0.6 Gresham, g. (october 2011). a university/school partnership

Ncpea education leadership review: portland conference special edition, volume 12, number 3 (october 2011)

Introduction

Teachers at an elementary school in deep, east Texas were challenged to fit science into the daily schedule partially due to reading and math expectations reiterated in the No Child Left Behind Act’s goal of all students performing at or above grade level by the year 2014 (ED.gov, 2008). Oftentimes, teachers in the lower elementary grades do not implement science instruction on a daily basis partially because they do not feel proficient in teaching science, and/or they perceive science as less critical than the teaching of reading and mathematics (Berube, 2008). The teachers of this elementary school were no different and were faced with science scores on the Texas accountability measure, Texas Assessment of Academic Skills (TAKS), that were lower than their reading and mathematics scores. The teachers were challenged to increase science performance while maintaining and increasing performance in reading, writing, and mathematics. The diversity of the student population also impacted academic performance. The demographic composition of the campus was approximately 33.8 % African American, 33 % Hispanic, 28.4 % White, .2 % Native American, and 4.6 % Asian. In addition, 59.1 % were classified as at-risk of dropping out of school. The purpose of the study was to investigate the effectiveness of a collaboratively developed planning model that included integrating reading and writing strategies into the instruction of science. The research questions were: (1) what is the effect of the science planning model on fifth grade student science content gain on students receiving the treatment and those not receiving the treatment?; (2) what is the effect of the science planning model on fifth grade at-risk student science content gain and other fifth grade student science content gain when both groups receive the treatment?; and (3) what kind of change occurs in instructional delivery when content experts collaborate with and coach a fifth grade classroom science teacher?