Designing Effective Science Instruction: What Works in Science Classrooms

by Anne Tweed

Designing Effective Science Instruction (DESI) explores the characteristics of high-quality science lessons and helps you reflect on what you are doing well already. Whether you are a novice or veteran teacher, DESI recommends ways to improve existing lessons and create effective new ones.
Attend a workshop: McREL also offers professional development based on DESI.

McREL Teacher Evaluation Process ONLINE

McREL's Teacher Evaluation Process software helps districts cultivate high-performing school cultures that are completely aligned with professional teaching standards, goals, and priorities.
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Struggling helps students master math

Edutopia

Researchers from Rutgers University have made a startling discovery: allowing students to struggle with difficult mathematics problems can lead to dramatic improvements in test scores and achievement. The key is to allow them to struggle through the problem using their own innate strengths in a supportive environment.

Researchers try to promote students' ability to argue

Education Week

Researchers have concluded that the ability to argue is a skill that is vital to long-term success. The ability to form logical arguments turns what students know into something they can use.

Effective teachers found to improve peers' performance

Education Week

The National Bureau of Economic Research has identified a "spillover effect" from high-quality teachers. Effective teachers tend to encourage their colleagues to improve their own performance. The phenomenon is well-documented in other professions, but researchers have now identified the same occurence in teaching. For the average teacher in a grade with three other teachers, replacing just one teacher with a more effective one has a spillover effect of .86 percent of a standard deviation on students' test scores.

Projections of Education Statistics to 2018

National Center for Education Statistics

This report examines statistics on enrollment, graduates, teachers, expenditures in elementary and secondary schools, and enrollment and earned degrees in degree-granting institutions. The statistics are available for the past 14 years, and projections have been made based on the data about what our schools will look like through 2018.

Time to Act: An Agenda for Advancing Adolescent Literacy for College and Career Success

Carnegie Corporation of New York

After five years of examining reading and writing skills among students in grades 4-12, researchers with the Carnegie Corporation of New York found that many young people drop out of high school or perform inadequately, graduating without the basic skills that they need to succeed. The authors call for a systematic approach focusing on content-area reading and writing. The report outlines action steps for school leaders, district leaders, state leaders, and federal policymakers.

U.S. Performance Across International Assessments of Student Achievement: Special Supplement to The Condition of Education 2009

National Center for Education Statistics

This report examines data gathered from the Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS), the Program for International Student Assessment (PISA), and the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMMS). The performance of U.S. students in reading, mathematics, and science is compared with their peers in other countries that participated in the exams.

NanoTeach Your Classroom!

NanoTeach is recruiting teachers for a year-long, nationwide pilot test starting in the summer of 2010. Through lessons and experiences that model the three-part Designing Effective Science Instruction (DESI) instructional framework, participants will investigate dynamic nanoscience and technology (NS&T) content while learning about instructional strategies that support effective science teaching.

Magna Awards

The American School Board Journal
Nomination deadline: October 31, 2009.

The American School Board Journal's Magna Awards honor outstanding programs developed or supported by school boards. Nominations are being accepted for local school board practices and programs that advance student learning. Grand Prize winners receive $4,000.

Can the right kinds of play teach self-control?

The New York Times
September 27, 2009

Executive function might not be the first word you think of when you picture a kindergarten or preschool classroom. Unless, of course, your classroom uses the Tools of the Mind curriculum co-developed by McREL Principal Researcher Elena Bodrova. Based on the teachings of Russian psychologist Lev Vygotsky, Tools of the Mind uses dramatic play to teach students the executive function skills (particularly self-regulation) needed to succeed in school and in life.

McREL to present at National School Boards Association T+L Conference

McREL
September 24, 2009

McREL consultants Howard Pitler and Elizabeth Hubbell will present at the upcoming 2009 T+L Conference October 28-30 in Denver, Colo. The annual T+L Conference is the premier technology and learning conference for district leadership teams.

Northeast Guilford High School awarded most improved school

Piedmont Triad (Greensboro, N.C.)
September 22, 2009

In 2007, Northeast Guilford High School (NEHS) was identified as one of the state's "turnaround schools." The next year, the school initiated McREL's Success in Sight approach to school improvement. After only one year of Success in Sight, NEHS has been named one of the most improved schools in the county.

Children return to schools in Kansas City with new hope

Midwest Voices: A Kansas City Star blog (Kansas City, Mo.)
September 6, 2009

Sen. Yvonne S. Wilson attributes the successes of high-performing Kansas City schools to their positive school culture. She cites research from McREL, summarized in the latest issue of Changing Schools, that relates overall school performance with a "culture of high expectations."

Ballet masters put a mouse on her toes

The New York Times
September 3, 2009

PBS is adding "Angelina Ballerina: The Next Steps" to their children's programming lineup. The show's educational content is derived from McREL's standards for music and dance, published in the compendium of content standards and benchmarks.

Dave Heineman: Change needed to plug achievement gap

Omaha World Herald (Omaha, Neb.)
August 7, 2009

In his July 30 speech to the Nebraska Council of School Administrators, Governor Dave Heinman emphasized the need to hire the best teachers and administrators to improve student achievement. He cited research published in McREL's book, School District Leadership that Works®.