The House Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies (LHHS) marked up their FY2018 education budget on Thursday; despite a lower funding level overall from last year, lawmakers seek to cut the Department of Education by $2.4 billion, or 3.5 percent. President Trump proposed cutting the Department’s budget by 13 percent (about $9.2 billion). Highlights:

• Provides $500 million funding to the Title IV block created by the Every Student Succeeds Act. The current funding level is $400m, and the authorized level for this program is $1.6 billion. President Trump eliminated funding for this program in his budget.
• The bill does not fund the Title II program under ESSA as Title II, Part A. Trump’s budget also calls for eliminating this program.
• Funds the 21st Century Learning Centers Program at $1 billion — down from $1.2 billion in funding this year. The President eliminated this program in his budget proposal.
• The bill funds Title I at $15.9 billion, similar to its funding for the current year. The House did not allocate $1 billion in Title I money to a new grant program that would allow students to attend the public school of their choice, and they did not include $250 million that the Trump administration wanted to expand and study vouchers.
• Provides $12.2 billion in funding for special education under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, a $200 million increase from the current level of funding.
• Increases funding for charter schools by $28 million, bringing it to a total of $370 million
• The legislation also calls for a $1.1 billion increase for the National Institutes of Health (the President had proposed reducing funding for NIH by $5.8 billion)

The full Appropriations Committee is expected to take action on this bill later this week.

Science Teachers Speak Out on Science Testing in Every Student Succeeds Act 

In late June, NSTA and the STEM Education Coalition sent a letter to the U.S. Department of Education, stating our concerns that their feedback to Delaware and other states about their state plans to implement ESSA was widely viewed in education policy circles as discouraging states from including science in their state accountability systems under the new federal education law. These concerns were covered in numerous press stories over the past two weeks and got national attention, including coverage in the Washington Post and New York Times.

The Department of Education responded to our letter, reaffirming that they support state usage of science testing in compliance with the ESSA requirements and further clarified the Department’s intent was not to discourage the use of science scores.  Read the letter from NSTA and the STEM Ed Coalition here and the Department of Education letter here.

STEM in ESSA Detailed in New Achieve Brief

On Wednesday, Achieve released a new brief examining ways in which the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) supports STEM education.  The brief outlines states’ current goals and approaches to science inclusion in their accountability plans under ESSA, as well as how they can leverage funding opportunities in ESSA to support science. (The brief limits its scope to only those 16 states and the District of Columbia who submitted plans to the U.S. Department of Education (USED) in the first round of ESSA state submissions this past May.) From the report, “Of the 16 states and the District of Columbia that have submitted ESSA plans to date, ten states (see table, below) are including science in their accountability system. All ten of these states are including science assessment as part of an academic achievement or proficiency indicator.

States Proposing to Include Science in Their Accountability Systems Under ESSA

The report also looks at how often, and in which grades, states administered science assessments for school year 2016–17, how federal funding can be used for STEM education, and how states intend to leverage ESSA to support STEM.

Stay tuned, and watch for more updates in future issues of NSTA Express.

Jodi Peterson is the Assistant Executive Director of Communication, Legislative & Public Affairs for the National Science Teachers Association (NSTA) and Chair of the STEM Education Coalition. Reach her via e-mail at jpeterson@nsta.org or via Twitter at @stemedadvocate.

The mission of NSTA is to promote excellence and innovation in science teaching and learning for all.

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For the past seven years, my district has held an enrichment opportunity for students in grades fifth through ninth grade called STEM Summer Institute. This unique program has been funded by a Department of Defense Education Activity Grant.  Manhattan, Kansas is next to Fort Riley Army Base and the district strives to support the distinctive needs of our military children. With that in mind, this STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) summer program allows students to practice hands-on STEM activities in a relaxed environment.  Local students select one class for each week in June (our school year ends by Memorial Day).

 Offerings vary each year, but grades 5 and 6 have different options than grades 7 through 9. This year our 317 learners are enrolled in twenty-three different classes; thirteen choices for the younger students and ten choices for the middle school students. Each course is held in the mornings, Mondays through Thursdays. For example, if a child is enrolled in all four weeks, they would have the opportunity to experience a wide range of hands-on STEM activities in four different classes.  Since the sessions are held on campus at Kansas State University, students ride a bus from several pick up sites around town.

Our June classes are limited to fifteen students if instructed by one local teacher, whereas eighteen students are allowed in classes co-taught by two adults.  The second adult is either a college professor, STARBASE or area technical college instructor.

This is a collaborative project with my district and Kansas State University’s College of Education. During the summer, traditional field placement of pre-service teachers is difficult to locate. With STEM Summer Institute, these college students gain quality contact time within a real classroom with real students. They observe the experienced teacher each week, and by the fourth week are able to conduct the instruction. Since classes only meet Mondays through Thursdays, the KSU teaching teams meet with the local cooperating teacher each Friday to plan and reflect on the week.

Having the opportunity to hold classes in a number of Kansas State University buildings allows students to visit college laboratories. Teachers also invite professors to share their knowledge through demonstrations or activities. Some examples include: the state climatologist talking to the weather classes about the formation of tornadoes and producing a tornado in her special box; a physics professor providing hands-on experiences for the K’Nex roller coaster groups; the assistant college soccer coach sharing how to maneuver a ball for the science of sports crowd. Some of our offerings have co-instructors that are college professors and thus classes meet in their departments (City of Mine craft is in Construction Science, Vet Med is held in the Veterinary College of Medicine, both Mighty Micro Controllers and Simulating The Martian in Department of Computer Science, Passive Solar Architecture  and Grain Science). Advantages are extensive, but most notably our students are able to access the same equipment as college students.

STEM Summer Institute is not only a collaborative project with the local university, but with the community as well. Our local D.o.D. STARBASE instructors share their knowledge with fifth graders during the schoolyear and offer a robotics class to summer students. Manhattan Area Technical College opens their doors to our seventh and eighth graders to explore career paths offered at the site. Riley County Police Department stages a crime scene for the C.S.I. groups every week.  Soldiers from Fort Riley Army Base share STEM options within the Army at the end of June.

As technology changes, so does our offerings.  We have added an indoor drone technology and electronics textile classes. This June, we added programs focused on arts to allow the pre-service teachers more chances to practice in their field. Students will explore science fiction writing, build in a maker space, and learn how music and science are connected.

I have assumed an administrative position in my high school. Although I’m sad to leave the classroom, I’m looking forward to this challenge. I have the credentials but not much experience, so I need insights on making the transition. —C., New York

Congratulations on your new professional adventure! If you have not formally been assigned a mentor, find an informal one in your school district or through social media. Networking is an important part of being a leader, and social media provides many ways to work with and learn from others.

The best leaders I’ve worked with spent a lot of time communicating with both students and teachers: listening attentitively (even if you’ve heard the same comment or complaint before), explaining the rationale for decisions, celebrating the achievements of students and teachers, and being approachable in the hallways and classrooms. They also had a sense of humor and the ability to differentiate between the trivial and the important.

It’s easy to become overwhelmed with events and commitments before, during, and after school. One of my administrative mentors would come to school early to check the calendar and plan out his day of classroom visits, meetings, and other duties (in pencil, since unanticipated events would occur). Keep a log or journal of what you do and reflect often on what you’re learning.

You can be a resource for the science faculty. You have experienced a teacher’s responsibility for safety in the labs and security in the storage areas. You know how much behind-the-scenes work science teachers do and are aware of the hazards (and possible liabilities) of scheduling non-science classes or study halls in lab classrooms.

It’s eye-opening to go beyond your own classroom to viewing the school as a larger system. Ask questions and be willing to observe, listen, and learn.

Photo: http://www.flickr.com/photos/spcummings/361167519/

By definition, one’s own name is the most personal of all words. When a teacher mispronounces a student’s name, the experience can be painful and even harmful to the student’s emotional and educational well-being.

Mispronounced names can add to the difficulties that English-language learners experience in classrooms, according to an Education Week article (Mitchell 2016). The article quoted Rita Kohli of the University of California, Riverside:

“If [ELLs] are encountering teachers who are not taking the time to learn their name or don’t validate who they are, it starts to create this wall.” The article went on: “[Name mispronunciation] can also hinder academic progress. Despite a national increase in the overall graduation rate, the dropout rate for foreign-born and immigrant students remains above 30 percent, three times that of U.S.-born white students.”

In addition, white teachers mispronouncing the names of students of color can represent “subtle daily insults that … support a racial and cultural hierarchy of minority inferiority,” according to a study published in Race, Ethnicity and Education (Kohli and Solórzano 2012). Regardless of why a teacher mispronounces a student’s name, such experiences can affect the child’s worldview and self-worth, the study found.

“It can result in children believing that their culture or aspects of their identity are an inconvenience or are inferior. Many participants shared that the issues they experienced with their names in school caused them a great deal of anxiety [and] shame,” Kohli and Solórzano wrote (2012). “The consequences of these subtle racial experiences are real and can have a lasting impact.”

Aggravating a lack of diversity
Part of the issue may be a lack of diversity among teachers. As a group, U.S. teachers are 82% white, according to the Department of Education (2016), but at least 350 languages are spoken in U.S. homes, according to the Census Bureau (2015). Breaking that down, more than 190 languages are spoken in New York City homes alone, the bureau reports, and 54% of Los Angeles residents ages 5 and older speak a language other than English at home.

“More than 4.8 million English learners are enrolled in America’s public schools, where currently they make up approximately 10% of the nation’s total student population,” wrote Yee Wan, an education administrator and former president of the National Association for Bilingual Education (Wan 2017).

To make your classroom welcoming, Wan wrote, “create a community where everyone is learning and saying each other’s names correctly. Simply asking the question, ‘Did I say your name correctly?’ sends the message that names and people matter.”

By mispronouncing a name, “whether you intend to or not, what you’re communicating is this: ‘Your name is different. Foreign. Weird. It’s not worth my time to get it right,’” wrote education blogger and former college instructor Jennifer Gonzalez (2014). “The best way to get students’ names right is to just ask them.”

Michael E. Bratsis is a former senior editor for KidsHealth in the Classroom (kidshealth.org/classroom).

On the web
For students: Social and emotional well-being: www.teenshealth.org/en/teens/your-mind

Pronunciation guides:
Naming conventions in Arabic, Chinese, Hindi, Korean, Russian, Somali, Spanish, Tagalog, Ukrainian, Urdu, Vietnamese: http://bit.ly/2nT4qJK
Pronunciation dictionary: www.forvo.com
Voice of America Pro-Nounce: http://pronounce.voanews.com
Related video: http://bit.ly/PBS-names

References
Gonzalez, J. 2014. How we pronounce student names, and why it matters. Cult of Pedagogy. www.cultofpedagogy.com/gift-of-pronunciation
Kohli, D., and G. Solórzano. 2012. Teachers, please learn our names! Racial microagressions and the K–12 classroom. Race, Ethnicity and Education 15 (4): 441–462. http://bit.ly/2nmj549
Mitchell, C. 2016. Education Week. Mispronouncing Students’ Names: A Slight That Can Cut Deep. May 10. http://bit.ly/24NZIQy
U.S. Census Bureau. 2015. Census Bureau reports at least 350 languages spoken in U.S. homes. http://bit.ly/2nLN6pl
U.S. Department of Education. 2016. The state of racial diversity in the educator workforce. http://bit.ly/1Oh5gWQ
Wan, Y. 2017. Did I say your name correctly? Strategies for creating a culture of respect. Perspectives 40 (1): 6–7. http://bit.ly/2oRmZz8

Editor’s Note

This article was originally published in the Summer 2017 issue of The 
Science Teacher journal from the National Science Teachers Association (NSTA).

Get Involved With NSTA!

Join NSTA today and receive The Science Teacher, the peer-reviewed journal just for high school teachers; to write for the journal, see our Author Guidelines, Call for Papers, and annotated sample manuscript; connect on the high school level science teaching list (members can sign up on the list server); or consider joining your peers at future NSTA conferences.

Although a small majority of students still hold stereotypical views of scientists, many students have a growing awareness that anyone can be a scientist, according to science educators participating in an informal NSTA Reports poll. Fifty-five percent said their students see scientists as most likely to be white males. However, when asked to compare the prevalence of this belief to that of 10 years ago, 60% said more students are aware that scientists can come from any demographic group. But students don’t always connect those opportunities with their own demographic group, according to 25% of respondents.
 Half of respondents noted that minority and/or female students pursuing advanced or elective science courses in their school or district were underrepresented compared to overall enrollment, while 37.5% said the percentage of minority and/or female students taking these courses correlated to overall enrollment. Only 12.5% said a higher percentage of minority and/or female students take advanced or elective science courses compared to overall enrollment.
More than half (59%) reported their school or district did not offer programs targeted toward increasing the diversity of the students in science programs. Most (82.5%) said they incorporate lessons or use other teaching materials that encourage students of color and/or girls to study science and pursue science careers.

Here’s what science teachers are saying about how they encourage students of color and/or girls to study science and pursue science careers:

[We practice] [s]tudent-driven, research- based learning [in which] the dreams of the student are allowed to be explored and achieved.—Educator, High School, Washington
All of my lessons are for everyone in every demographic. They should all be able to do all lessons no matter their gender, race, or nationality.—Educator, Middle School, High School, Minnesota
[One example is l]earning about Rosalind Franklin.—Educator, Middle School, Kansas
Teenage girls still feel pressure to identify as being squeamish about invertebrates and bodily fluids.—Educator, High School, New York
I don’t really have specific lessons. I am constantly talking about women and people of color in science throughout the year.—Educator, High School, Minnesota
[We expose students to] SciGirls at [third- through fifth-grade] level. —Educator, Elementary, New York
[It’s] important to consider what we explicitly teach, implicitly teach, and what we teach by omission, particularly when thinking about how to encourage girls to see themselves as scientists. —Educator, High School, Colorado
[I] preview instructional materials to [ensure they] show diversity. —Administrator, High School, Nevada
I desire to break the gender and racial stereotypes by asking my students often about gender and racial roles. —Educator, Elementary, Minnesota
I teach second grade. We have a Super Scientists and Inventors board in the classroom, and each week, I introduce a new person. I have picture cards that [I] put up on the board, along with picture cards with information on the back of them [that I place] in a center for them to write about them and how they impact their lives right now.—Educator, Elementary, Minnesota
[I] push all students equally.—Educator, High School, Minnesota
We use resource books that include multiple perspectives. We are also trying a biography unit [in which] students of color can read about scientists like themselves.—Educator, Middle School, Minnesota
[My class] did a study on women astronauts.— Educator, Elementary, Oklahoma
[I use v]aried [resources], e.g., NASA’s Modern Figures.—Educator, Institution of Higher Learning, North Carolina
All students are treated equally, and an even cross-section [is] invited to attend outside programs.—Educator, High School, Connecticut
Women [s]cientists’ biographies; science articles; current scientists of color; and especially women of all ethnicities’ work is integrated into lessons [and] daily discussions, and related to labs we do.—Educator, High School, Institution of Higher Learning, Colorado
[I give] examples of non-white scientists. —Educator, High School, Tennessee
[I do v]arious STEM activities both in and outside of the classroom. —Educator, Florida
[I use b]ell-ringers on women in science. —Educator, Elementary, Middle School, High School, Oklahoma
I always encourage my female students to consider the fields of math and science. We are a predomina[n]tly Native [American] school, so they are exposed to opportunities; however, our school is small and underfunded.—Educator, High School, Oklahoma
Science careers are discussed, with a variety of people featured. I don’t single out female or male, or minorities.—Educator, Elementary, Connecticut
I use myself as [an example of] a minority woman!—Educator, High School, Oklahoma
[I hold m]onthly STEM challenges and shar[e] biographies of diverse scientists. —Educator, Elementary, Georgia
[I] [c]onnect science to as many of their interests as possible.—Educator, High School, Wisconsin
I try to make sure my kids know that scientists are more than just the “Dead White Guys.” (I’m white.)—Educator, Middle School, California
[I increase awareness t]hrough discussion, classroom resources, projects that increase familiarity of female and minority scientists and their work, and activities that help students identify their own biases in these areas. —Administrator, Institution of Higher Learning, Arkansas

This article originally appeared in the Summer 2017 issue of NSTA Reports, the member newspaper of the National Science Teachers Association. Each month, NSTA members receive NSTA Reports, featuring news on science education, the association, and more. Not a member? Learn how NSTA can help you become the best science teacher you can be.

The mission of NSTA is to promote excellence and innovation in science teaching and learning for all.

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Our previous seven columns have been devoted to integrating the International Society for Technology in Education’s (ISTE) standards into the science classroom. Yet, knowing which activities align with the standards and determining where they fit within the curriculum can be challenging. This month, we provide some scaffolding to help teachers align the ISTE standards to the example activities in our previous columns.

There’s a common misconception that curriculum documents explain when material connected to a content standard would most benefit from using technology-based tools. A simple exercise shows this is untrue. Searching the word technology in a PDF version of the Next Generation Science Standards yields dozens of occurrences. In most of those cases, however, technology is connected solely to the crosscutting concept of “Connections to Engineering, Technology, and Applications of Science,” so the search isn’t very helpful.

Even where the term technology appears within a standard, the focus remains more on tool use instead of how students can choose tools that will best help them demonstrate understanding of content. An example of this in the NGSS is actually a connection to the Common Core State Standards and relates to a student’s ability to graph. Even here, the use of technology serves only to carry out a specific function and is not used in a higher-order way.

Search for key action verbs instead
What, then, would be a better way to mine the NGSS for the use of technology in classroom activities? Instead of searching for the word technology, let’s search for key action verbs (e.g., collaborate, communicate, organize) that support the seven ISTE standards. Searching for collaborate, for example, yields nearly 20 pages of results, many of which are directly cited within the science and engineering practices (SEP) and describe the student actions that should be seen in the science classroom. Just one example indicates that students should be able to “Plan and conduct an investigation collaboratively to produce data to serve as the basis for evidence to answer a question.” Now, we can call upon the resources provided in our column about global collaborators (Smith and Mader 2017), in which students use digital tools to collaborate with their peers.

To most effectively make use of this strategy, begin with the four indicators that accompany each ISTE standard and search for the action verbs that will evidence student learning. The search leads us to words such as communicate, which can be found in another SEP that encourages students to “communicate solutions with others in oral and/or written forms using models and/or drawings that provide detail about scientific ideas.” Now, you can draw upon some of the tools that we connected to the Creative Communicator standard (Smith and Mader 2017) to strengthen students’ skills in this SEP.

Conclusion
Once we understand that content, the NGSS, and ISTE standards are complementary, we will begin to see how technology can most appropriately support and transform student learning activities.

Ben Smith (ben@edtechinnovators.com) is an educational technology program specialist, and Jared Mader (jared@edtechinnovators.com) is the director of educational technology, for the Lincoln Intermediate Unit in New Oxford, Pennsylvania. They conduct teacher workshops on technology in the classroom nationwide.

References
International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE). 2016. The 2016 ISTE standards for students. Arlington, VA: ISTE. http://bit.ly/ISTE-standards

Smith, B., and J. Mader. 2017. Communicating science creatively. The Science Teacher 84 (4): 10. http://bit.ly/TST-communicate

Smith, B., and J. Mader. 2017. Help students become global collaborators. The Science Teacher 84 (3): 9. http://bit.ly/TST-collaborate

Editor’s Note

This article was originally published in the Summer 2017 issue of The 
Science Teacher journal from the National Science Teachers Association (NSTA).

Get Involved With NSTA!

Join NSTA today and receive The Science Teacher, the peer-reviewed journal just for high school teachers; to write for the journal, see our Author Guidelines, Call for Papers, and annotated sample manuscript; connect on the high school level science teaching list (members can sign up on the list server); or consider joining your peers at future NSTA conferences.

This week in education news, NSTA and STEM Education Coalition sent a letter to the Education Department saying it is misinterpreting ESSA; Florida House Bill 989 was signed into law by Governor Rick Scott; the White House denies reports that OSTP is now completely unstaffed; a reminder of what’s wrong with how kids learn science (and other subjects); states are learning on their waivers from past law for their new education plans; and states can indeed use science tests to rate schools under ESSA.

Science Teachers: DeVos’s Education Department Is Misinterpreting Federal Law

Science educators aren’t exactly thrilled with the Education Department under Betsy DeVos. They weren’t fans when President Trump recently pulled the United States out of the landmark Paris climate agreement (which all countries had signed except Syria and Nicaragua) — and DeVos issued a statement in support. Now, the National Science Teachers Association and the STEM Education Coalition have sent a letter to the Education Department saying it is misinterpreting the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), the federal K-12 education law that replaced No Child Left Behind, in regard to science and school accountability plans. Click here to read the article featured in The Washington Post.

Two Sad Ironies In Florida Passing Its ‘Anti-Science’ Law

It is officially called Florida House Bill 989, and it was signed into law by Florida Governor Rick Scott on June 26th, 2017 after passing both chambers of the house. According to the National Center for Science Education’s website: With the law now in place, any county resident — not just any parent with a child in the country’s public schools, as was the case previously — can now file a complaint about instructional materials in the county’s public schools, and the school will now have to appoint a hearing officer to hear the complaint. Click here to read the article featured in Forbes.

White House Denies Report That Part of Its Science And Technology Office Is Empty

The White House is denying reports that the one division within the Office of Science and Technology Policy is now completely unstaffed. CBS News reported no staff members were left at the office’s science division ― one of four such branches that comprise the OSTP ― after three employees from President Barack Obama’s administration worked their final day on Friday. When asked about the alleged vacancies, White House deputy press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders told HuffPost on Saturday the report was false. Click here to read the article featured in the Huffington Post.

The Necessity Of Interactive Tech In The Classroom

There’s no question that technology for the classroom has boomed in the past decade, from the preschool to college level. In fact, in 2016 alone, Chromebooks accounted for nearly half of the devices sold for classrooms in America. As a society, we’re creating an education system that better accounts for the real world applications of technology. Unlike generations before them, Generation Z is gaining an entirely new set of skills in school that will prepare them for the future. From the age of three years old, children are being introduce to technology in schools, and likely even earlier at home. Click here to read the article featured in the Huffington Post.

This Story Reveals What’s Wrong With How Kids Learn Science (And Other Subjects)

You’re a science teacher so of course you teach about heat. There’s a whole section in your textbook titled “Heat.” Does the concept excite your students? Could heat have a story? Yes, there almost always is an underlying story that accompanies any achievement. Those stories not only help explain ideas, they cement them into your head. Traditionally stories have been a tool great teachers cherish. But in the 20^th Century we mostly gave up storytelling for an assortment of teaching methodologies (most developed by commercial entities). Click here to read the article featured in The Washington Post.

America’s Decline in Education: Is Anyone Worrying About It?

The story of education dates to ancient civilization—but the story of modern public education begins in the U.S. For over 100 years, the American university system has been the envy of the world. Talented engineers, renowned scientists, and students from all over the world come to the U.S. for higher education, especially in STEM education fields, to get the best possible education so they can land great jobs and support their families. In fact, international students often outnumber Americans, now accounting for 70% of the graduate students in electrical engineering, 63% in computer science, and 60% in industrial engineering. Click here to read the article featured in the Huffington Post.

Are States Leaning On Waivers From Past Law For Their New Education Plans?

The Every Student Succeeds Act hasn’t been the only time in the last few years that events in Washington led states to rethink their accountability and other education policies. Yes, we’re talking about those waivers from the No Child Left Behind Act that the Obama administration gave out to most states. So while we were out here for the Education Commission of the States conference, we thought we would ask a few state chiefs (and a former chief who stepped down last month) whether they were drawing heavily on those waivers from the previously federal K-12 law for their Every Student Succeeds Act plans. The short answer seems to be: They are leaning a fair amount on their waiver plans and other work that was going on when waivers were handed out. However, the chiefs were also quick to point out that they are rethinking at least a few high-profile policies, like school improvement, thanks to ESSA’s flexibility for states. Click here to read the article featured in Education Week.

Can States Use Science Tests to Rate Schools Under ESSA?

There’s been a ton of confusion lately about whether and how states can incorporate science, social studies, and other subjects into their systems for rating schools under the Every Student Succeeds Act. The upshot is that, yes, states can indeed use science, social studies, the arts, and other subjects beyond reading and math for accountability. But there are some caveats when it comes to just how they do that. Click here to read the article featured in Education Week.

STEM Degrees Are Good For Careers. But Do They Lead To More Innovation?

There is much buzz among educators and policy makers about the value of a STEM degree. Graduating with a degree in science, technology, engineering, or math (STEM) is indeed good for the individual, with studies showing better job prospects and higher pay. But what is the impact on the overall economy? Click here to read the article featured in the Kellogg Insight.

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.

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I’m looking for ideas to integrate physical science and social studies at the middle school level. — E., New Jersey

Inventions and inventors could be an interesting context to explore the connections between science, engineering, technology, history, and economics.

A social studies colleague framed a unit around two questions: Why do we invent or innovate? How do some inventions and innovations change society? The unit started with a discussion and demonstrations of 19^th century communications technologies (telegraph and telephone), and students compared them with today’s cell phones and texting (which the students readily identified with). The students then investigated how the technology of the Industrial Revolution sparked changes that transformed the United States from an agricultural to an industrial economy, from a rural to an urban society.

To connect with physical science, topics such as mechanical forces and simple machines, motion, electricity and magnetism, and light and sound waves could be investigated in the context of inventions and technology and their impact on society. Students could engage in building projects, tinkering with things to see how they work, designing solutions to problems, and working with robotics, computers, and other electronics. Increasingly common “makerspaces” in schools and libraries provide students with the resources to collaborate, design, and create solutions.

As a culminating project, students could become inventors themselves—identifying a problem, designing and testing an invention to solve it, and marketing their invention to others, explaining the possible impact on the users. NSTA journals have articles showing young classroom inventors and “invention conventions.” (This Resource Collection has some of these articles and other online resources).

In the context of science, technology, engineering, arts, and mathematics STEM/STEAM education and the engineering focus of the NGSSNext Generation Science Standards, students should understand and have experiences with the processes of inventing and innovating, addressing the question “How do we invent inventors?”

Photo: http://tinyurl.com/jy83oqq

Problem-based learning (PBL) offers an excellent way to capture students’ imaginations, stimulate their curiosity, and engage them in deep learning. The new NSTA Press book Problem-Based Learning in the Earth and Space Science Classroom K-12 by Tim J. McConnell, Joyce Parker, and Janet Eberhardt provides step-by-step instruction and tools to help teachers implement PBL in the classroom. Both informative and practical, the book breaks down PBL strategies into bite-sized chunks.

“One of the strengths of the PBL framework is that learners are active drivers of the learning process and can develop a deeper understanding of the concepts related to the problem starting from many different levels of prior understanding. PBL is an effective strategy for both novices and advanced learners. PBL is also flexible enough to be useful in nearly any science context,” the authors state.

The key to effective implementation is teacher planning, the authors explain. That’s where this book can help. PBL is a teaching strategy that presents learners with authentic scenarios that represent “problems” to be worked out using concepts, background knowledge, research, and investigations.

The book offers classroom-tested PBL problems that were developed as part of a National Science Foundation-funded program. Problem-Based Learning Project for Teachers brought teachers together to use the PBL framework with eight content strands.  As a result, the problems presented in the book have been tested and refined.

In addition to offering background information on the fundamentals of PBL, teaching strategies, and relevant research, the book provides chapters on Earth’s Landforms and Water, Rock Cycle and Plate Tectonics, Weather, and Astronomy, and breaks down lessons into bands of K-2, 3-5, 6-8, and 9-12.

For example, the Earth’s Landforms and Water chapter asks students to analyze and interpret data and construct explanations based on evidence of how geoscience processes have changed the Earth’s surface at varying times throughout its history. To put it into practice, students are asked to help a comic book publisher create scenery and story lines that include real geologic formations.

The chapter walks through the assignment, outlining each step to provide guidance and support. In a related comic book exercise featuring a Dolphin heroine, students must imagine a real underwater location and include ocean landforms that Dolphino might encounter.

For this exercise, first students would use topographic maps to find patterns in oceanic landforms as the teacher offers instruction about how to read these image patterns on the map and make sense of what they mean in real life. Next, students are asked to draw what the features would look like if seen from a submarine or underwater camera. What does a continental shelf look like in real life? What about an underwater volcano? This exercise helps students translate what they see on the map to a three-dimensional world, and when they use their imagination for the creative writing exercise they deepen their understanding. From academic to creative, the assignments allow students to use a range of skills and knowledge. 

Check out the free sample chapter  that explains how to facilitate Problem-Based Learning in the classroom. 

Are you ready to implement PBL in your science classroom? You can buy the book in the NSTA Store here.

Also available from these authors is the companion book Problem-Based Learning in the Life Science Classroom, K–12.