Toward an Analytic Framework for Elementary Science Education Reform

• In Event: Science Teaching and Learning: Elementary Science Education

Abstract

The Next Generation Science Standards allow for local discretion in designing, organizing, and managing elementary classroom instruction in ways that provide students with opportunities to actively engage with three-dimensional authentic scientific content, methods, and reasoning. However, a practical theory to guide the design of learning environments which can support such learning and teaching at a large scale is sparse. Based on a review of literature in organizational theory and science education, this paper proposes the following framework: schools and systems (1) enact standards, (2) envision instruction, (3) design educational infrastructures, and (4) couple the infrastructure with instruction. Practical applications of this framework to elementary science are suggested with implications for schools and researchers interested in supporting elementary science reform.

Authors

• Christa Haverly, Northwestern University

• Angela Lyle, University of Michigan - Ann Arbor

• Donald J. Peurach, University of Michigan

• James P. Spillane, Northwestern University

• Elizabeth A. Davis, University of Michigan