WELCOME
Welcome to a celebration of Cecily Selby and her contribution to linking Science
and Society, and the fact that she was one of the first to begin to recognize the need
for linkages between S&S through Sc education. In 1983 Cecily brought this need
for linkage to the national arena when she agreed to be a member of the committee
commissioned by the National Science Board to produce the trailblazing report:
"Educating Americans for the 21st Century: A plan of Action for improving
mathematics, science and technology education for all American elementary and
secondary students: A report to the American People and the National Science
Board"
This was the first national report to state that
* science education is for everyone
"the position of mathematics, science and technology, historically at the
periphery of learning for all but a few American students must shift to center
stage for all." The Commission has seen convincing evidence that” all students
(except those with insurmountable learning disabilities) can develop a useful
understanding of mathematics, science and technology if these subjects are
appropriately introduced and skillfully taught at the elementary and secondary
school levels. "
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* Informal Education is critical: " Much that affects the quality of formal
education occurs outside the classroom and beyond the control of the school.....such
experiences are particularly helpful for the sciences and technology."
* Information Technologies probably the first report to highlight IT and, thereby,
set guidelines for NSF in this area. The report wrote about "the promise of
information technologies" for improving and revolutionizing the education process.
And finally

The first sentence of the chapter on "Solutions to the teaching dilemma " is "
The teacher is the key to education. " the report assigned top priority to
teacher education.
Cecily relates that as she crossed the country trying to mobilize support over the
next year she was unable to solicit any interest in teacher education. Deciding it was
the "black hole" in STEM education, she decided to accept the offer of a position in
teacher education at NYU and truly “walk the talk”.
This trail blazing report closely touched on all recommendations still current today:
measuring and evaluating student progress, national and local policies, curriculum
and instruction, integrating science with other subjects, and was followed by:
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1983
A nation at risk
1989
Science for All Americans
1993
Benchmarks for Science Literacy
1995
UN Platform for Action: Scientific Literacy for All
1996
National Science Education Standard
2001
No Child Left behind
Nonetheless in spite of all these reports and the millions spent in the past quarter
century we find Gerhard Sonnert referring to the ‘ivory tower of science” as a
widespread stereotype according to which science and society exist largely in
isolation from each other…he claims that this vision of an aloof science holds a good
deal of truth, but it is certainly not fully accurate .
Gerhardt contends that there are two bridges which connect the two
1: federal science policy
2: Voluntary pubic interest group
However in spite of these bridges our schools continue to trail. Our students
are outperformed in math and science by their peers in Singapore, Japan, England,
the Netherlands, Hong Kong, and Korea, among others. Another assessment shows
American fifteen year olds ranked 25th in math and 21st in science when compared
to nations around the world.
I think the Missing link in the current discussion is the teacher of science at
the elementary and secondary level and also in the non formal world….
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These teachers are crucial to the linkage between S&S.
We know that the quality of math and science teachers is the most influential
single factor in determining whether or a student will succeed or fail in these
subjects. Yet, in high school, more than twenty percent of students in math and
more than sixty percent of students in chemistry and physics are taught by teachers
without expertise in these fields. And this problem is only going to get worse; there
is a projected shortfall of more than 280,000 math and science teachers across the
country by 2015. ( This was clearly stated by President Obama in his speech to NAS
earlier this week)
Teachers are the gatekeepers to science, they hold the key to allowing our young
children to continue their inquisition of nature beyond the third grade, ( their never
ending WHY questions) to continue inspiring our 4-6 graders , to direct our middle
school students down the path to the science pipeline and/or to scientific literacy and
to guide our HS students on their way to a life as a scientist and/or a scientifically
literate adult.
To teachers I would also add parents, peers, community members and of course
guidance counselors.
Today is also a celebration of science education at NYU and our achievements in
developing “high quality gatekeepers” as we continue to foster linkages between
Science and Society. .
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We have opened the doors to over 600 female and minority teachers who would not
have come to NYU without the funding we have received, our data shows that over
85% of them have remained in urban schools. Many of our graduates have moved
up the career ladder in NYC to become supervisors, PHD faculty, MD instructors
and principals,(19) . Some are in the audience today.
In the audience also are people whose lives have been touched by Cecily also those
who are not here because of Cecily( Refer to rejection)
Dr. and Mrs. Richard Chappell regret with pleasure that they will be unable to attend
the celebration of Dr. Cecily Cannon Selby’s science teaching and learning with her
former students and colleagues since they will be attending the MIT Doctoral Thesis
Presentation of their daughter Phoebe that day in Massachusetts. They further
acknowledge that the example and support of Dr. Cecily Selby has been an ongoing
factor in the success of Phoebe and her colleagues in their quest for excellence in
science at MIT! Please convey our sincere congratulations to Dr. Selby on this timely
occasion.
Cecily we all add our congratulations and a sincere thank you to you for being our
“role model” in our quest for excellence in Science and Science Education.
Introduce Janice Who will introduce Cecily
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Panel introduction-
Linkages through Classrooms and Teaching: 60 minutes
In the years since Cecily co-authored the NSB report, much has changed and much has
remained the same; many of us have experienced a great influx of funding on behalf of
science education for all – however- the programs and realities of our test driven culture
have still foster inequitable conditions for science education. As there is much to
celebrate and this is a celebration, this panel will discuss advances and challenges as we
seek to educate America’s children to face the scientific challenges and promise of this
century. We will do this in the form of a conversation addressing three major focus
questions.
First Question (15 minutes)
In what ways have there been major changes in pre-college science education since the
NSB report-

(Janice) begins discussion – advances in elementary science
Elementary school science
Much of my work, since completing the doctorate in education at NYU, has been with
future elementary school teachers, exploring possibilities for their own development as
scientific beings- this belief resides in the notion that, since so many of our daily
activities use the skills of scientists, these future teachers could then acknowledge that
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they also have a scientific self. The linkages that I sought to make were through
elementary school teachers and their students- what would it look like- I argued - to
engage youngsters in experiences in and outside of the classroom that would result in
their gaining a better understanding of the natural world through using processes of
science?
I began to collect stories of elementary and early middle school students and their
teachers engaged in exploring a wide range of phenomena in the life, physical and earth
sciences. There were many over arching “Big Ideas” that needed to take root in the
elementary school- so that teachers could build upon them as youngsters go on to
secondary school. Such big ideas include the characteristics of living and non living
thins- the properties of matter that make them different from one another- the forces at
work when we ride a bicycle for example, and the ways in which the earth’s rotation on
its axis and revolution around the sun cause day and night and seasons, respectfully. One
of the great misconceptions, for example, documented in an Annenberg video of Harvard
graduates involves the causes of the seasons.
Influenced by Cecily, I also encouraged future elementary school teachers to acquire, not
only an interest in the relationships between scientific processes and big ideas, but their
connections to the articles found in Tuesday’s science section of the New York Times.
Learning more about how the brain works, cognitive science makes us aware that making
connections between subject matter and students’’ lived experiences is critical for
developing enduring understandings of concepts. These connections were found outside
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the classroom door, in our neighborhoods, kitchens and medicine cabinets and yes, in the
Science Times.
Finally, I wanted to model to the mostly female student body entering elementary school
teaching – what it looked like to be female and fiercely interested in science. The gender
agenda for my classes became paramount as I told them my story of how Mrs. Fisher, my
seventh grade teacher insisted that I take the exam for Bronx High School of Science
and how that changed my life…and how influenced I was by my Grandma’s concern in
1960 that no one would marry me if I majored in chemistry! I wanted the students to see
my interest in science as natural and commonplace.
Clearly, the revolution in science teaching following the NSB report resides in the
urgency for science to be a stable and staple subject as early as kindergarten.
Unfortunately the testing culture of NCLB caused science to take a back seat to the more
often tested subjects of mathematics and language arts, but we are now moving forward
with a new administration publicly recognizing the importance of science education in all
of our lives- so we may see the study of science as the portal through which math and
language arts are taught.

Integration of informal science-Pam
Yet another change has been the increased use of the non formal in the
education of our K-12 students.Introduction of graduate teacher education
course in the use of NYC nonformal resources to teach science…takes
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current and future teachers into these sites to understand what goes on
and how the sites can be used in their day to day teaching.

Urban science initiatives- Paul and Julia
Second question (20 minutes)
Beyond hands-on, inquiry science teaching in science classrooms, what else is necessary
in order to create portals of entry into science for many more students, especially
adolescents?

(Paul) begins discussion - Bongo

(Julia)- Professional Learning Communities

Janice and Pam join in
PAM: Better understanding of the limitations of parental involvement,
improved teacher retention, sensitization training in understanding
cultural norms and differences.
Third Question(15 minutes)
What are some factors affecting the participation of underrepresented groups in science?

(Pam) begins discussion- Race, ethnicity, culture
EYE of a HURRICANE,
Schools are not very welcoming to parents or underrepresented students
Funds of knowledge aligned to culture.Feeling that science does not
belong to them continues (# of minorities in science –
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Educational Influences on the Science & Math
Pipeline: Gender & Cultural
Course Taking
Lack of Role
Expectations Patterns
Tests
Models
Stereotyping
Instructional
Cognitive
Materials
Language
Tracking
Differences
Poor
Learning Style
Inadequate
Parental
Number of
Attitudes
Minority M/S
Teachers
Negative Attitudes
Low Participation
Poor Achievement

Janice- girls and science

Paul and Julia join in
Psychosocial
Factors
•Social Influences
(peer groups)
•Altruism
•Perception of
Usefulness
•Anxiety
•Confidence
•Cultural mismatch
•Family Stress
•Racial & Cultural
Bias
Concluding CommentsOur future directions…how do we further Cecily’s work?
PAM; Developing an awareness among policy makers as to the importance of teachers
of science
Expanding our undergrad and graduate courses which focus on the linkage between S&S
Expanding networking among scientists, science educators , policy makers and funders.
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