This week in education news, a look at the variation in teacher pay between the states, a new Lego set for middle schoolers that incorporates coding, and challenges ahead with the California test based on new science standards.
The average teacher salary in the United States is approximately $60,000 today but there’s tremendous variation in pay among states. This infographic from Forbes provides an overview of the evolution of U.S. teacher salaries and the massive growth disparity among different states. Read the article featured in Forbes magazine.
Peter Tabichi, a math and science teacher in Kenya’s Rift Valley, was announced as the winner of a $1 million international teaching prize Sunday in a star-studded ceremony in Dubai. Read the article featured in Education Week.
The LEGO Education SPIKE Prime set, aimed at middle school students, combines LEGO bricks, coding language based on Scratch, and a programmable multi-port Hub to help every learner become a confident learner. Using hands on lessons, students will be equipped to not only create working machinery in LEGO, but also program its functions and features. Read more.
“Alexa, watch the class!” These University of Idaho students placed 90 Amazon Echo Dots in schools across Northern Idaho. Find out what happens when teachers left the classroom for a few minutes relying on the Echo Dot they left behind to keep their students in line. Read more.
High school students in California may face some challenges when they take the new online California Science Test for the first time this spring. The new test comes after the state passed new Next Generation Science Standards in 2013. Read the article featured in The Record.
A new Pew Research Center survey finds that many Americans can answer at least some questions about science concepts, but there are substantial differences in levels of science knowledge by race and ethnicity and men tend to score higher than women on science knowledge. Read more.
Dayton Public Schools’ Challenger Learning Center in Dayton, Ohio, is one of 44 centers around the globe aimed at engaging students in “hands-on exploration and discovery opportunities that strengthen knowledge in science, technology, engineering and mathematics.” Read the article featured in District Administration.
In the midst of male-dominated fields that can sometimes deter females from entering, mentorship programs are cultivating interest and opening up opportunities to girls in STEM, EdSurge reports. In fact, when it comes to the percentage of girls who understand the relevance of STEM and the possible jobs within it, there’s a 20% difference between girls who know a woman in STEM (73%) and those who don’t (53%). Read the brief featured in Education DIVE.
A group of Democratic senators, including 2020 contender Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.), on Thursday introduced a bill aimed at combating sexism within the science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) fields. The bill, called the Combating Sexual Harassment in Science Act of 2019, comes in response to a study published last year that found 58 percent of women in STEM fields say they have been sexually harassed. Read the article featured in The Hill.
Stay tuned for next week’s top education news stories.
The Communication, Legislative & Public Affairs (CLPA) team strives to keep NSTA members, teachers, science education leaders, and the general public informed about NSTA programs, products, and services and key science education issues and legislation. In the association’s role as the national voice for science education, its CLPA team actively promotes NSTA’s positions on science education issues and communicates key NSTA messages to essential audiences.
The mission of NSTA is to promote excellence and innovation in science teaching and learning for all.
This week in education news, a look at the variation in teacher pay between the states, a new Lego set for middle schoolers that incorporates coding, and challenges ahead with the California test based on new science standards.
I recently discovered a Facebook post in which a parent expressed disagreement over how I graded her son’s assignment. This unleashed a torrent of hateful, profanity-laced comments including one person saying I should be fired. I’m afraid something like this could ruin my good reputation at school. Any thoughts on how to handle this? — J., Nebraska
Wow!
If this parent posted hateful or slanderous comments then I think the very first thing you should do is talk to your administrator. Did this parent ever talk to or contact you about this? If not, then I think a face-to-face meeting with the principal present should be arranged. People can be brave online where they can fire off vindictive statements without having to look anyone in the eye. She may have legitimate concerns, but she has raised them in the wrong way. My guess is that she will not be as nasty in the same room as you and your principal.
I do wonder, why are you looking at parents’ Facebook posts and comments? You can’t control how people talk about you in their homes or with their friends—and social media has become an ersatz kitchen table for many people. And, you will never be everyone’s favorite. The most likely people to post something about you will fall in two camps: those who are angry with you and those who are thrilled with you. You’ll never get a real idea of what most people think. Try not to sweat this too much and remain confident that you are doing the best job possible. You will likely teach thousands of students in your career, and some are likely to have parents who won’t address problems properly. Resist reading other people’s opinions about you.
I recently discovered a Facebook post in which a parent expressed disagreement over how I graded her son’s assignment. This unleashed a torrent of hateful, profanity-laced comments including one person saying I should be fired. I’m afraid something like this could ruin my good reputation at school. Any thoughts on how to handle this? — J., Nebraska
Who knew that gecko feet inspired scientists to develop a stickier adhesive or that cockleburs in dog fur led to the invention of Velcro? Discovery Engineering in Physical Science uses these and other surprising cases of innovations sparked by accidental observations to teach about the amazing role of serendipity in science. The case studies in this new resource are a lively way to integrate engineering into your physical science classes.
Who knew that gecko feet inspired scientists to develop a stickier adhesive or that cockleburs in dog fur led to the invention of Velcro? Discovery Engineering in Physical Science uses these and other surprising cases of innovations sparked by accidental observations to teach about the amazing role of serendipity in science. The case studies in this new resource are a lively way to integrate engineering into your physical science classes.
Be the Successful Wiz Behind the Curtain to Your School’s Family Science Night
We have the ancient Greeks to thank for so much of what we continue to enjoy today. Take, for example, the concept of the community theater. Intergenerational groups would gather, all those years ago, in informal settings to both watch and participate in dramas that explored a range of thought-provoking topics. Families would discuss what they’d seen, ask questions, learn together, and communicate big ideas.
The community theater model is a great analogy for what authors Donna Governor and Denise Webb are trying to achieve in their new book, Staging Family Science Nights, says NSTA Past President Juliana Texley in the book’s forward.
Texley readily acknowledges that planning a Family Science Night will require educators’ time, talent, and even some funding. But she adds that “data document both higher in-school achievement for students who participate with their families and higher support for STEM in communities overall.”
Governor and Webb say that Family Science Nights were the highlight of their teaching careers. They formed a partnership organizing these events while working at adjacent schools and hosted events for thousands of families with students across all levels of K-12 education.
“We want to make it clear… this book is for… elementary teachers, secondary teachers, and teachers of preservice teachers,” the authors explain in the book’s preface. “We found out that Family Science Night events are great for our youngest students, but important for older students as well. We’ve seen older students develop a sense of self-efficacy in science in ways that never would have happened in the classroom.”
This book is a pragmatic planning document that contains two main sections: Section 1 (“Producing the Event”) walks educators through a detailed account of how to make the case for Family Science Night; write the script; cast the event; build the set, procure costumes and props; invite the community; and handle all the last-minute details, challenges, or obstacles that might arise.
Section 2 (“On the Stage”) provides educators with specific suggestions for novice-, intermediate- and advanced-level activities. From balancing a “bug” on your finger, to engineering a roller coaster with loops and turns, to building a hovercraft from a used CD, this book offers nearly 40 different activities to engage learners of every age.
Governor and Webb even created an appendix where they share a variety of forms, letters, and information that they used over the years in producing their own Family Science Nights. It’s hard to imagine a detail that these two overlooked.
Having two experienced mentors who have created a such an extensive, creative, and practical A to Z list of everything you need to host Family Science Night is sure to support your success.
Read a sample chapter. Then learn how to order your own copy. The show must go on!
We have the ancient Greeks to thank for so much of what we continue to enjoy today. Take, for example, the concept of the community theater. Intergenerational groups would gather, all those years ago, in informal settings to both watch and participate in dramas that explored a range of thought-provoking topics.
NSTA Conferences: Professional Learning and So Much More
Editor’s Note:In this blog series commemorating NSTA’s 75th Anniversary we take a look to the past with an eye to the future.
Can you imagine attending an NSTA convention over Thanksgiving weekend?!
Indeed, that was the timing of NSTA’s first regional meetings (in conjunction with NEA and AAAS), in 1944.
However, NSTA’s first “independent” National Convention was held in 1953 with a registration of about 620 educators, representing 33 different states and 28 commercial exhibits.
Sixty-six years later, the NSTA National Conferences boasts a registration of more than 10 times that number. Attendees come from every state in the nation and from more than 25 different countries. We now have more than 300 exhibiting companies!
According to many attendees, the conferences continue to provide a valuable source of professional development. NSTA conferences are THE place to be if you want to:
network with like-minded colleagues;
obtain professional development that is specific to your grade level/interest or content area;
become a mentor or mentee;
find someone who understands and has experienced your classroom challenges;
hear invited speakers who are relative to what’s happening in STEM education;
engage, learn, and/or share best practices; or,
get re-energized and be reminded of the positive impact you have on so many students, every day!
Our conferences are packed with opportunities to meet and engage with other educators and administrators and spend time in an exhibit hall filled with up-to-date technology, software, lab equipment, books, and other resources that will enhance your classroom and teaching skills.
A diverse committee of educators (your peers) come together well in advance of a conference to develop the strands and programming. As a result, addressing your interests and priorities is always the ultimate goal.
Whether a national, area conference, or the STEM Forum & Expo, there is no better place to get motivated and re-gain pride in being an educator!
The STEM Forum is a unique, focused event that brings together (informal and formal) educators and representatives from exhibiting companies who are interested in, and who have tools and resources to share that will ensure successful implementation of STEM education into our schools and communities. It is intended to provide resources for educators and organizations seeking to learn more about STEM education, associated outreach programs, partnerships, schools, and curricula. .
You will not want to miss this professional development opportunity! Mark your calendar now for the STEM Forum or any of our conferences this fall, and help us celebrate 75 years of supporting all teachers of science!
Our staff looks forward to seeing you soon!
The mission of NSTA is to promote excellence and innovation in science teaching and learning for all.
Two of Ramona Jolliffe Satre’s sixth graders at Ogden Middle School in Ogden, Iowa, review a podcast they created using an iPad. Photo by Terri Reutter
“When my students are unable to attend a field trip, I typically create a podcast, so those students can listen to what was learned. Then I post the podcast in Google Classroom, so they can access it,” says Kurtz Miller, who teaches geology, physics, and physical science at Wayne High School in Huber Heights, Ohio. He says podcasts work well “for my upper-level, college-credit geology students because it helps them really digest and consider what was said…It gives them a firsthand account and additional information besides other students’ notes.”
Miller gets permission in advance from the speakers on the field trips to record their talks. He uses a mono digital voice recorder with built-in USB. “It costs just [less than] $50 [and] records in MP3 audio format,” he explains. “It’s an example of something a teacher without a lot of tech savvy could do, a starting point for teachers to try.”
“I first started using student-made podcasts along with a sixth-grade yearlong project about famous scientists,” says Ramona Jolliffe Satre, former fifth- and sixth-grade science teacher and now a K–12 instructional science coach for Ogden Community Schools in Ogden, Iowa. Each month, “chosen students presented orally to their class about a famous scientist in history. This usually involved a slide presentation to guide their talk. This oral presentation also involved the student using a mic to present; another learning experience.”
Next, her students “record and upload a podcast, allowing peers absent from class to share in the presentation. The podcast is logged in their Google Classroom for future reference at assessment time. Students also enjoy using the podcasts for reviewing the information,” Satre maintains.
Her students also produce three- to five-minute podcasts to accompany “a poster about a classroom concept. We just completed posters about natural disasters in class. Each poster has a [two-dimensional barcode] on it that attaches a student-made podcast offering further information about the natural disaster. We share these posters in our hallways and community locations like the public library,” she relates. “It gets the community involved and gives students another audience,” she notes.
“I encourage students to write a script first, to connect the written word to the brain. Repetition helps them remember,” Satre contends. She emphasizes the importance of “talk[ing] like scientists” and says podcasting “is a way to reinforce that, [having] correct grammar…a presentation voice.”
Because of the ease and popularity of texting, “a lot of students are not as verbal as they once were. Students need to practice talking. In Iowa, part of our literacy standard is speaking. Students have to be able to communicate for their careers,” Satre asserts.
“I’ve been podcasting as an instructor and have had students create podcasts,” reports Laura Guertin, professor of Earth science at Penn State Brandywine in Media, Pennsylvania. She says she was sold on podcasting after attending a summit on undergraduate science education and hearing from employers of recent graduates that “students’ weakest skill is their ability to listen.” Guertin contends that students “don’t get enough opportunities to show their knowledge matters and makes a difference in others’ learning. Students can be teachers and students at the same time.” For example, her students created podcasts about tree identification for Ridley Creek State Park in Newtown Square, Pennsylvania, and podcasts focusing on basic geology and sustainability for the Pennsylvania Earth Science Teachers Association.
Podcasting is “a tool to enhance learning of content without it taking away from the objectives of the course, without having technology be a barrier or a burden,” Guertin observes. “It can help students learn a transferrable skill outside [my] Earth science courses… When students create podcasts, they can post them on their LinkedIn pages to impress employers.”
Allowing students to choose topics of interest related to the course “gives them ownership of the project,” Guertin points out. She has her students work with librarians to research their scripts. “The information has to be current, reliable, and unbiased. Students learn how to evaluate good sources and how to write a script…I have them listen to examples of [quality] podcasts and review [one another’s] scripts and podcasts, which helps improve their writing and recording abilities.”
Guertin also records podcasts for her students. “They can listen to them in the car or while riding on buses,” she notes. “I put in natural breaks so students can pause the podcast and return to it later.”
She will also pose the same questions she would in class during the podcast. “They can hit pause to think about the answer, then restart the podcast. It gets them to think and apply what they’re learning,” she maintains.
‘Another Podcast Boom’
While noting that technological advancements in schools have made it easier for students to record audio and video together, students are making quality audio podcasts now mainly for “car rides and workouts,” reports science teacher Brian Bartel, co-host of NSTA’s Lab Out Loud podcast series. He and science teacher co-host Dale Basler speculate that “not a lot of students are listening to audio podcasts yet.”
However, the co-hosts foresee “another podcast boom now because you can make them with many devices. The apps allow it,” Basler asserts. “Video is king, but telling a story using audio gets students thinking about all the aspects.”
“This is important because you can’t mow the lawn while watching video, but you can while listening to a podcast,” Bartel points out.
Teachers are having students listen to Lab Out Loud podcasts “and put their images to the narration, which allows them to synthesize and interpret the content and remix it,” reports Basler. “This results in a deeper understanding for students.”
The co-hosts agree that having students make their own podcasts “is not done enough,” perhaps because teachers “have to give up control of the classroom. It’s an isolating task, but gives students agency if done right.”
“I love to hear students ask, ‘Can I do a lab report in a different way?’ There are many ways” for students to showcase their learning, including podcasts, Bartel notes. “Trust students to make the right decision to express their learning, and have a good microphone if you’re doing this on a regular basis.”
“Make sure [you convey] what you want students to learn [when they make podcasts]. The content is more important than the technology; learning outcomes are more important,” Basler emphasizes. He adds that schools and teachers also are responsible for “giving students guidelines on making meaningful content.”
Logistics is a factor. “At the elementary level, you may have 20 to 30 students trying to record in one classroom. We don’t have schools designed for this,” Bartel points out. Teachers may need to “stagger these podcasts so not all students are recording them at the same time.” He also advocates finding ways to diminish background noise by “creating recording tents to isolate sound, or having students record in the hallway.”
Teachers also need to decide how to share their students’ podcasts with other students and teachers, parents, or the public. Basler urges teachers to ask themselves, “Where will the content end up? Does it follow a student forever?”
Two of Ramona Jolliffe Satre’s sixth graders at Ogden Middle School in Ogden, Iowa, review a podcast they created using an iPad. Photo by Terri Reutter
In the STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) education community, we are well aware that “the representation of certain groups of people in science and engineering education and employment differs from their representation in the U.S. population” (NSF 2017). Included in these underrepresented groups are people with disabilities, whose participation in STEM education and occupations is often impeded by various barriers.
It doesn’t have to be this way. The Center for Applied Special Technology’sUniversal Design for Learning (UDL) is a “framework to improve and optimize teaching and learning for all people based on scientific insights into how humans learn.” The goals of UDL are to minimize barriers and maximize learning for all students. This framework goes beyond strategies to improve access—importantly, it also focuses on effective practices for providing the support and challenge necessary to help young people persevere and develop the skills and knowledge necessary for success.
The National Equity Project reminds us that “any system produces what it was designed to produce.” This is as true of human-designed systems such as education as it is of any natural system. Education as a system has the goal of producing graduates prepared for life, work, and citizenship—this is the intended outcome for all individuals who enter the system, not just some. How can we effectively change the system of STEM education to make this more of a reality for all?
Issue 10 of Connected Science Learning—with installments in April, May, and June—explores research-based resources and promising programs for engaging young people with special needs in STEM learning experiences happening in schools and in the community.
This installment of CSL also includes a special feature: an interview with NSTA executive director David Evans and ASTC president and CEO Cristin Dorgelo, who share their perspectives on CSL’s focus and how it can help promote a thriving STEM learning ecosystem. This interview also includes an invitation for you to join the conversation. Help us take advantage of the journal’s online platform to engage in a broader dialogue and shared learning across all STEM learning environments.
Beth Murphy, PhD (bmurphy@nsta.org) is field editor for Connected Science Learning and an independent STEM education consultant with expertise in fostering collaboration between organizations and schools, providing professional learning experiences for educators, and implementing program evaluation that supports practitioners to do their best work.
This book will get young readers buzzing about bees! Next Time You See a Bee reveals the big impact these little insects have on the world. It shows how the physical features of bees make them pros at collecting and spreading pollen. It explains how bees pollinate flowers, allowing the plants to produce delicious foods such as apples, almonds, and peaches. It also introduces readers to the wide variety of North America’s native bee species, discusses why bees are threatened, and shares what readers can do to help.
This book will get young readers buzzing about bees! Next Time You See a Bee reveals the big impact these little insects have on the world. It shows how the physical features of bees make them pros at collecting and spreading pollen. It explains how bees pollinate flowers, allowing the plants to produce delicious foods such as apples, almonds, and peaches. It also introduces readers to the wide variety of North America’s native bee species, discusses why bees are threatened, and shares what readers can do to help.
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I recently discovered a Facebook post in which a parent expressed disagreement over how I graded her son’s assignment. This unleashed a torrent of hateful, profanity-laced comments including one person saying I should be fired. I’m afraid something like this could ruin my good reputation at school. Any thoughts on how to handle this?
Editor’s Note: In this blog series commemorating 
