What’s Going On in the Field?
Below are the meeting notes from the "Generation Science" Meeting held at the American Museum of Natural History in New York City on April 9th, 2008.
Both Vance Ablott (Triangle Coalition) and Gerry Wheeler (from NSTA) attended the meeting and could give more specific information. So you might want to contact them for more information.
High Quality Science Instruction: Findings from Research
There are 3 reports:
Innovations and STEM (pdf)
Some of our CSSS Members Attended a Session about High Quality Science PD in St. Louis May 7-8, 2008
Submitted by: Jean May-Brett, LA
High Quality Science Instruction: Findings from Research
The Center on Instruction Science Strand hosted a meeting in St. Louis, MO May 7-8, 2008, for RCC staff and staff personnel to increase their understanding of, and ability to, support high quality science instruction. It was designed to develop an understanding of research-based elements of high quality science instruction, the inquiry continuum and the role of inquiry in high quality science instruction, and the implications of state policy for high quality science instruction. It also provided a familiarity with various tools available for assessing the alignment among state standards, instructional materials, and assessments. Materials from this meeting are available for download below.
NOTE: In order to see the Speaker's Notes on the PowerPoint presentation (depending on the web browser you are using), you may have to "save" the file to your computer.
A group of CSSS attended a session sponsored by AAAS (American Academy for the Advancement of Science) in DC June 26 – 29, 2008
Submitted by: Jan McLaughin, NH
AAAS Workshop and Discussions about Collaborations
During our workshop we discovered that during the work in creating the Atlas for Science Literacy Volume 2 (Green) – that changes were made to a number of Benchmarks. These changes are reflected in the new maps plus also on the online version of Benchmarks.
In some cases minor word changes were made. In some cases one benchmark became 2. There were several instances where a benchmark was moved from one grade span to another.
They are also updating and redoing maps in Volume 1 as they have time and to be consistent with the changes made in volume 2. If your state has used benchmarks to create your standards and have any documents which link to specific benchmarks – you should consider looking through the new online sections.
CSSS and AAAS are looking for possible avenues to collaborate in the future. Stay tuned.
Cubers -
Reported by Dr. Cathy Higgins, State Director of Educational Technology- NH
Info from NECC and Changes to the ICT Technology Standards
As we move forward with STEM in our states we need to keep the ICT literacy standards in mind as well (realizing that they are part of the "T" in STEM)
The updated National Ed Tech Standards for Teachers (NETS-T) were released yesterday at NECC (7/1/08). You will want to see the changes. In brief, the five standards areas are titled as follows:
- Facilitate and Inspire Student Learning and Creativity
- Design and Develop Digital-Age Learning Experiences and Assessments
- Model Digital-Age Work and Learning
- Promote and Model Digital Citizenship and Responsibility
- Engage in Professional Growth and Leadership
