Science and Language for English Language Learners in Relation to Next Generation Science Standards and with Implications for Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts and Mathematics
01 May 2013-Educational Researcher (SAGE PublicationsSage CA: Los Angeles, CA)-Vol. 42, Iss: 4, pp 223-233
TL;DR: This article identified key features of the language of the science classroom as students engage in these language-intensive science and engineering practices and highlighted implications for Common Core State Standards for English language arts and mathematics.
Abstract: The National Research Council (2011) released “A Framework for K–12 Science Education” that is guiding the development of the Next Generation Science Standards, which are expected to be finalized in early 2013. This article addresses language demands and opportunities that are embedded in the science and engineering practices delineated in the Framework. By examining intersections between learning of science and learning of language, the article identifies key features of the language of the science classroom as students engage in these language-intensive science and engineering practices. We propose that when students, especially English language learners, are adequately supported to “do” specific things with language, both science learning and language learning are promoted. We highlight implications for Common Core State Standards for English language arts and mathematics.
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01 Jan 1993-Ilha do Desterro: A Journal of English Language, Literatures in English and Cultural Studies
TL;DR: In the past decade, a large body of multidisciplinary research has begun to undermine the authority of this narrow interpretation of literacy by situating literacy in larger social practices as discussed by the authors.
Abstract: Many people in "literate" societies, when asked to define literacy, almost always do so in terms of reading
and writing abilities This narrow interpretation of literacy, an
offspring of reductionist psychology, has reigned supreme in many academic and educational contexts for decades, greatly shaping literacy theories and classroom practices Within the past ten years, however, a large body of multidisciplinary
research has begun to undermine the authority of this
perspective by situating literacy in larger social practices
1,589 citations
521 citations
01 Jan 2014
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors reviewed recent and current work in science assessment to determine which aspects of the Framework's vision can be assessed with available techniques and what additional research and development will be needed to support an assessment system that fully meets that vision.
Abstract: Assessments, understood as tools for tracking what and how well students have learned, play a critical role in the classroom Developing Assessments for the Next Generation Science Standards develops an approach to science assessment to meet the vision of science education for the future as it has been elaborated in A Framework for K-12 Science Education (Framework) and Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) These documents are brand new and the changes they call for are barely under way, but the new assessments will be needed as soon as states and districts begin the process of implementing the NGSS and changing their approach to science education The new Framework and the NGSS are designed to guide educators in significantly altering the way K-12 science is taught The Framework is aimed at making science education more closely resemble the way scientists actually work and think, and making instruction reflect research on learning that demonstrates the importance of building coherent understandings over time It structures science education around three dimensions - the practices through which scientists and engineers do their work, the key crosscutting concepts that cut across disciplines, and the core ideas of the disciplines - and argues that they should be interwoven in every aspect of science education, building in sophistication as students progress through grades K-12 Developing Assessments for the Next Generation Science Standards recommends strategies for developing assessments that yield valid measures of student proficiency in science as described in the new Framework This report reviews recent and current work in science assessment to determine which aspects of the Framework's vision can be assessed with available techniques and what additional research and development will be needed to support an assessment system that fully meets that vision The report offers a systems approach to science assessment, in which a range of assessment strategies are designed to answer different kinds of questions with appropriate degrees of specificity and provide results that complement one another Developing Assessments for the Next Generation Science Standards makes the case that a science assessment system that meets the Framework's vision should consist of assessments designed to support classroom instruction, assessments designed to monitor science learning on a broader scale, and indicators designed to track opportunity to learn New standards for science education make clear that new modes of assessment designed to measure the integrated learning they promote are essential The recommendations of this report will be key to making sure that the dramatic changes in curriculum and instruction signaled by Framework and the NGSS reduce inequities in science education and raise the level of science education for all students
229 citations
TL;DR: This paper examined teachers' responses to teacher professional development related to the Next Generation Science Standards within two schools in the United States and found that teachers' perceptions of coherence emerge from interactions within PD, associated curriculum materials, and with colleagues and leaders in their schools.
Abstract: Recent research on teacher professional development (PD) underscores the importance of the coherence of PD with standards, curriculum, and assessment. Teachers’ judgments of the coherence of PD with larger system goals influence their decisions about what ideas and resources they appropriate from PD. Little research, however, has examined how teachers formulate these judgments and why teachers’ judgments vary within the same system and for the same reform. In this article, we use organizational theory’s concept of sensemaking to examine teachers’ responses to PD related to the Next Generation Science Standards within two schools in the United States. Our study shows that teachers’ perceptions of coherence emerge from interactions within PD, associated curriculum materials, and with colleagues and leaders in their schools. Some teachers, we found, were able to manage ambiguity, uncertainty, and perceived incoherence productively, while others foreclosed deep and sustained sensemaking. Our findings suggest ...
211 citations
TL;DR: The authors argue for a translanguaging perspective to teaching, whereby language and language acquisition are framed as social meaning-making processes and standardized forms are questioned, such that students can be supported in their learning of new content and linguistic forms.
Abstract: Much attention is now given to academic language, particularly in content areas such as science, amid persistent achievement disparities between students classified as English Language Learners, and more recently, Long Term English Learners, and their English-proficient peers. This attention has fueled debate about the precise features of such language and the best ways to help students develop them. This work uses data from ethnographic observation and recordings of student interactions of a fifth grade cohort in a bilingual education program to show that by allowing students ample use of their full bilingual repertoires, extensive collaboration, and authentic experience and exposure to target language varieties, they are supported in their learning of new content and linguistic forms. The paper argues for a translanguaging perspective to teaching, whereby language and language acquisition are framed as social meaning-making processes and standardized forms are questioned, such that students can ...
94 citations
Cites background from "Science and Language for English La..."
...Lee, Quinn, and Valdés (2013), meanwhile, stress that SFL perspectives align more with traditional theories of second language acquisition (SLA) and approach language acquisition as the incremental combination of building blocks rather than recognizing the importance of socialization and authentic,…...
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"Science and Language for English La..." refers background in this paper
...Although the disciplinary language of science may seem quite different from everyday discourse, Halliday and Matthiessen (2004) argued that science and everyday discourse are dialogically complementary, interrelated, and synergistic and represent a fundamental continuity that provides different…...
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"Science and Language for English La..." refers background in this paper
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"Science and Language for English La..." refers background in this paper
...1New York University, New York, NY 2SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, Menlo Park, CA 3Stanford University, Stanford, CA The National Research Council (2011) released “A Framework for K–12 Science Education” that is guiding the development of the Next Generation Science Standards, which are expected to be finalized in early 2013....
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...1New York University, New York, NY 2SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, Menlo Park, CA 3Stanford University, Stanford, CA The National Research Council (2011) released “A Framework for K–12 Science Education” that is guiding the develop-...
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...The National Research Council (NRC, 2011) document “A Framework for K–12 Science Education: Practices, Crosscutting Concepts, and Core Ideas” (hereafter referred to as “the Framework”) is the product of a committee of experts charged with developing a consensus view of what is important in K–12 science education grounded in an extensive review of the literature on science learning....
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"Science and Language for English La..." refers background in this paper
...In perhaps the most widely cited work on how discourse is constructed in science classrooms, Lemke (1990) argued that discourse should be seen as “differentiated speech” that different groups of people and texts bring to science....
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