The Essentials of science, grades 7-12

In Rick Allen wrote The Essentials of Science, Grades 7-12: Effective Curriculum, Instruction and Assessment. NCLB was just beginning to be fully implemented. The National Science Education Standards were more than 10 years old. Fast forward to today. We have seen the implementation of the Common Core State standards (CCSS) with its emphasis on reading, writing and math in all curricular areas. We have been weathering the backlash as states look to modify the standards and examine how to evaluate success. We have seen the reauthorization of the education law, now back to the ESSA branding. We also have seen the emergence of the Next Generation Science Standards with its 3D focus: core ideas, cross cutting concepts and practices. With all that change you might think that this text is woefully out of date. Unfortunately not.

He outlines instruction through inquiry, an approach that remains important in the science classroom today. He talks about all teachers being teachers of reading, something that has become increasingly true in this era framed by CCSS.

In the chapter on assessment he provides an overview of formative assessment. His suggestions to improve student performance include (p. 101)

• Questioning- increased wait time and using responses to develop understanding
• Feedback- allowing opportunities for revising work based on performance feedback. One of the more powerful tools includes not grading work, but providing feedback on performance.
• self-assessment and peer assessment- peer judging to reevaluate individual work and traffic light evaluation of understanding
• Formative use of summative assessment- reflect on what they know using the traffic light technique and allowing students to better understand assessment processes.

A thread that permeates the text is the idea of correcting work. This mastery idea enables students to continue to pursue understanding even after a summative assessment. One suggestion was to submit test corrections- write the correct answer and an explanation of why it is correct for every incorrect question. This reinforces the idea that learning never ends. Further, when a final exam is going to be cumulative, it focus attention on the correct information and allows for additional learning opportunities.

I have recently thought that using a teacher website with links to video snips reviewing each day's learning. This could be teacher podcasts, Khan academy videos, textbook resources, TED talks and other YouTube/TeacherTube links. After viewing this material, students could participate in learning activities to reinforce the learning. If student struggles trigger a need for increased instructional input, student performance should increase.

While this book is out of date, it does provide some useful information about transforming science education for improved instruction.