Leaving Science Behind: The Use of Instructional Time for Teaching Science at the Elementary Level

• In Event: Inquiry in Science Teacher Education: Powerful Pedagogical Approaches and Implications for Practices

Abstract

The evaluation of schools and teachers based largely on results from standardized testing appears to have had some consequences for science instruction at the elementary level (Center on Education Policy, 2008). This study sought to add to research about the quantity and quality of elementary science teaching as it was sampled in the classrooms of 179 K-6 teachers across ten U.S. school districts in the western United States. Analysis of data from classroom observations was used to draw comparisons of instructional time for science and other subjects in the elementary curriculum, identify the kinds of instructional strategies used to teach science, and describe how lesson content and teaching strategies were aligned with the National Science Education Standards (NRC 1996).

Authors

• Mary Sowder, Utah Valley University

• Stan Harward, Utah Valley University

• Elaine Tuft, Utah Valley University