Math, Science, and Technology in RI Schools

Science Education and Achievement in RI Public Schools

The Third International Mathematics and Science Study revealed that Japanese achievement in science vastly outstripped that of the United States. A careful follow-up study that combined quantitative and qualitative research, including extensive classroom observations in Japan, found that Japanese elementary schools regularly involve students in (Linn, Lewis, Tsuchida, and Songer 2000):

• connecting lessons to student interest and prior knowledge

• eliciting student ideas or opinions

• planning investigations

• conducting investigations

• exchanging information from investigations

• systematically analyzing or organizing information

• reflecting and revisiting hypotheses or predictions

• connecting to the next lesson and identifying unanswered questions

The authors take great care to point out that “what works” in Japan may not readily translate to the U.S. context, as there are certain traditions within Japanese culture that promote personal responsibility from an early age, solidarity within the group, intensive family-like conversation styles, etc. The study is suggestive, however, of the kinds of practices that need to become much more prevalent in U.S. schools (cf. Cheek 1999).

A start in this direction within elementary and middle grades is illustrated in the work of two projects in RI funded in part by the National Science Foundation (NSF). Kits in Teaching Elementary Science (KITES) is an NSF-supported project involving the eight districts in East Bay and Rhode Island College. The project provides nationally validated science curriculum kits to teachers that are linked to state content standards and aligned professional development activities. These kits come to teachers fully stocked and are checked and replenished by a Materials Resources Center run by the Collaborative. KITES materials have an elementary and middle school focus. They have been widely used across East Bay and are increasingly being used by districts outside of East Bay, supported in part by a $100,000 annual award from the legislature in support of the Materials Resources Center.

A second NSF-funded effort, Guiding Education in Mathematics and Science Network (GEMSNET), is a partnership among six districts in the South County area and the University of RI. It provides professional development, technical assistance, and a variety of learning tools, including KITES materials. GEMSNET has already succeeded in developing a common science curriculum for elementary grades across the participating districts.

The success of these two NSF-supported efforts led Rhode Island College to propose to the National Science Resources Center at the Smithsonian Institution that RI become one of eight Leadership and Assistance for Science Education Reform (LASER) sites in the nation. The plan is to have up to nine RI school districts join this effort in addition to those already being served through GEMSNET and KITES. The LASER effort also embraces the New England region. Rhode Island College hosted a planning session for school district leaders with participants from across New England. Financial support and involvement by local businesses are desperately needed if the planned expansion of LASER is to be realized.

Several other noteworthy projects in K-12 science education in RI are underway. A program bringing marine scientists into RI classrooms is organized by the Graduate School of Oceanography at URI and supported under NSF funds. An NSF grant also supports the dissemination of materials and teacher professional development in materials sciences coordinated through the School of Engineering and the Institute for Secondary Education at Brown University. Brown University also hosts a very active Space Grant program through the Department of Geological Sciences. Other annual events and ongoing programs include the Science Olympics (coordinated by Rhode Island College), year-round environmental education programs for schools and students sponsored by Save the Bay, the Roger Williams Park Zoo (with a variety of programming year round and a newly opened NSF-funded teaching center on endangered species), and the RI Museum of Natural History (with year-round programs and a planetarium).

The RI Science Teachers Association organizes an annual conference in the fall for teachers and sponsors the annual RI Science and Engineering Fair (an annual competition for secondary students). Qualified judges and student project mentors are always needed for the literally thousands of students who participate at local and state levels in this competition. State-level winners proceed to a national competition and a corporate sponsor is needed to ensure that the RI winners can actually participate at the national level. (Currently the winners have to raise their own support in order to participate.)