New model science lab addresses urgent need for elementary teachers to be better trained in science

RICE UNVIERSITY CONTACT: B.J. Almond PHONE: 713-348-6770 E-MAIL: balmond@rice.edu	HISD PRESS OFFICE PHONE: 713-556-6393

New model science lab addresses urgent need for elementary teachers to be better trained in science

To address the urgent need for elementary teachers to be better-trained in science and science teaching methods, Rice University and Houston Independent School District (HISD) have partnered to create a Model Science Lab (MSL) specifically for elementary teachers. This one-of-a-kind partnership heeds research that has shown that if students do not develop an interest in science by the fifth grade, they are unlikely to develop an interest in science at all.

Located at Sanchez Elementary School, 2700 Berkley St., the Rice/HISD Elementary Model Science Lab was modeled after the successful Rice/HISD middle and high school lab programs.

At the elementary lab, teacher interns will spend one day a week in intensive training throughout the year. They will expand their knowledge of science content and explore alternative methods of teaching science concepts that are more effective than traditional teaching methods. Working with other teacher interns and facilitators, teachers will learn what works – and what doesn’t – as they strive to grow and improve as science teachers.

The professional development that will be offered at the elementary lab will be similar to that which has proven effective at the middle school (Lanier) and high school (Lee) labs where science teachers spend a full sabbatical year studying. Because the elementary lab will have teachers attend one day each week rather than take a sabbatical year for study, the lab will train more than 90 teacher interns per year, as compared with four to eight teachers per year at the middle and high school labs.

“The test scores of students who’ve been taught by our teachers have been significantly higher, and the students who get hooked on what science can be are less likely to drop out,” said Ron Sass, co-director of Rice’s Center for Education, which created the Model Science Labs. “But perhaps even more important is that teachers who have gone through our program have stayed in teaching. Usually there is a 30 percent turnover rate among science teachers, but over the past 14 years, 95 percent of our Model Science Lab resident teachers have remained in education, and 74 percent have remained in HISD.”

Wallace Dominey, director of K-12 outreach for Rice’s Center for Education, serves as executive director of the MSLs. He noted that the ultimate goal of the labs is to stimulate active student thinking in science, which requires “drastic paradigm changes” in teacher thinking. “Many elementary teachers shy away from teaching science because they themselves were never exposed to science discovery learning in school, and thus they lack the science content knowledge and confidence to allow their students to discover the joys of learning about the natural world in the elementary science classroom,” he said.

Rice’s Center for Education provides the training curriculum and an associate director and lab facilitator, C.J. Thompson, as well as an associate director for campus support, Reid Whitaker, who helps teacher interns apply what they’ve learned when they return to their schools and classrooms. HISD provides the lab space, teacher interns and a director, Cheryl Stephens, as well as a part-time campus support staff member, Sandra McClemore.

HISD Superintendent Abelardo Saavedra noted that the combined efforts of Rice and HISD to improve science education should help Houstonians become a more scientifically literate society. “It is critically important that we train our science teachers to be successful with children,” he said. “A good, well-rounded education means a good

grounding in science. For our children to learn science well, we must teach it well. This great partnership with Rice University will help us to do that. ”

Tracy Weeden, HISD’s assistant superintendent for elementary curriculum, instruction and assessment, advocates that building s cience capacity in teachers also builds science capacity in students. “Children who experience inquiry-based teaching methods, using all of the senses through hands-on encounters with science, come to understand its relevance,” she said. “Science then becomes a mentally stimulating learning adventure. It is exciting to think that the future teachers of science we are impacting today will carry the torch of excellence in science tomorrow.”

Rice President David W. Leebron noted that Rice is engaged in several significant projects with HISD to improve science and math teaching. “We are pleased that this particular project focuses on elementary school science teachers,” he said. “Educating teachers about new ways to help our children to improve their ability to learn, to reason, to think creatively and to solve problems will no doubt contribute to the betterment of our great city and beyond.”

Over the years, funding for the MSLs has been provided by the Brown Foundation, Rice University, the National Science Foundation, HISD, the Cain Foundation, the Texas Regional Collaboratives for Excellence in Science Teaching, the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board’s Teacher Quality Grants Program and the greater Houston community. Model Science Lab teachers have impacted more than 65,000 students in their classrooms.