentoring and programs that inspired them as students. Still others have a professional motivation; they want to help create an educated citizenry that understands the need for funding basic research, expanding laboratory facilities, and taking well-informed positions on such volatile issues as the use of animals in research. Meanwhile, government policy- makers, in calling for reforms in science education, often cite national economic interests--the need for a scientifically literate and mathematically empowered work force to compete in the global marketplace. I prefer to emphasize that all members of our society need to be scientifically literate for their own well-being and for the health of our society. Our democracy depends on the ability of citizens to solve problems, address technical issues, and make wise choices for themselves, their country, and the planet. How can scientists provide the most valuable services to the precollege education community? The simplest way is to personally participate in these partnerships--to volunteer in a school, perhaps one that their children attend or one that is close to home or work. Another effective way is for scientists to help form ongoing partnerships between the local school systems and their colleges, universities, or companies. As increasing numbers of scientists, universities, and businesses have become involved in such partnerships, questions have been raised about how to maximize the benefits they provide. A hopeful sign in this regard is the current emergence of a national consensus concerning the kinds of reforms that are needed in precollege science education. Publications from the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), preliminary science education standards from the National Academy of Sciences, and state guides such as the California Science Framework for Public Schools all describe mutually supportive guiding principles for reforming science education. To be most effective, science education partnerships should align themselves with this consensus; the scientists, universities, and businesses involved will thus be addressing the same issues in similar ways, and the resulting partnerships will be far better able to provide the kinds of services that schools need. The pertinent issues have to do with new models of curriculum content and pedagogy; different ways of finding out what students know and have learned; and realistic appraisals of the additional training and support that teachers need. The science education reform movement has several key features. Perhaps most important, it aims to reach all students. Science is not a subject that is reserved for an elite group of white males. Everybody should be able to enjoy and succeed in science. Thus, the need to reach all citizens is particularly important when it comes to those groups that are underrepresented in science. In this respect, reform particularly must seek to correct current gross inequities suffered by ethnic minorities and females-- inequities that reflect deficiencies in our educational system as well as our society. The reform framework also calls for a radical change in the roles of the student and the teacher. The term "constructivism" is often used to describe the new approach. The students construct their own meaning as they individually integrate new learning experiences with their prior conceptions. The teacher, meanwhile, does not lecture, merely pouring information into an empty vessel; rather, the teacher provides an environment in which students directly experience rich situations and then, often working in cooperative groups, utilize higher-order thinking and problem-solving skills to relate problems directly to their own lives--and thus, make sense of the real world. Excellence and equity go hand in hand. Many of the reform changes--such as replacing lessons that emphasize lecture and vocabulary with active student exploration--increase the success rate for underrepresented groups. Radical reform in science education also necessitates radical change in the nature of schools and the teaching profession. As things now stand, teachers have low status in the community; are often poorly trained to do the job that the modern world requires; lack essential equipment, supplies, and preparation time; do not have the power to make the changes that are needed in their workplace; and are isolated from each other and from the adult world. Science education partnerships can be of great help here. Scientists can provide expertise in content knowledge, helping teachers to focus lessons on the important concepts and increasing teachers' knowledge base. They can also help relate the classroom experiences to today's world of research and make the direct connections between the lessons and students' lives. They can provide these services by running workshops for teachers, participating in classroom lessons and laboratory activities, judging student science contests, and working with curriculum developers. When successful scientists regard and treat classroom educators as equals, their efforts combat teacher isolation and help promote the teacher's standing within the community. Many science education partnerships bring the richness of the scientific world directly into the classroom for students to experience scientists as normal human beings and scientific issues as relevant to them and within their grasp. An additional advantage is gained when female and ethnic minority role models take part and thereby serve as living proof that the technical and scientific professions can be open to all. Today's science education partnerships are beginning to effectively weave together the different strands of the science reform movement. Earlier reform efforts tended to emphasize just one aspect of the problem--inadequate textbooks, for example, or inappropriate examination formats--and believed that correcting that single aspect would remedy science education in general. The better partnerships today, however, recognize the many dimensions of the current situation that need to be addressed simultaneously. Teachers need instruction in new content and skills, lessons and materials that embody the new philosophy, samples of and training in alternative assessment tools, and support in the school and the community--or the vast inertia of the existing school culture will doom all efforts toward improvement. "Systemic reform" or "systemic change" is the currently used term for this kind of integrated, comprehensive, and radical change. In addition to projects at the local level, the systemic change movement has a national and a state policy component. One articulation of the systemic reform model emphasizes the description of a vision of excellence in the form of standards. Three panels under the aegis of the National Research Council (NRC) are currently developing national science education standards in the areas of curriculum, assessment, and teaching. The science curriculum standards will define what students should know and be able to do in science at different grade levels. These standards will provide a broad view of the content and processes that students should master. Scientific skills in observing, reasoning, investigating, and problem-solving will be at least as important as the content knowledge base. The standards will also call for students to have the skills and desire to apply their knowledge outside the classroom. Assessment is the tool that is supposed to inform us if we are going in the right direction, if we are achieving the outcomes that we desire. Assessment plays important roles at the daily classroom level by teachers as well as at the school, state, and national levels. In addition to being a diagnostic tool, assessment very directly tells students, teachers, and parents what the education system thinks is important. All too often, teachers and students alike focus their efforts on "the test." But if we truly want the entire educational community to place a high value on hands-on experiences and higher-order thinking skills, we sabotage our efforts if we grade students on multiple-choice exams that primarily reward them for memorizing vocabulary and isolated facts. The new science assessment standards will define protocols for gauging stu-dents' accomplishments in ways that are valid and that reinforce the learning outcomes that we desire. The teacher is the key to effective science reform. All the other pieces can be in place, but the reform movement will fail if classroom instructors do not have satisfactory training, knowledge, and support systems. Science teaching standards will define the skills and knowledge that teachers will need as well as the necessary components of professional training programs for certifying beginning teachers and providing essential staff development for existing teachers. The new teaching standards will also define the support systems and resources that need to be in place at a school. How can these national standards help effect dramatic change at the local level? Informally, they can provide powerful support that reform advocates can use with school boards and education administrators at state, county, and individual- site levels. On a more formalized state level, most states traditionally adopt science curriculum frameworks that describe the parameters for science education. These documents vary in their scope and authority, but they can have great influence on classroom teaching. Many states are already revising existing science curriculum frameworks so they embody new standards such as those emerging from NRC or AAAS's Project 2601 education program. Partnerships can play a vital role in translating these standards, frameworks, and assessments from the realm of abstract principles to the world of actual classroom practice. Science education partnerships are a very flexible tool for bringing rich scientific resources into the hands and minds of teachers and students. In addition, the scientists who participate in these programs can then contribute much more meaningfully to the continuing efforts to define and implement a truly effective science education system. The committees developing the standards, frameworks, and assessment methods include scientists who have some real knowledge of elementary and secondary schools because they have actually worked inside classrooms and side by side with teachers as a result of partnership programs (see story on page 8). A true partnership is a two-way street--not a unidirectional flow of services from a science-rich institution to needy schools. In the most successful partnerships, colleges and universities also benefit greatly from interactions with their precollege partners. For example, professors who volunteer in schools often report that the experience markedly changes their approaches to undergraduate education, challenging them to move away from lecture formats to more effective interactive approaches. They also can learn from their experiences with precollege reform to make their own assessment instruments more authentic. We still have a long way to go in helping our K-12 students attain world-class standards of achievement. There are many systemic barriers in all of our institutions. Just getting the different departments within a university or within a school system to collaborate often can be a daunting task. Yet, when we experience the enthusiasm of teachers, scientists, and students who have participated in science partnership activities, we feel justified and well rewarded for our efforts. Art Sussman is the director of the Far West Eisenhower Regional Consortium for Science and Mathematics Education, serving Arizona, California, Nevada, and Utah. He also is the editor of Science Education Partnerships: Manual for Scientists and K-12 Teachers, published by Science Press, P.O. Box 31188, San Francisco, Calif. 94131.

Education Partnerships Foster Students' Science Literacy

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