ENHANCING EQUITABLE SCIENCE
TEACHING IN DIVERSE LEARNING
CONTEXTS
CORY A. BUXTON
UNIVERSITY OF GEORGIA
Thursday, July 26, 12
A FEW STARTING THOUGHTS AGREE OR DISAGREE & WHY?
Today, many kids come to school with very little
background related to science.
Science is factual so consideration of diversity in
science is unnecessary.
If students aren’t interested in science, schools are
doing something wrong.
Equity is different than equality.
Science has its own language.
Thursday, July 26, 12
OVERVIEW OF SESSION
Changing Contexts & Changing Standards A Unique Intersection
Language Rich Science Inquiry
Academic Language of Science
Teaching in Interesting Times
Thursday, July 26, 12
CHANGING CONTEXTS & CHANGING STANDARDS
Thursday, July 26, 12
RACE/ETHNICITY
According to the 2010 U.S. Census:
36% of the U.S. population are minorities
45% of the U.S. population under 19 years old are
minorities
U.S. Census Bureau. (2012). Statistical abstract of the United States, 2012.
Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office. Accessed online at http://
www.census.gov/compendia/statab/cats/education.html
Thursday, July 26, 12
US&Population&Projections,&200082050
80%
70%
69%
64%
60%
60%
55%
51%
54%
50%
49%
46%
45%
40%
%,Majority
40%
30%
%,Minority
36%
31%
20%
10%
0%
2000
Thursday, July 26, 12
2010
2020
2030
2040
2050
US&Population&Projections,&200082050&(under&19&years&old)
80%
70%
61%
60%
56%
62%
51%
53%
58%
49%
47%
42%
50%
45%
40%
38%
%,Minority
39%
30%
20%
2022#
10%
0%
2000
Thursday, July 26, 12
%,Majority
2010
2020
2030
2040
2050
POVERTY
Poverty gaps by race/ethnicity narrowed from
1970 to 2000
Poverty gaps by race/ethnicity have persisted
since 2000
U.S. Census Bureau, Income, Poverty, and Health Insurance Coverage in the United States: 2009, Current PopulaNon Reports, series P60-­‐238, and Historical Tables -­‐-­‐ Tables 2 and 6, September 2010.
Thursday, July 26, 12
Poverty'by'Race,'196082009
40%
34%
Percent'of'population' in'poverty
35%
33%
32%
30%
28%
25%
26%
20%
26%
23%
25%
Black
Hispanic
22%
Asian7and7Pacific7Islander
15%
13%
12%
18%
10%
10%
10%
10%
11%
1970
1980
1990
12%
10%
5%
0%
1960
Thursday, July 26, 12
2000
2009
White
LANGUAGE
Today, over 1 in 5 students (21%) speak a
language other than English at home
Limited English Proficient (LEP) students (the
federal term) have more than doubled from 5% in
1993 to 12% in 2008
NaNonal Center for EducaNon StaNsNcs. (2011). The condi*on of educa*on 2011 (NCES 2011-­‐033). Washington, DC: U.S. Department of EducaNon.
Thursday, July 26, 12
Spoke,Language,Other,than,English,at,Home,,1980B2009
100%
90%
Percentage,of,student,population
80%
70%
60%
50%
Spoke1only1English1at1home
40%
Spoke1a1language1other1than1English
at1home
30%
21%
20%
10%
0%
1980
1990
2000
2006
Year
Thursday, July 26, 12
2007
2008
2009
Percentage)of)Public)School)Students)Identified)as)LEP
25%
20%
15%
11%
11%
10%
7%
5%
5%
0%
1993)1994
Thursday, July 26, 12
1999)2000
2003)2004
2007)2008
LEP/students
NEXT GENERATION SCIENCE
STANDARDS
Completed
Underway
Left To Do
Assessment
s
Curricula
Instruction
Teacher
Development
Thursday, July 26, 12
SHIFTS IN NEXT GENERATION
SCIENCE STANDARDS
Integration of (1) science and engineering
practices, (2) crosscutting concepts, and (3)
disciplinary core ideas
Disciplinary core ideas: Fewer, clearer, higher
Science concepts building over K-12 (learning
progressions)
Coordination with Common Core State Standards
in English language arts and math
Thursday, July 26, 12
STEM PRACTICES
1. Ask questions and define problems
2. Develop and use models
3. Plan and carry out investigations
4. Analyze and interpret data
5. Use mathematics and computational thinking
6. Construct explanations and design solutions
7. Engage in argument from evidence
8. Obtain, evaluate, and communicate information
Thursday, July 26, 12
CROSSCUTTING CONCEPTS
1. Patterns
2. Cause and effect
3. Scale, proportion, and
quantity
4. Systems and system models
5. Energy and matter
6. Structure and function
7. Stability and change
Thursday, July 26, 12
PRACTICES ACROSS
COMMON CORE
Scientific and Engineering
Practices
1.  Asking questions and
defining problems
2.  Planning and carrying out
investigations
3.  Analyzing and
interpreting data
4.  Using computational
thinking
5.  Constructing explanations
and designing solutions
6.  Engaging in argument
from evidence
7.  Obtaining, evaluating, and
communicating
information
ELA Student Portraits
1.  Demonstrating
independence
2.  Building strong content
knowledge
3.  Responding to the varying
demands of audience,
task, purpose, and
discipline
4.  Comprehending as well as
critiquing
5.  Valuing evidence
6.  Using technology and
digital media
7.  Understanding other
perspectives and cultures
Mathematical Practices
1.  Make sense of problems
and persevere in solving
them
2.  Reason abstractly and
quantitatively
3.  Construct viable
arguments and critique
the reasoning of others
4.  Use appropriate tools
strategically
5.  Attend to precision
6.  Look for and express
regularity and patterns
Language Demands for all students, especially for ELLs:
Thursday, July 26, 12
IMPLICATIONS FOR DIVERSITY
& EQUITY
From hands-on science to science inquiry to
science and engineering practices
Cross-cutting concepts highlight science as a
sense-making process
Connections across English language arts, math,
and science standards
Together, the NGSS are more complex in terms of
cognition, communication, & instruction
How can we prepare ALL students for success?
Thursday, July 26, 12
LANGUAGE-RICH INQUIRY
SCIENCE
Thursday, July 26, 12
LISELL: LANGUAGE-RICH
INQUIRY SCIENCE WITH ELLS
Develop a model of
language-rich science
inquiry teaching
Develop instruments for
evaluating that model
Test model & instruments
with middle school EL
students, families and
teachers
Thursday, July 26, 12
ASSUMPTIONS ABOUT SCIENCE &
LANGUAGE LEARNING FOR ELLS
ELLs learn content best
through interactive academic
tasks connected to personal
experience
ELLs learn language best when
engaged in classroom discourse
about academic content
ELLs need opportunities for
extended engagement with
complex ideas using text,
discourse, writing & inquiry
practices
Thursday, July 26, 12
SCIENCE INQUIRY PRACTICES
Which science inquiry practices?
How to connect inquiry practices with a focus on
academic language?
We selected 3 inquiry practices for LISELL:
1. Coordinating hypothesis, observation & evidence
2. Controlling variables
3. Explaining cause & effect relationships
Thursday, July 26, 12
INQUIRY EXAMPLE LESSON
STARTER
LISELL lesson starters
give students routine
practice with reading,
thinking, taking and
writing scientifically (see
handout)
LISELL lab templates
support students’
engagement with the
inquiry practices
Thursday, July 26, 12
ACADEMIC LANGUAGE OF
SCIENCE
Thursday, July 26, 12
ACADEMIC LANGUAGE
PRACTICES
Why academic language?
What practices?
General academic
vocabulary
Academic language of
science
Thursday, July 26, 12
GENERAL ACADEMIC
VOCABULARY
Conversational (type 1) vocabulary (e.g., first, help,
stay) overemphasized in ESOL instruction
Content-specific academic (type 3) vocabulary
(e.g., osmosis, biodiversity, neutron)
overemphasized in science instruction
General (type 2) academic vocabulary (e.g.,
previous, benefit, remain) in meaningful contexts
(see handout)
Thursday, July 26, 12
CREATING A WORD LIST &
DEFINITIONS
We use a blend of
words from Avril
Coxhead’s Academic
Word List and
language from the
Georgia Standards
Definitions created by
teachers and from
Wordsmyth.net
Thursday, July 26, 12
MEANINGFUL AND USEFUL
DEFINITIONS IN SCIENCE
Photosynthesis
The process in green plants and
certain other organisms by which
carbohydrates are synthesized
from carbon dioxide and water
using light as an energy source.
How a green plant uses sunlight
to change water and carbon
dioxide into food for itself.
Thursday, July 26, 12
TEACHING GENERAL
ACADEMIC VOCABULARY
Strategic selection of words
Increased exposure to a limited the number of
words
Creation of user-friendly definitions
Use words in engaging, meaningful, and multiple
contexts across content areas
Thursday, July 26, 12
TECHNICAL NATURE OF
SCIENCE VOCABULARY
Specialized words for naming
(genotype), classifying
(arthropod), describing
(nocturnal) and processes
(refraction)
Everyday words with
specialized meanings (force,
matter, medium)
Must be learned & used in
context
Value of roots, prefixes &
suffixes (see handout)
Thursday, July 26, 12
ABSTRACT & DEPERSONALIZED
NATURE OF LANGAUGE
Processes (verbs) and
qualities (adjectives)
reframed as nouns
Allows science discourse to
create explanations that
sound more objective
(explicit subject actor is
removed)
Use two-way rewriting of
sentences (see handout)
Thursday, July 26, 12
USE OF HIGH DENSITY
CLAUSES
Clauses in science have high
lexical density (number of
process, participant and
circumstance words per clause)
Noun groups – simple nouns
with multiple pre- and postmodifiers
Allows science discourse to
create densely packed
explanations
Collapsing and expanding noun
groups (see handout)
Thursday, July 26, 12
EXPRESSING SCIENCE
CONCEPTS IN MULTIPLE WAYS
Kids are prone to memorize
science definitions with
limited understanding
Practice “saying it another
way” supports simultaneous
development of content
knowledge and language
learning (see handout)
Thursday, July 26, 12
TEACHING SCIENCE IN
INTERESTING TIMES
Thursday, July 26, 12
CHALLENGES AND
STRATEGIES
We’re at a unique intersection of changing
demographics and changing standards
ELL students will sink or swim depending on how
well we support them in meeting new expectations
Focus on robust science inquiry practices
Make the academic language of science explicit
Show students why science matters to them, their
families and their futures
Thursday, July 26, 12
QUESTIONS AND COMMENTS
With a partner talk about:
One thing you heard today that you agreed with
One new question you have
One strategy you want to try
more info and materials at: coe.uga.edu/lisell
Thursday, July 26, 12