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Annual Report Overviews
Annual Overview
National School District Systemic Teacher Enhancement Project (NSSTEP) Annual Report (September 1, 1997 —August 31, 1998) ESI-94553116 Submitted by: Robert A. Dean, Director
Melanie C. Dean, Director OVERVIEW The National School District in collaboration with the University of California, San Diego, the National City government, the community, institutions of higher education, business and industry initiated this local systemic change project to change science education in the National School District. The four-year project has three goals:
Year three of the NCSSTEP Project consisted of a summer program with two weeks of intensive classroom instruction and seven academic year follow-up meetings. In addition there were various activities which included seven Mini three-day Institutes, Science Discovery days, Family Science nights, District Science Days and Curriculum Nights. The summer program focused on the use of instructional materials for hands-on activities, content update in the area of the physical sciences, extensions to classroom activities for participant understanding and background, as well as field experiences.
The seventy lead teachers participating in the summer and academic year programs for 1997-98 will have had over 150 hours of inservice during the three years of this project. This represents 21% of the teacher population in the district. Additional 90 teachers in the district have had over 100 hours of professional development during this time period. Approximately 50 teachers have had in excess of 60 hours of professional development. The remaining 90 staff members have had over 30 hours of inservice/staff development during the three years of the project. The project staff has organized three-day mini-institutes during year three of the project to provide additional staff development opportunities with the Master teachers and UCSD science faculty. Plans are under way to continue this model to include mini-institutes per grade level during year four of the project. Academic Year Programs — 1997 — 1998 Each school in the district developed a school plan for 1997-98. A BI-monthly NSSTEP newsletter titled " National Science Connection"is distributed to every teacher in the district. This publication sets forth all science inservice opportunities. (See appendix) Each school has a science liaison whose responsibility is to coordinate the professional development at the school site. Six joint meetings were held for the science liaison representatives to plan activities at their site. (see appendix for School Plans). The activities at each school included: Central
Otis
Olivewood
New Horizons/El Toyon
Ira Harbison
Las Palmas
Palmer Way
Lincoln Acres
Kimball
September Saturday, September 13, 1997 the participants attended an all day workshop at the Palomar Observatory from 3:00 p.m. — 12:00 a.m. They were able to participate in a behind the scene tour of the giant telescopes with the resident astronomer who provided background on the work at Palomar and answered participant questions. November Saturday, November 1, 1997, the participants participated in a S.E.E.D (San Diego Environmental Education) presentation where they shared ideas from Master Teachers to integrate literature and music with the FOSS units. Seven 3-day, grade level Mini-Institutes took place during November and December. These institutes consisted of one day devoted to Life Science, one day devoted to Earth Science and the final day was devoted to Technology. UCSD science faculty meets with the grade level teachers during two of the three days to provide content and enhance concept development of the units under study. December Saturday, December 6, 1997, the participants worked on extension activities that integrated literature with the FOSS life science units. The participants shared from their FOSS Life Science Units January Saturday, January 24, 1998, Master teachers and participants shared activities that integrate with the earth science FOSS units February The participants experienced a field trip to Burminco where they met with a geologist who assisted them in selecting rock and mineral samples, which correlated with the units under study. March Saturday, March 14, the participants attended the San Diego Science Educators conference where they attended sessions and viewed exhibits. All participants received a one-year complimentary membership in SDSEA. May Saturday, May 2, the participants attended the San Diego Environmental Education Discovery Fair at the Mission Trials Regional Park. There were over 50 exhibits and presentations. Summer Academic Program-1998 The summer academic program was from June 22 — July 2, 1998, a period of two weeks of classroom instruction with science educators and Master teachers working collaboratively with seventy lead teachers from the school district with a follow-up science practicum and a one week Frontiers in Science Conference. The instruction was under the guidance of Dr. Cynthia Ledbetter, Professor of Science Education, University of Texas, Dr. Karen Ostlund, Professor of Science Education, University of Texas/University of California, Berkeley with the assistance of UCSD Science Faculty: Dr. Paul Saltman, Professor of Biology, "The Science of Nutrition" Dr. Lew Judd, Chairman of the Department of Psychiatry, "What Scientific Studies Tell us About Smoking, Alcohol & Drugs" Dr. Sandra Daley, Associate Clinical Professor of Pediatrics, "The Biology of Infectious Diseases" Dr.Stephanie Mel, Biology Dept, "Viruses, Bacteria and Protozoa" Dr. Theodore Chan, Assistant Clinical Professor — Medicine, "Biology of Trauma" Dr. Lisa Orloff, Assistant Professor, Surgery, "Seeing and Hearing" Dr. David Granet, Assistant Professor, Ophthalmology, "The Science of Sight" Dr. Immo Scheffler, Professor of Biology, " Genetic Diseases" Dr. Michael Latz, Scripps Institution of Oceanography "Bioluminescence" Dr. Nicholas Graham, Scripps Institution of Oceanography "El Nino" and Master Teachers, Bonnie Styles, Joanne Williams, Margaret Godshalk and Gloria Gonzales. The major concepts were in the area of Human Biology. The participants worked with FOSS curriculum materials as well as A Child’s Place in the Environment and other ancillary curriculum materials. They also participated in field trips to the Steven Burch Scripps Aquarium. The format of the summer academy called for a team consisting of a University science educator and Master Teachers to work with participants who were grouped according to grade levels, K-3 and 4-6. Time was devoted each day for the participants to investigate the classroom activities in the Human Biology modules under study. There were follow-up activities and discussions with the university scientists and science educators in order to enhance concept development. Week One The overall theme was " Living Things are Diverse, Inter-Dependent and Evolving"
A typical daily schedule included: an opening discussion on the topics of the day followed by over two hours of hands-on science activities utilizing the FOSS kits with the science educator/master teacher teams. The University scientist concluded the morning session with topics relating to the classroom activities relating to the human body. An open ended discussion period with a University scientist followed and an afternoon session helped bring closure to the content/concepts covered in the morning. The K-3 group explored the FOSS Body System module, Life Lab grades K-1, 2, 3 and The Growing Classroom while the teachers in the grades 4-6 group did activities on the human body — transport systems, Life Lab: Ecosystems grade 4, Life Lab: Weather & Climate Changes, grade 5, Life Lab: Change Over Time, grade 6 and The Growing Classroom An entire day was spent of Project Wet, where the participants and outside consultants conducted activities relating to the watershed ecology of the National School District. Week Two During week two, the concepts emphasized were:
The teachers in the K-3 group worked on activities relating to the concepts of Staying Well, Sight & Hearing, Classifying Living Things, The Ocean. The teachers in the grades 4-6 group worked on the FOSS modules, "Variables" and "Models and Designs" and Human Development, Genetic Diseases. The activities included a field experience at the Steven Birch Aquarium with presentations by science faculty and activities by the participants. Weeks Three and Four During the week of the Practicum, the activities experienced during the two-week program were carried in the classroom with the students in the morning session of summer school. Each afternoon was devoted to debriefing, peer coaching and preparation for the next morning class. Because half of the district is on a year-round school schedule, the seventy lead teachers attended:
The lead teachers attended the Practicum based on their school academic year calendar. The program during the summer of 1998 consisted of a total of four weeks of professional development.
The entire staff including a cadre of parents in the National School District has been involved in this project to varying degrees. The total number of staff members and the amount of time vary. It is estimated that 90 staff members have had up to 30 hours, 50 teachers up to 60 hours, 150 teachers up to 100 hours of professional development activities in science and technology during the three years of this project. A leadership cadre of 60 teachers went through the third year summer program, academic year follow-up meetings and school/district inservice meetings. It is estimated that this leadership cadre have had at least 150 hours of extensive teacher enhancement in science and technology in the third year of this project. These teachers were responsible for providing staff development/inservice to their peers at their grade level at their school site to expedite the implementation of the physical science component of the district’s science curriculum There are ten elementary schools in the district with approximately 6 lead teachers at each school to provide assistance to their peers and serve as a mentor. One afternoon each week is devoted to an inservice at the school site. The lead teachers at the school site devote one of these weekly meeting each month to science inservice. In addition to the school site staff development programs, the district resource teacher, Ms. Bonnie Styles, arranged for three full day inservice meetings for all teachers at each grade level to implement the curriculum. Other teacher involvement during the year included school level Science Discovery Days, Family Science Nights, Inventors Showcase, field trips, and monthly science liaison meetings for school teams. Grants and Awards to Teachers/Participants/School District
The National School district has formally adopted the science curriculum, which includes the following components:
All of these programs are available in English and Spanish. This is the first time that the district has had a curriculum with BI-lingual materials which will now benefit the student population that is over 90% Hispanic. The district now has a full time resource teacher for this project and has established a materials resource center with personnel to provide maintenance and distribution of science kits. The superintendent of schools has established a program of one half day per week to provide time for school site and/or district level staff development. One day each month is devoted to science and technology teacher enhancement. The leadership of the superintendent, Dr. George Cameron and the administrative council, consisting of the district assistant superintendents and school principals, have developed a long term plan for curricula change which includes plans for: weekly staff development programs, summer enrichment opportunities, a working farm, the maintenance of a materials resource center and a school community newsletter. These are some of the activities that guarantee a sustainable professional development reform effort. The community support for this project has been strong as evidenced by the commitment to maintain and operate the Stein Farm and the newly developed "Paradise Creek Educational Park" to enhance the life science and environmental studies component of the science curriculum. There is also extensive parental involvement as teacher aides/volunteers in the classroom and in Family Science Nights, Science Discovery Days, and field trips. The Mayor of National City has pledged his continuing support for the project and there has been additional support from the San Diego Water Authority, the United States Navy, San Diego Gas and Electric and the San Diego Port Authority.
Dr. Frances Slowiczek has retired and Dr. Pamela Peters will undertake her duties. |
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