Sunday, February 19, 2012
Exhibit Hall A-B1 (VCC West Building)
Science education currently focuses on developing science-based content knowledge, emphasizing the teaching of science vocabulary words (e.g., photosynthesis). Nevertheless, current curriculum lacks a focus on general academic language vocabulary (e.g., process, analyze). Such vocabulary is critical for understanding texts both in and outside of the science classroom. Here, we detail a small-scale study examining the impact of a new approach to science curriculum that addresses these particular literacy needs. The Strategic Education Research Partnership (SERP), in collaboration with Harvard University, Stanford University and local public schools developed six weeks science curriculum to be used in sixth grade. Each weekly unit incorporates reading of texts, a hands-on experiment, classroom discussion and writing. The primary goal of the materials is improving academic vocabulary as well as scientific reasoning skills. To design a curriculum that would be flexible across multiple districts, we based the curriculum on the K-12 Science Education Frameworks as detailed by the National Research Council and emphasized the teaching of scientific practices. The curriculum was implemented in ten 6th grade classrooms (N = ~200 students) in the Boston Public Schools. We analyzed the writing samples from the first four weeks of the curriculum, focusing on use of target vocabulary words as well as written scientific reasoning. We found improvement in both the number of vocabulary words, and the proportion of vocabulary words used correctly. The number of vocabulary words used correctly doubles over the course of the four - week curricular exposure. Moreover, the length of the written responses increases by approximately 30 words and students’ ability to construct a scientific argument improved. Most science curriculum does not emphasize the role of reading writing or using academic language. We found that by creating a curriculum that incorporated academic language and focused on teaching scientific practice, we were able to improve student vocabulary and argumentation skills. We have seen an immediate impact of our curriculum on a small scale and are working with additional school districts to gauge impact on a larger scale.