Exemplary Science in Grades 5-8: Standards-Based Success Stories

Do the Standards really matter in middle school? Nine years after the National Science Education Standards' release, just how well do science teachers in grades 5 to 8 actually use them to plan content, define improved teaching, and assess real learning? Find out the answers to these key questions in this groundbreaking collection of 15 essays by teachers, researchers, and professors whose specialty is middle school. Nine years after the release of the Standards, these educators describe what they're doing to achieve the visions for the reform of teaching, assessment, professional development, and content. All the visions correspond to the Less Emphasis and More Emphasis conditions that conclude each section of the Standards, characterizing what most teachers and programs should do less of as well as describing the changes needed if real reform is to occur. Among this collection's wide-ranging essay topics: 'Teaching Science With Student Thinking in Mind,' 'The Relationship Between a Professional Development Model and Student Achievement,' 'Creating a Classroom Culture of Scientific Practices,' 'Traveling the Inquiry Continuum: Learning Through Teacher Action Research,' 'What Do We Get to Do Today? The Middle School Full Option Science System Program,' and 'Teach Them to Fish.' This volume is the third in NSTA Press's Exemplary Science monograph series, which provides the results of an unprecedented national search to assess how well the Standards' vision has been realized.