Science Teachers' Elicitation Practices: Insights for Formative Assessment

In evaluating teachers' instructional decisions during instruction, it is clear that the nature of their elicitation is crucial for student learning. When instructional decisions are informed by information about students' conceptual understanding, significant learning is possible. This article examined the elicitation practices of two high school science teachers who indicated that they made instructional decisions based on the elicited evidence of students' knowledge but whose elicitation practices were characteristic of low-level elicitation. The teachers focused on students' responses that used canonical terms and expressed acceptable knowledge. The teachers demonstrated low-level responsiveness because they did not have full access to students' knowledge. The elicited evidence of students' knowledge that was used in making instructional decisions was not representative of students' conceptual understanding. There was, thus, a mismatch between the teachers' perspectives about their formative assessment practice and what is considered effective formative assessment.     

Teacher interests,mastery goals,and self-efficacy as predictors of instructional practices and student motivation

This study addressed the role of elementary school teachers' motivation as predictors of instructional practices and student motivation. The sample comprised 110 teacher–class pairs (1731 students). The results showed that teachers' didactic interest and self-efficacy predicted teacher reports of instructional practices. In contrast, student reports of instruction were significantly associated with teachers' educational interest and mastery goals. Moreover, student motivation was only related with student reports but not teacher reports of instructional practices. In particular, mastery-oriented practices contributed strongly to student motivation. Teacher educational interest predicted mastery-oriented practices and also showed a significant direct relation to student motivation.     

Embracing the Complexity of Instruction: A Study of the Effects of Teachers' Instruction on Students' Reading Comprehension

The purpose of this study was to determine whether third-grade teachers' instructional actions during reading comprehension lessons contributed to their students' reading comprehension achievement. Our framework focused on teachers' emphasis on three dimensions of instruction (pedagogical structure, teacher-directed instruction, and support for student learning), as observed in comprehension lessons across a year. Third-grade teachers' instruction was analyzed first by measuring their latent propensity to engage in instructional actions in the three dimensions and then by using these latent variables in a multilevel model to examine their students' gains in reading comprehension. Results provided support for the theoretical dimensions, taking into account contextual variables including lesson, student, and teacher characteristics; teachers' engagement in teacher-directed instruction and their support for student learning significantly contributed to their students' reading comprehension. Results suggest that analysis of teachers' instructional actions within and across lessons is a promising approach for the study of effective reading instruction.     

Differential relations of constructivist and didactic instruction to students' cognition,motivation, and achievement

This study examined how constructivist and didactic instruction was related to students' cognitive, motivational, and achievement outcomes in English classrooms, using a sample of 3000 Grade 9 students from 108 classrooms in 39 secondary schools in Singapore. Results of hierarchical linear modeling showed differential cross-level relations. After controlling for students' prior achievement, constructivist instruction was a significant positive predictor of students' deep processing strategies, self-efficacy, task value, and English achievement, whereas didactic instruction was a significant positive predictor of students' surface processing strategies and a negative predictor of English achievement. Our findings underscore the importance of linking instructional practices with multiple outcomes, including psychological factors that are important for student learning.     

Differential Use of Elementary Science Kits

The use of kits in elementary science classes is a growing trend in some countries. Kits provide materials and inquiry lessons in a ready-to-teach format for teachers to use in their science instruction. This study examined elementary teachers' instructional strategies, classroom practices, and assessment types in relation to the frequency of science kit use. A total of 503 elementary teachers from an urban school district received professional development, implemented kits in their classrooms for a year, and then completed a survey about science kit use and teaching practices. Despite similarities in demographic characteristics (gender, ethnicity, certification/educational level), there were significant differences in teachers' use of inquiry-based teaching and assessment practices by kit use. Teachers who reported using kits the most often were significantly more likely to report that their students designed and implemented laboratory investigations as well recorded, represented, and analyzed data. In addition, the high kit users indicated that they were more likely to use student groups, require students to use evidence to support claims, and use alternative assessments of student work including portfolios, notebooks, and long-term projects than those teachers who used kits less frequently. Those teachers who reported using kits the least often were significantly more likely to report having students practice for standardized tests. The role of kits in promoting reform-based teaching practices is discussed.     

Dimensions of Socio-economic Status and their Relationship to Mathematics and Science Achievement at Individual and Collective Levels

Applying two-level structural equation modelling techniques, the current study examined the dimensionality of socio-economic status (SES) and its relationship with mathematics and science performance at student and school levels. Data were drawn from population 2 (13-year-olds) of 17 countries in the Third International Mathematics and Science study (TIMSS). A set of items about the ownership of household materials was used to measure the dimensions of SES. For most of the countries, a general economic dimension and a cultural dimension were identified at the student level. The cultural dimension had the greatest impact on students' mathematics and science achievement. At the school level, however, only a general economic dimension was found in most countries. This dimension was interpreted to represent community wealth. It was found to be highly related to school mean maths-science achievement, except for the countries where an additional cultural dimension is identified. This cultural dimension can be interpreted as the community cultural resources and atmosphere, and is strongly related to average school mathematics and science achievement. The current study confirmed that the ownership of a set of household materials can be used as SES indicators in exploring its multifaceted feature at both individual and school levels. A similar model structure is found in different countries by applying these indicators, despite the fact that the content of the set of household possessions is different. The findings show that the latent structure of SES at individual level is different from that at the school level, and that SES dimensions have different effects on mathematics and science achievement at individual and school levels.     

Exploring science teaching in interaction at the instructional core

Recent instructional reforms in science education aim to change the way students engage in learning in the discipline, as they describe that students are to engage with disciplinary core ideas, crosscutting concepts, and the practices of science to make sense of phenomena (NRC, 2012). For such sensemaking to become a reality, there is a need to understand the ways in which students' thinking can be maintained throughout the trajectory of science lessons. Past research in this area tends to foreground either the curriculum or teachers' practices. We propose a more comprehensive view of science instruction, one that requires attention to teachers' practice, the instructional task, and students' engagement. In this study, by examining the implementation of the same lesson across three different classrooms, our analysis of classroom videos and artifacts of students' work revealed how the interaction of teachers' practices, students' intellectual engagement, and a cognitively demanding task together support rigorous instruction. Our analyses shed light on their interaction that shapes opportunities for students' thinking and sensemaking throughout the trajectory of a science lesson. The findings provide implications for ways to promote rigorous opportunities for students' learning in science classrooms.     

A Multilevel Modelling Approach to Investigating Factors Impacting Science Achievement for Secondary School Students: PISA Hong Kong Sample

This study utilized data from the 2006 Programme for International Student Assessment Hong Kong sample to investigate the factors that impact the science achievement of 15-year-old students. A multilevel model was used to examine the factors from both student and school perspectives. At the student level, the results indicated that male students, students from high socioeconomic status (SES) families, students with higher motivation and higher self-efficacy, and students whose parents highly value science are more likely to demonstrate achievement in science. At the school level, the results showed school science achievement differences can be explained by school enrolment size, school SES composition, and instruction time per week. Contrary to the negative influence of school size that was reported in previous studies, our findings suggested a positive relationship between school enrolment size and science achievement. This finding leads to an international discussion of school size.     

A Randomized Study of a Literacy-Integrated Science Intervention for Low-Socio-economic Status Middle School Students: Findings from first-year implementation

This paper presents the findings from a randomized control trial study of reading/literacy-integrated science inquiry intervention after 1 year of implementation and the treatment effect on 5th-grade low-socio-economic African-American and Hispanic students’ achievement in science and English reading. A total of 94 treatment students and 194 comparison students from four randomized intermediate schools participated in the current project. The intervention consisted of ongoing professional development and specific instructional science lessons with inquiry-based learning, direct and explicit vocabulary instruction, and integration of reading and writing. Results suggested that (a) there was a significantly positive treatment effect as reflected in students' higher performance in district-wide curriculum-based tests of science and reading and standardized tests of science, reading, and English reading fluency; (b) males and females did not differ significantly from participating in science inquiry instruction; (c) African-American students had lower chance of sufficiently mastering the science concepts and achieving above the state standards when compared with Hispanic students across gender and condition, and (d) below-poverty African-American females are the most vulnerable group in science learning. Our study confirmed that even a modest amount of literacy integration in inquiry-based science instruction can promote students' science and reading achievement. Therefore, we call for more experimental research that focus on the quality of literacy-integrated science instruction from which middle grade students, particularly low-socio-economic status students, can benefit.     

Relationship between Science Teaching Practices and Students’ Achievement in Singapore,Chinese Taipei,and the US: An Analysis Using TIMSS 2011 Data

The assumption that inquiry-based instruction is more effective in influencing student science achievement than traditional didactic teaching has been the driving force of science education reform in recent decades and in many countries. However, the empirical relationship between these two kinds of science teaching and student science performance is not soundly established, which is worth a careful examination. Framed through the theoretical perspectives of inquiry-based instruction and culturally relevant pedagogy, using a two-level hierarchical linear modeling (HLM) approach and simultaneous multiple regression, this study examines the above relationship using the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) 2011 8th grade dataset from Singapore, Chinese Taipei, and the US. The study found that for the low-performing students, none of the inquiry-based teaching practice items measured had a significant relationship with the science achievements at any performance levels of students in any country/region except for the case of two inquiry-based teaching practice items that were positively related to Chinese Taipei students’ achievements. No didactic teaching practice items were associated with the Singapore students’ science achievement, three of these practice items were found negatively related to Chinese Taipei students’ science achievement, and one traditional didactic teaching practice was negatively related to the science achievement of U.S. students. However, for medium- and high-performing students, none of these inquiry-based or traditional didactic science-teaching practices were found to be positive predictors of science performance in all three countries/regions. However, in the case of Chinese Taipei, one didactic teaching practice item was negatively related with the medium level performing students’ achievement and two didactic teaching practices were found to hinder high-performing students’ science achievements.     

Teacher support,instructional practices,student motivation,and mathematics achievement in high school

The authors examined the relationships among teacher classroom practices, student motivation, and mathematics achievement in high school. The data for this study was drawn from the base-year data of High School Longitudinal Study of 2009. Structural equation modeling method was used to estimate the relationships among variables. The results indicate that conceptual teaching positively affected student mathematics achievement, whereas procedural emphasis in mathematics instruction had a negative effect. Teacher support influenced student mathematics achievement indirectly through students' mathematics self-efficacy, and also influenced students' interest in mathematics courses. Finally, students with higher levels of family socioeconomic status and prior achievement were more likely to have teachers who use conceptual teaching strategies. Students with higher prior achievement were also more likely to perceive higher levels of teacher support. The findings have theoretical and practical implications.     

Evaluating students' science notebooks as an assessment tool

The idea of using science notebooks as a classroom assessment tool is not new. There is general agreement that science notebooks allow teachers to assess students' conceptual and procedural understanding and to provide the feedback students need for improving their performance. In this study we examined the use of science notebooks as an unobtrusive assessment tool that can also be used by individuals outside the classroom (for example, school district personnel), and as a means for obtaining information about students' learning and their opportunities to learn. More specifically, in this study students' science notebooks were used as a source of data about the (a) implementation of a curriculum's intended activities, (b) students' performance, and (c) quality of teachers' feedback. Our results indicated that: (1) Students' science notebooks can be reliably scored. Unit implementation, student performance, and teacher feedback scores were highly consistent across raters and units. (2) High and positive correlations with other performance assessment scores indicated that the student performance score can be considered as an achievement indicator. And (3) low performance scores across the two units revealed that students' communication skills and understanding were far away from the maximum score and did not improve over the course of instruction during the school year. This result may be due, in part, to the fact that no teacher feedback was found in any of the students' notebooks across the six classrooms studied. This may reflect some characteristics of the teachers' assessment practices that may require further professional development.     

Relationship of Online Teacher Professional Development to Seventh-Grade Teachers' and Students' Knowledge and Practices in English Language Arts

Online professional development (OPD) has potential to improve teacher quality by improving teachers' knowledge and instructional practices. These changes, in turn, have potential to improve student achievement. Unfortunately, there is a dearth of scientific research on the effects of OPD on teachers and, more importantly, on students. This article presents the results of a randomized controlled trial exploring the effects of a series of three learning-community model OPD workshops on teachers' content knowledge, teachers' instructional practices, students' content knowledge, and students' practices in the context of seventh-grade English language arts. There were statistically significant effects on teachers' vocabulary and overall English language arts content knowledge and on vocabulary and writing practices. The effect sizes of these changes ranged from small to medium. There were statistically significant effects on students' reading comprehension practices.     

‘Just Be Quiet and Listen to Exactly What He's Saying': Conceptualising power relations in inquiry-oriented classrooms

Interest in inquiry-based science education (IBSE) often pays little heed to the complex power relations that exist within classrooms. A common obstacle to inquiry is that it strongly diverges from current classroom culture and hence, is outside the sphere of teachers' and students' experiences. Teachers and students bring expectations to the classroom that are entrenched in traditional practices and influenced by dynamics of power that exist within all teacher–student relationships. This study, which emerged during a wider study of the use of a Virtual Chemistry Lab in supporting IBSE, explores how classroom discourse constructs and maintains power relations that either stifle or facilitate inquiry-based approaches in two science lessons. Research methods included teacher interviews, student focus groups, video-recorded lessons, and student self-assessments. Findings indicate distinctive features of power inside the classroom that impact on inquiry-based instruction, such as predominant teacher monitoring on task completion over task understanding, lack of student engagement in ownership of scientific ideas, and prevailing norms of what effective teacher questioning is. We discuss implications for IBSE change efforts, highlighting that well-established power relations currently represent an important limiting factor in the capacity of teachers' IBSE implementation.     

Self-regulatory teaching in mathematics: relations to teachers' motivation,affect and professional commitment

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationships between teachers' reports on self-regulatory strategy use in mathematics instruction and individual motivational and affective factors. Two hundred and ninety-two Greek primary school teachers responded to two questionnaires assessing (a) the strategies they use themselves to plan, monitor and evaluate mathematics instruction and (b) the strategies they use to activate and enhance students' self-regulated learning in mathematics. Path analysis showed that teachers' self-regulation strategies both for their own teaching and for enhancing students' self-regulation in mathematics were predicted by their self-efficacy beliefs in teaching mathematics, the value they attribute to mathematics and their emotional commitment to their profession. Teachers' enjoyment of mathematics teaching did not directly predict their reported use of self-regulatory instructional strategies. The implications of the study are related to the development of teachers' training programmes in self-regulated instruction.     

Moderation of the effects of scientific inquiry activities on low SES students’ PISA 2015 science achievement by school teacher support and disciplinary climate in science classroom across gender

Scientific inquiry activities are considered as productive science instruction to improve students’ science learning and achievement. Supportive teacher-student relationships and positive disciplinary climate in the classroom are also two important factors that could facilitate student learning. This study investigates whether the association between the inquiry-based science activities and student science achievement varies by teacher support and disciplinary climate in science classrooms, particularly when taking into consideration of student gender difference and socioeconomic status (SES). This study performed regression analyses using Beijing, Shanghai, Jiangsu, and Guangdong (B-S-J-G-China) students’ science performance and background survey data of 2015 Program for International Student Assessment (PISA). Results showed that disciplinary climate, rather than teacher support, could moderate the association between inquiry-based science activities and student science achievement for both genders. Implications for instruction and further research were discussed as well.     

Profiles of middle school science teachers: Accounting for cognitive and motivational characteristics

Teachers play a critical role in successfully implementing science education reforms in the United States to provide high-quality science learning opportunities to all students. However, the differentiated ways in which teachers make decisions about their science teaching are not well understood. This study takes a person-centered approach by applying latent profile analysis to examine how cognitive (pedagogical content knowledge) and motivational (instructional goal orientations, self-efficacy beliefs, and reform values) characteristics combine to form science teacher profiles in middle school. Predictors of profile membership (bachelor's degree, school %FRL) and both teacher (science instructional practices) and student (science achievement, engagement, and self-efficacy) outcomes related to the teacher profiles were also examined. Five science teacher profiles were identified (severely discouraged but reform oriented, discouraged but reform oriented, conventional, confident and mastery oriented, and confident with multiple goal approaches) that represented unique configurations of cognitive and motivation characteristics. Additionally, findings showed that the teacher profiles were significantly related to three dimensions of science instructional practice including communication, discourse, and reasoning. Finally, the teacher profiles were significantly related to student science achievement and motivational outcomes. Implications for differentiated approaches to teacher professional learning and supports for science instruction are discussed.     

The challenge of altering elementary school teachers' beliefs and practices regarding linguistic and cultural diversity in science instruction

This study examined the impact of a professional development intervention aimed at helping elementary teachers incorporate elements of students' home language and culture into science instruction. The intervention consisted of instructional units and materials and teacher workshops. The research involved 43 third‐ and fourth‐grade teachers at six elementary schools in a large urban school district. These teachers participated in the intervention for 2 consecutive years. The study was conducted using both quantitative and qualitative methods based on focus group interviews, a questionnaire, and classroom observations. The results indicate that as teachers began their participation in the intervention, they rarely incorporated students' home language or culture into science instruction. During the 2‐year period of the intervention, teachers' beliefs and practices remained relatively stable and did not show significant change. Possible explanations for the limited effectiveness of the intervention are addressed, and implications for professional development efforts are discussed. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 44: 1269–1291, 2007     

Teachers' learning to facilitate high‐level student thinking: Impact of a video‐based professional development

Attaining the vision for science teaching and learning emphasized in the Framework for K‐12 Science Education and the next generation science standards (NGSS) will require major shifts in teaching practices in many science classrooms. As NGSS‐inspired cognitively demanding tasks begin to appear in more and more science classrooms, facilitating students' engagement in high‐level thinking as they work on these tasks will become an increasingly important instructional challenge to address. This study reports findings from a video‐based professional development effort (i.e., professional development [PD] that use video‐clips of instruction as the main artifact of practice to support teacher learning) to support teachers' learning to select cognitively demanding tasks and to support students' learning during the enactment of these tasks in ways that are aligned with the NGSS vision. Particularly, we focused on the NGSS's charge to get students to make sense of and deeply think about scientific ideas as students try to explain phenomena. Analyses of teachers' pre‐ and post‐PD instruction indicate that PD‐participants began to adopt instructional practices associated with facilitating these kinds of student thinking in their own classrooms. The study has implications for the design of video‐based professional development for science teachers who are learning to facilitate the NGSS vision in science classrooms.     

Project Proficiency: Assessing the Independent Effects of High School Reform in an Urban District

ABSTRACT.

The authors sought to determine if an urban school district's effort to fundamentally change teaching, assessment, and intervention practices increased student achievement and decreased achievement variation among classrooms in 11 high schools. They examined Grade 11 mathematics achievement data from the 2009–2010 and 2010–2011 Kentucky Core Content Test. The sample consisted of 2,451 students in 11 high schools that implemented an initiative called Project Proficiency. The study used hierarchical linear modeling to determine if changes in instructional practices yielded academic gains, while controlling for individual and school socioeconomic status (SES) and prior student achievement. The analysis revealed that Project Proficiency had a significant impact on state mathematics achievement and reduced classroom variation by 55% in the final model, as opposed to 16% in the control group. Results also indicated that a school's SES had a greater influence on student achievement than an individual student's SES.