William R. Veal

Pedagogical Content Knowledge and the 2003 Science Teacher Preparation Standards for NCATE Accreditation or State Approval

The 2003 National Science Teachers Association Standards for Science Teacher Preparation (NSTA-SSTP) were developed to provide guidelines and expectations for science teacher preparation programs. This article is the fourth in a special JSTE series on accreditation written to assist science teacher educators in meeting the NSTA-SSTP. In this article, the authors discuss pedagogical content knowledge and how this is expressed in the NSTA-SSTP. Included are competencies and examples needed for a science teacher preparation program to document developing pedagogical content knowledge in preservice science teachers.

Alignment of the 2003 NSTA Standards for Science Teacher Preparation with the NCATE Assessment System

The 2003 National Science Teachers Association Standards for Science Teacher Preparation (NSTA-SSTP) were developed to provide guidelines and expectations for science teacher preparation programs. This article is the second in a special JSTE series on accreditation written to assist science teacher educators in meeting the NSTA-SSTP and to answer questions that may arise such as: What are the requirements for NSTA science teacher preparation program recognition? How are the 2003 NSTA-SSTP aligned with the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education assessments? In this article, the authors focus on the three themes that science teacher preparation programs must address: content, pedagogy, and student learning. Included is a description of the priorities of the review process and the minimum competencies needed for a science teacher preparation program to be nationally recognized.

Using Performance-Based Assessments to Prepare Safe Science Teachers

Standard 9 of the National Science Teachers Association Standards for Science Teacher Preparation is designed to ensure that science teacher preparation programs provide preservice science teachers with the knowledge and skills to understand and successfully engage students in a safe and ethical manner. This standard contains four components describing science teachers’ legal and ethical responsibilities, appropriate use of instructional materials (chemicals in particular), emergency procedures and safety equipment, and guidelines for proper use of living organisms in the classroom. In this article, we describe the requirements of Standard 9 and provide guidance on assessments that can be used to present evidence for preservice teachers’ competence in each of the four components.

Understanding and Using the 2003 NSTA Science Teacher Preparation Standards for NCATE Accreditation or State Approval

It is likely that if you are a science teacher educator at a college or university with ateacher preparation program, you will be involved at some point in your career inthe accreditation process for the science teacher education program. The accred-itation process can seem long, effortful, and even complicated at times. This briefarticle is the first in a series for the Journal of Science Teacher Education that isaimed at helping science teacher educators navigate the process of accreditation.The authors of this series are members of the National Science Teachers Association(NSTA) Audit Team whose primary responsibility is to evaluate program reports,assure alignment to the 2003 NSTA Science Teacher Preparation Standards, anddetermine NSTA program recognition. This first installment of the series providesan overview of accreditation and an introduction to understanding and using the

The use of teachers’ baseline normative beliefs to guide professional development in teaching mathematics

This article describes the normative beliefs and the discursive claims related to mathematics and teaching mathematics made by approximately 50 middle-level and secondary mathematics teachers within four high-need local education associations participating in a Mathematics and Science Partnership with a southeastern college’s Science and Math for Teachers program in the United States. Between 2011 and 2013, a five-point Likert scale survey was designed and used to measure normative beliefs and discursive claims along a spectrum ranging from traditional to innovative beliefs and practices about mathematics and teaching mathematics. Findings reveal that participating teachers held innovative normative beliefs about how mathematics should be taught but more traditional normative beliefs related to efficacy. Teachers’ discursive claims were more varied but tended toward being more innovative. While teachers responded similarly on many survey items, there were variations in responses that pointed to the need to differentiate professional development endeavors. Findings also reveal inconsistencies between normative beliefs and discursive claims that are highlighted as points of emphasis for future professional development.

Understanding the 2012 NSTA Science Standards for Teacher Preparation

The purpose of this article is to present the new National Science Teachers Association–Standards for Science Teacher Preparation (NSTA–SSTP). The Council for the Accreditation of Educator Preparation (CAEP) is the new national accreditation organization for programs of education. NSTA collaborates with CAEP to establish content specific standards for the evaluation of science education programs. Recently, NSTA has developed new science teacher education standards that reflect the research base associated with what a new science teacher should know. The standards were developed from national guidelines and the research literature on science education. The new NSTA–SSTP reflect the knowledge, skills, and dispositions that a newly certified teacher must know and be able to do. The paper concludes with a description of how to submit a report to CAEP and NSTA for accreditation of a secondary science education program.

Science and Math for Loggerheads

It is 9:00 p.m. on a late August evening. School has just started for this small, K-6, rural, coastal school. The local science teacher, Ms. Heron, in collaboration with families and community organizations, has taken her students to the beach to watch for the potential loggerhead hatchlings as they make the dangerous journey fromtheir nests to the ocean. Three students, Taylor (11), her sister, Mia (9), and brother, Tristan (7), attend the local four-room school and are eager to see Ms. Heron after the summer vacation. The three children told Ms. Herron that during the summer they had noticed more and more turtle nests, cordoned off with orange tape and stakes, along the beach. During the first week of school each year, Ms. Heron tells the children in her science classes, combined grades 1–3 and 4–6, that they will be studying the loggerhead turtles. On this warm August evening, the children are excited to be able to relate what they observe on the beach to what they are studying in the classroom.