Presentation to Colorado Association of Science Teachers
Chris Carson christopher.carson@ucdenver.edu
eCALLMS project, http://ecallms.ucdsehd.net/
Opportunities and Challenges for Bilingual Students in the Science Classroom
Let’s look for convergence between the emerging standards for culturally and linguistically diverse education and
science education.
Best Practices for Diverse
Classrooms1

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Teachers and students work
cooperatively to reason,
solve, write, and produce.
Language and literacy are
developed in all subjects
Contextualization: New
learning is connected to what
students already know (from
home and community)
Challenging Activity: High
cognitive complexity
Instructional Conversation:
Students are engaged through
dialogue
Critical Stance: Students and
teachers use school activity to
address the real problems
with high relevance to
students’ lives.
Best Practices for
Language Acquisition2
Linguistically Responsive
Teachers:
 Have an awareness of
language as a social and
cultural practice
 Value linguistic diversity
 Learn about students’
language repertoire
 Identify the language
demands of classroom
tasks
 Apply principles of
language acquisition
 Scaffold instruction to
promote learning for all
students
Shifting Focus of Science
Education3
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Less memorizing, more sense
making
Learning through the practice
of science:
o Asking Questions and
Defining Problems
o Developing and using
models
o Carrying out
investigations
o Analyzing Data
o Using mathematical
thinking
o Designing solutions
o Engaging in argument
o Communicating
information
Applying knowledge
Explicit connections to
language and literacy
CONVERGENCE
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Intentional language and
literacy instruction
Deeper learning about fewer
objectives
Classroom activities rich in
“social interaction for an
authentic communicative
purpose”
Students see school as a place
where they are challenged to
o Think deeply
o Use their full linguistic
repertoire to
communicate information
to a wide variety of
audiences
o Apply knowledge to solve
real-world problems
contextualized to their
lived experience
1 CREDE standards. See Tharp, R. G., Estrada, P., Dalton, S. S., & Yamauchi, L. (2000). Teaching transformed: Achieving excellence, fairness, inclusion, and
harmony. Boulder: Westview Press. See also: Teemant, A., & Hausman, C. S. (2013). The Relationship of Teacher Use of Critical Sociocultural Practices with
Student Achievement. Critical Education, 4(4).
2 After Lucas, Tamara and Ana Maria Villegas. "A Framework for Preparing Linguistically Responsive Teachers". Teacher Preparation for Linguistically
Diverse Classrooms. 2011. Ed. Tamara Lucas. New York: Routledge, 2011.
3 Next Generation Science Standards. NGSS Lead States. 2013. Next Generation Science Standards: For States, By States. Washington, DC: The National
Academies Press. Shifting focus from NSTA: http://ngss.nsta.org/about.aspx
Presentation to Colorado Association of Science Teachers
Chris Carson christopher.carson@ucdenver.edu
eCALLMS project, http://ecallms.ucdsehd.net/
Culturally
Responsive
Teaching
Linguistically
responsive
teaching
Shifting focus
for science
education
Opportunities for
bilingual learners
Opportunities:
The changing guidelines for science
instruction (NGSS + Framework) more
closely align with the type of classroom
activity shown to be effective for culturally
and linguistically diverse learners:
 Rich opportunities for academic
language to be used in social
interactions
 Contextualized learning with high
cognitive challenge
 Specific language and literacy
instruction
 Opportunities to apply learning in
community context
Challenges:
In order to realize the potential for meaningful communication during science learning, we need professional
development that helps shift thinking about science instruction. Scientific ideas and concepts can and should be
taught through science and engineering practices that engage bilinguals in meaningful communication with an
authentic purpose. Professional development for science teachers must also develop the dispositions and skills
necessary for great content-based language instruction.
eCALLMS professional development modules attempt to meet these challenges. These free, online resources help
teams of teachers look for alignment between the science standards and linguistically responsive education. They
provide flexible learning opportunities to refine the dispositions and the skills necessary to support bilingual
excellence. These modules are free resources for professional learning communities.
To find out more, visit: http://ecallms.ucdsehd.net/about/
Or email us: ecallms@ucdenver.edu