In 2009 we surveyed all known Iowa high school physics teachers to gain insight into their educational backgrounds, instructional styles, content coverage, and available resources. Based upon a suggestion made at a subsequent presentation, we reexamined the collected data, comparing the responses of teachers from small and large schools to see if there were notable differences between the two populations. We found that teachers at larger schools teach a wider variety of physics courses, including more advanced and “physics first” style courses, and report stronger educational backgrounds in physics. While larger schools also have more financial resources allocated for physics teaching, the larger enrollments in physics courses at these schools means there is roughly the same amount of available money per student at all schools

Kittleson, Trevor

Morgan, Jeffrey T.

English

University of Northern Iowa

Iowa Science Teachers Journal Volume 39 Number 1 Article 4 2012 Schools in Balance: Comparing Iowa Physics Teachers and Teaching in Large and Small Schools Trevor Kittleson Perry High School Jeffrey T. Morgan University of Northern Iowa Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.uni.edu/istj  Part of the Science and Mathematics Education Commons Recommended Citation Kittleson, Trevor and Morgan, Jeffrey T. (2012) "Schools in Balance: Comparing Iowa Physics Teachers and Teaching in Large and Small Schools," Iowa Science Teachers Journal: Vol. 39 : No. 1 , Article 4. Available at: https://scholarworks.uni.edu/istj/vol39/iss1/4 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by UNI ScholarWorks. It has been accepted for inclusion in Iowa Science Teachers Journal by an authorized editor of UNI ScholarWorks. For more information, please contact scholarworks@uni.edu. The University of Northern Iowa offers numerous pro- teachers who meet the state's minimum requirements for fessional development opportunities to science teachers certification in physics teaching, only 1 in 5 physics teachers throughout the state.  In order to ascertain the current state has a degree in physics. of physics teaching in Iowa, and allow us to tailor our physics education programs to the needs of practicing teachers, we In addition to reporting the responses to each of our survey invited all known high school physics teachers in the state to questions, we cross-referenced responses to multiple complete a survey that asked questions about their questions to glean additional information about Iowa's educational background, current teaching practices, and physics teachers and teaching. During a presentation of our future plans (Morgan and Kittleson, 2009). Forty percent of initial findings to the university community in which we invited teachers completed the survey, and the results included a limited number of comparisons by school size, an allowed us to develop a picture of the current condition of attendee asked whether or not the data suggested that high school physics instruction in the state. We found, physics teachers at larger schools were better trained – that among other things, that while most schools employ is, those physics teachers probably had more physics ABSTRACT: In 2009 we surveyed all known Iowa high school physics teachers to gain insight into their educational backgrounds, instructional styles, content coverage, and available resources. Based upon a suggestion made at a subsequent presentation, we reexamined the collected data, comparing the responses of teachers from small and large schools to see if there were notable differences between the two populations. We found that teachers at larger schools teach a wider variety of physics courses, including more advanced and “physics first” style courses, and report stronger educational backgrounds in physics. While larger schools also have more financial resources allocated for physics teaching, the larger enrollments in physics courses at these schools means there is roughly the same amount of available money per student at all schools.comparing iowa physics teachers and teaching in large and small schoolsTrevor Kittleson, Perry High School, Perry, IowaJeffrey T. Morgan, Physics Department, University of Northern Iowa© 2012 Iowa Academy of Science 08Graphic Work by Tori WheelerSchools          In Balance1Kittleson and Morgan: Schools in Balance: Comparing Iowa Physics Teachers and TeachingPublished by UNI ScholarWorks,courses in their background. At the time, we had not of physics first argue that as physics is foundational to many examined this relationship, and decided to examine more of ideas in chemistry and biology, physics should be taken first in the survey responses with respect to school size. the sequence, followed by chemistry and then biology. In Figure 2, one can see that large 4A schools are more likely To compare the sizes of schools in easily manageable than smaller schools to teach either physics or physical categories, we used athletic divisions based on the Iowa science first in the high school science sequence.High School Athletic Association's divisions of boys' basketball (IAHSAA, 2012), as more state schools compete in this sport than any other. The IAHSAA separates the state into four basketball divisions: 1A, 2A, 3A and 4A. 1A is defined as the 148 schools in the state with the lowest student populations. 2A is the next 126 schools, 3A the next 64 schools, and 4A is all of the remaining schools. Unless otherwise noted, when we say “small” schools in the subsequent discussion, we mean schools with enrollments less than approximately 300 students, which generally includes 1A and 2A schools. 3A and 4A schools will similarly be referred to as “large” schools.First, we examined what courses respondents reported teaching. Because we purposefully surveyed high school physics teachers, it's not surprising that the overwhelming majority of respondents (91%) reported teaching a traditional physics course. We also asked them which other Next, we cross-referenced the primary degrees and science courses they taught, including physical science, educational backgrounds of the teachers with school size. In typically considered a lower level, more foundational course, our original work, we found that, state-wide, about 1 in 5 and advanced physics courses, such as AP courses or physics teachers has a degree in physics, 1 in 5 has a courses offered for college credit through a partnership with background in each of biology and chemistry, and the an area post-secondary institution. Physics teachers at remaining 40% earned primary degrees in mathematics, small schools are far more likely to teach a lower level education, or some other field. Figure 3 separates the physical science course – 60% of 1A teachers and half of 2A educational background of teachers using these same teachers do so, compared with about 1 in 8 of their peers at categories by school size. Although teachers with physics larger schools. By contrast, advanced physics courses are degrees are most likely to be found at large 4A schools, the much more likely to be taught at a large school. Our data percentage of teachers with this background is not shows that AP physics classes are almost exclusively taught dramatically higher than other school size categories. in 4A schools. Figure 1 shows the types of other physical Although there are some interesting data points (1 in 3 3A science or physics courses taught by responding teachers.physics teachers has a biology degree, while nearly 40% of 2A physics teachers have backgrounds in math or a science In the majority of secondary schools in the US, science other than physics, biology, or chemistry), there seems to be courses are taught in the sequence of biology, chemistry, and no clear trend when comparing the school sizes and finally physics. Recently, there has been a push in some teachers' primary degrees.schools to get away from the traditional sequence.  Advocates ISTJ 39(1) Winter 2012 http://iacad.org/istj09FIGURE 1Related classes taught by physics teachers70% -60% -50% -40% -30% -20% -10% -0% -Physical          AP B             AP C             College Science                                                     Physics63%49% 1A2A3A4A13%13%0% 2% 4%36%0% 2%0% 3%0%4%13%3%FIGURE 2Schools teaching physics or physical science first50% -40% -30% -20% -10% -0% -1A              2A              3A             4ASchool Size10%13%27%6%30%13%25%21%46%PhysicsPhysicalScienceFIGURE 3Primary Degrees100% -80% -60% -40% -20% -0% -1A        2A       3A       4A          School Size22%27%20%24%7%13%13%13%23%38%29%17%33%21%26%18%28%15%13%Secondary Education Math/Other Science ChemistryBiology Physics2Iowa Science Teachers Journal, Vol. 39 [], No. 1, Art. 4https://scholarworks.uni.edu/istj/vol39/iss1/4One does observe a trend in background, however, if we how long they anticipated remaining in the secondary slightly expand our criteria to include earning a minor in classroom. One-third of responding physics teachers physics. As Figure 4 illustrates, nearly 40% of physics reported that they plan to leave secondary education within teachers at the largest 4A schools earned a major or minor in the next 10 years. While on the surface this might seem physics or physics teaching. In general, the larger the alarming, it should not be so. Assuming an average teaching school, the stronger the average physics background of the career of 30 years and a relatively uniform distribution of physics teacher(s). teachers at various points in their career, one would expect a third of existing teachers to retire within any one decade.We also asked teachers about their years of classroom experience, both in teaching physics and teaching in general. We once again cross-referenced this data with school sizes to see whether large schools, in addition to having teachers with more physics courses in their backgrounds, also had more experienced teachers. We found, to the contrary, that on average the teachers at large 4A schools were more likely to have less experience than their peers at smaller sized schools, though the difference is not dramatic. Figure 6 shows the average years of experience, both in teaching physics and teaching in general, for respondents at various sized schools.  The survey also asked teachers how many college courses they completed, both in physics content at the introductory, advanced undergraduate, and graduate levels, as well as courses in physics or science education. Again, as illustrated in Figure 5, we see that on average, teachers at large schools have more physics and physics teaching training at the undergraduate level than their peers at smaller schools. (We express some skepticism at the number of reported physics teaching courses. At our institution, physics teaching majors complete a three-course science teaching methods sequence, and it seems unlikely that many teachers would have taken 6 courses specific to physics teaching. It's possible that some respondents counted general education courses in this category.)Of course, educational backgrounds or years of teaching With reports of a shortage of physics teachers not only in experience are only two of many factors that contribute to Iowa (Campbell, 2005), but nationwide (Volkmann, 2008; teacher quality. Most teacher education programs U.S. Department of Education, 2012), we asked teachers encourage graduates to become “life-long learners” and regularly participate in professional development. As part of the survey, we asked teachers how frequently they participated in some form of professional development. As shown in Figure 7, teachers at larger schools are generally more likely to participate in regular professional development. Perhaps most striking is that nearly 60% of teachers at the smallest schools reported participating in professional development less than once every three years. Resources, including available money, may contribute to the quality of the instructional environment as well. We asked teachers how much money was available for purchasing supplies and equipment for their physics class (or classes) during the current academic year. As Figure 8 illustrates, in general larger schools have more financial resources available to them. We also note that about 80% of teachers ISTJ 39(1) Winter 2012 10Physics MinorPhysics MajorPhysics Ed. Major1A        2A       3A       4A          School Size15%10%13%13%17%13%11%2%Training in Physics7%12%10%FIGURE 450% -40% -30% -20% -10% -0% -FIGURE 5Average number of physics and teaching courses7.0 -6.0 -5.0 -4.0 -3.0 -2.0 -1.0 -0.0 -Introductory   Advanced      Graduate       Physics                   Undergraduate                      Teaching2.22.71A2A3A4A3.4 3.6Number of Courses2.02.44.34.11.01.94.11.23.0 3.23.86.0FIGURE 6Average years of teaching experience20 -15 -10 -5 -0 -1A              2A              3A             4ASchool Size1313%17161914181114PhysicsExperienceSecondaryExperienceYearshttp://iacad.org/istj3Kittleson and Morgan: Schools in Balance: Comparing Iowa Physics Teachers and TeachingPublished by UNI ScholarWorks,Figure 9. (By contrast, the average number of students per physical science class is about the same regardless of school size.) If one assumes a median amount for each option listed for the available money question (for example, a median amount of $50 for the $1-$99 category) and multiplies by the percentage of teachers reporting that level of funding, one can calculate the average available money for each school size – as expected the larger schools have more available funds. However, when one divides the available money by the average class size, it's evident that the level of funding per student is fairly equitable among schools of various sizes, as illustrated in Figure 10.In summary, when comparing the characteristics of physics teachers at large and small schools: Students at large schools are more likely to take at small 1A and 2A schools have $500 or less available for physics or physical science courses early in their high purchases, and over 50% of larger 3A and 4A schools have school careers.more than $500 available.Students at large schools have more access to various However, this disparity may not be as great as perceived. levels of physics courses, including AP courses and Our data indicate that more students take physics classes at courses offered for college credit through partnering larger schools, and classes tend to be larger, as illustrated in institutions.••    ISTJ 39(1) Winter 2012 1130%30%40%29%17%54%38%28%33%At least once per yearEvery 1-3 yearsLess frequently thanevery 3 yearsFrequency of professional development participation1A        2A       3A       4A          School Size17%27%56%FIGURE 7100% -80% -60% -40% -20% -0% -FIGURE 9Average class enrollment25 -20 -15 -10 -5 -0 -1A              2A              3A             4A                   School Size913%18132018222119PhysicsClassesPhysicalScienceClassesNumber of StudentsFIGURE 10Average available money$1,000 -$750 -$500 -$250 -$0 -1A              2A              3A             4A                   School Size13%AverageTotalAvailableMoneyAverageAvailableMoney PerStudent0%0%FIGURE 8Money available for physics supplies60% -50% -40% -30% -20% -10% -0% - No Money            $1 – $99          $100 – $499       $500 – $999     $1000 – $4,999        $5,000+7%7%0%8%20%17%8% 3%54%52%40%26%15%20%36%49%2% 4%16%15%2%0%1A2A3A4Ahttp://iacad.org/istj4Iowa Science Teachers Journal, Vol. 39 [], No. 1, Art. 4https://scholarworks.uni.edu/istj/vol39/iss1/4••••        Physics teachers at large schools have, on average, slightly more education relevant to high school physics Physics teachers at larger schools participate more teaching, including more physics content courses and regularly in professional development.physics teaching courses.There are more financial resources available for Physics teachers at small schools have slightly more physics at larger schools, but when divided by the teaching experience, both in general and in teaching average number of physics students, all levels of physics. If there is a looming increase in the shortage school size have roughly the same amount of available of qualified physics teachers, it may in turn have a money.larger impact on smaller schools.ISTJ 39(1) Winter 2012 12Trevor Kittleson is a science teacher at Perry High School in Perry, Iowa.  Contact Trevor at .Jeffrey T. Morgan is an Assistant Professor of Physics and Science Education at the University of Northern Iowa. His current work includes studying student understanding of energy in quantum physics, and examining correlations between teacher content knowledge and student learning in high school physics classrooms.  Contact Jeffrey at .trevor.kittleson@perry.k12.ia.usjeff.morgan@uni.eduReferencesU.S. Department of Education (2012). “Teacher Shortage Areas Campbell, L. (2005). “Iowa foresees shortage of physics Nationwide Listing, 1990-91 thru 2011-12.” Available online at teachers,” Des Moines Register, October 30, 2005.Iowa High School Athletic Association (2007). Volkmann, K. (2008). “Physics teacher shortage perpetuates negative cycle,” Washington Examiner, January 23, 2008.Morgan, J. T., and Kittleson, T. (2009). “High School Physics in Iowa: Findings from the 2009 Iowa High School Physics Survey.” Available online at .http://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ope/pol/tsa.dochttp://www.iahsaa.org/basketball/index.htmlhttp://www.physics.uni.edu/teacher-surveyhttp://iacad.org/istj5Kittleson and Morgan: Schools in Balance: Comparing Iowa Physics Teachers and TeachingPublished by UNI ScholarWorks,

Schools in Balance: Comparing Iowa Physics Teachers and Teaching in Large and Small Schools

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Schools in Balance: Comparing Iowa Physics Teachers and Teaching in Large and Small Schools

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