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By: Sheila Tobias and Anne Baffert
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$17.56 - Member Price
$21.95 - Nonmember Price
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http://www.nsta.org/store/product_detail.aspx?lid=amzn&id=10.2505/9781936137060 21.95 Science Teaching as a Profession: Why It Isn’t. How It Could Be. http://www.nsta.org//images/products/shrinked/140/PB280X.jpg
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Details
| Type of Product: | NSTA Press Book (also see downloadable PDF version of this book) |
| Publication Date: | 3/1/2010 |
| Pages: | 152 |
| Stock Number: | PB280X |
| ISBN: | 978-1-936137-06-0 |
| Grade Level: | Elementary School, Middle School, High School |
| Read Inside: | Read a sample chapter: The Essentials Under Siege |
Our reviewers—top-flight teachers and other outstanding science educators—have determined that this resource is among the best available supplements for science teaching.
[Read the full review] |
Description
Belatedly, it will seem to many teachers, efforts to improve K–12 education have put the classroom teacher back on center stage. After decades of innovation in the use of computers, the web, and other pedagogically rich devices, researchers on all sides of the political spectrum are converging on what is really an old-fashioned view: Student achievement depends mainly on the quality of instruction as created and conveyed by the teacher in the classroom.
That’s the good news for teachers.
But instead of gaining more autonomy and control over what he or she teaches and how, today’s classroom teacher is becoming a prisoner of high-stakes testing of pupils’ achievement gains. That’s the gist of the revolution launched in 2002 by the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB). Teacher “quality” is deemed directly responsible for pupils’ achievement. And the obverse: Where pupils’ gains are subpar, it is the teachers’ fault.
Science teaching as a profession was already under siege when this new century began. Mostly absent from school and school district leadership, secondary science teachers, and in particular science chairs, have looked on helplessly as the ground shifts beneath them. Spokespeople for science education have been largely scientists! This is not entirely inappropriate. After all, science as a profession depends on high-quality recruits. Nor can we do without the science education research community. But science teachers have a unique expertise, and they are not usually invited to the table where decisions that affect their work are made.
Science teachers are not averse to having their own students’ achievements factored into the equation. To the contrary, they look forward to having science put back on the front burner from which it has been dislodged by math and reading.
Our proposition is simple but revolutionary. Until and unless science teachers are given back substantial control of the subjects they teach, including curriculum content, pedagogy, pacing, and assessment, and successfully recruited into leadership at the school, district, state, and national levels, we will not have robust student achievement.
Additional Info
| Intended User Role: | Curriculum Supervisor, Elementary-Level Educator, High-School Educator, Middle-Level Educator, Professional Development Provider, Teacher |
| Educational Issues: | Achievement, Classroom management, Educational research, Professional development, Teacher preparation |
Contents
Foreword by Gerald F. Wheeler
Preface: A Note on Methodology
Acknowledgments
Chapter 1: An Overview
Sidebar: Avoiding Future Shortfalls: Attracting and Keeping Gen Y in Teaching
Chapter 2: Attrition: Why It Matters
Sidebar: Close-ups
Chapter 3: How Did Teaching First Gain and Then Lose Its Professional Status?
Sidebar: The Elements of the Professions
Chapter 4: The Long Shadow of No Child Left Behind: Single-faceted Accountability
Chapter 5: The Essentials Under Siege
Part I: Teacher Pay
Sidebar: What About That Vaunted Long Summer Vacation?
Part II: Tenure
Part III: Unions
Chapter 6: Ongoing Efforts to Elevate Teachers’ Capability and Status
Case 1: National Board Certification
Case 2: Professional Learning Communities
Chapter 7: Engaging Science Teachers in the Wider World of Science
Chapter 8: Science Teaching Elsewhere: Spotlight on Finland
Chapter 9: Empowering Science Teachers to Lead
About the Authors
Glossary of Educational Terms
Recommended Resources
Interview Protocols
Index
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National Standards Correlation
This resource has 8 correlations with the National Standards.
[HIDE CORRELATIONS]
- Context of Professional Development
- Leadership
- Requires skillful school and district leaders who guide continuous instructional improvement. (NSDC)
- Process Standards for Professional Development
- Evaluation
- Uses multiple sources of information to guide improvement and demonstrate its impact. (NSDC)
- Recognition of the history, culture, and organization of the school environment. (NSES)
- Continuous program assessment that captures the perspectives of all those involved, uses a variety of strategies, focuses on the process and effects of the program, and feeds directly into program improvement and evaluation. (NSES)
- Clear, shared goals based on a vision of science learning, teaching, and teacher development congruent with the National Science Education Standards . (NSES)
- Research-Based
- Prepares educators to apply research to decision making. (NSDC)
- Connect and integrate all pertinent aspects of science and science education. (NSES)
- Design
- Introduce teachers to scientific literature, media, and technological resources that expand their science knowledge and their ability to access further knowledge. (NSES)
Published Reviews
“Perhaps more than anyone else, as teachers we enter our professions with a great deal of idealism. … Tobias and Baffert did a remarkable job outlining why our profession is not close enough to its ideal. The authors became well-acquainted with the obstacles we face: bureaucratic hierarchies that view us more as pawns than consultants, administrivia, generic professional development given by people whom more closely resemble travelling sales-men of old than modern educators and, of course, low salaries. But more importantly—and what makes the book enjoyable—is it empowers us by encouraging us to develop and defend that which makes science teaching special.”
Chem 13 News, September 2010
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