Some educators and corporate leaders would have us believe that the single most important factor influencing student achievement is the student's teacher. They have launched a campaign to use student learning data to rid the schools of ineffective teachers. There is...
There are two articles that you might want to read either before or after you read this post. The first article was in the New York Times and is entitled: Teacher Ratings get a New Look, Pushed by a Rich Watcher. The other article is actually a blog post and is...
In yesterday's blog post, I raised the question: Why do we teach science anyway? Do we teach science to help students become curious and to wonder about the world around them? Do we teach science because various committees and professional societies think...
A new generation of science standards was developed several years ago. The Conceptual Framework for New Science Standards was developed by a committee selected by the National Research Council, with funding from the Carnegie Foundation. The Framework will guide the...
"Standards as a flag to lead us forth contrasts for me with standards as a way of standardizing our minds" Deborah Meier Voluntary, nationwide education standards in science! Voluntary? I don't think so. But that is the language being used to describe the National...
Perhaps one of the most important roles that science teachers play, apart from helping their students become excited about and learn science, is being a mentor to an apprentice or beginning teacher. My own experience in the mentoring process was as a beginning...
