Understanding the Priorities and Practices of Rural Science Teachers: Implications for Designing Professional Learning

In order to design professional learning that supports rural science teachers to effectively implement standards-based “five-dimensional” (5D) instructional and assessment practices, a critical first step is to elicit their perspectives, prior experiences, concerns, and interests. Based on survey data from 87 rural science teachers in Colorado, along with focus group sessions with 18 of those teachers, this article investigates teachers’ perspectives on what makes rural science teaching unique, the degree to which they use 5D science instruction, their curricular and assessment resources, and their professional learning experiences and preferences. Overall, rural science teachers in Colorado reported using rich practices for engaging students’ interests and identities in the pursuit of high-quality engagement, and they expressed a need for more science-specific professional learning and materials distribution. Implications for designing professional learning opportunities for rural science teachers are offered

Supporting Language-Minoritized Students in Science Practices within a Research-Practice Partnership

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Washington, 2017-06This dissertation investigates the design and implementation of educational change efforts focused on supporting middle-school language-minoritized students in science learning. These chapters take as their units of analyses the shared activity of a research-practice partnership, the co-design of a discourse-based intervention and its outcomes for students, and finally the learning of students in discursive practice. In all, this study examines one problem space across multiple levels, from district-level decision-making and planning, to teacher implementation, to student learning outcomes in the classroom, yielding a coherent, multilevel view—from policy to practice—of the possibilities for building more equitable systems of science education within the vision of NGSS. Major findings include that (a) multiple ideologies of “equity” may be present even within equity-focused partnerships, and these knotted to build axiological innovation, (b) that youths’ peer-to-peer interactions can serve to adversely position language-minoritized youth in science class, but youth are resilient to these positions, and (c) sense-making dialogue can be structured to support language-minoritized youth to deeply develop their ideas. Implications for educational spaces include the generative power of responsive, deep listening among partners in spaces that prioritize equity