Larry D. Yore

Learning from Writing in Secondary Science: A Case Study of Students’ Composing Strategies

The role of writing in learning secondary science has received increasing research focus over the last decade. This study aimed to identify students’ drafting strategies when they wrote for a readership other than their teacher, as well as their perceptions of the value of this task. The findings indicated that students perceived this writing process and task as valuable for their learning of science concepts and that their drafting approaches were consistent with current conceptualisations of effective strategies to enable writing to promote learning.

Science Cooperatives in Missouri and Iowa (Science Co-op): Addressing the Needs of Small Rural School Districts of Science Literacy for All

There is a need for research involving professional development (PD) and implementation of the National Science Education Standards (NSES; National Research Council [NRC], 1996) that systematically considers the theoretical and practical demands placed on decision makers, teachers, and researchers. However, few projects go beyond a single site to multiple schools, school districts, or state systems. Single classroom, school, or school district efforts fail to recognize the complexity of education systems and subsystems, scaling (capacity building), planned change, and the logistical, financial, and time demands involved in large-scale, multidistrict, multiagency efforts. The NSES content, teaching, and program standards focus on conceptual understanding, inquiry teaching practices, learning opportunities, and resources leading to science literacy and on fuller participation in the public debate about socioscientific issues. This chapter focuses on a multidistrict PD project that considered inquiry teaching and resources and its influence on reform-based classroom practice and student performance on high-stakes tests during a context of changing priorities, funding, and participants.