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Assessment shows outstanding results
By AMY JENKINS
Instead of cracking open textbooks, students in elementary schools throughout Cupertino are picking up crayfish to check if they are male or female. They also learn the lifecycle of the crayfish and its habitat and how to respect crustaceans.
Learning through hands-on experimentation, such as working with living organisms, is part of the Bay Area Schools for Excellence in Education Science Education Collaborative that Cupertino Union School District is involved with, along with six other school districts.
The program started in the early 1990s when each of the school districts received a grant from the Hewlett-Packard Company and the National Science Foundation to enrich science teaching and learning in their classrooms. A large part of the program is the teacher professional development program, said science resource teacher Rebecca Carino.
The professional development program is designed to raise the comfort level for teachers who do not have an extensive background in science, Carino said. The teachers are required to receive 100 hours of professional development training, which includes working with the materials and practicing lesson plans with resource teachers before they are presented to the students, she said.
"After the professional development program we see teachers opening kits and getting excited about doing science," Carino said.
While there is usually one science resource teacher who in charge of special assignments per district, Cupertino has two--Carino and Louise Ostrov.
"We do demonstrations and when the teacher sees enthusiasm in the student it makes the teacher a believer," Ostrov said. "It helps them with a foreign subject matter. We see teachers who were not excited about insects go on and order the advanced insect kit."
Another innovative part of the program, in addition to training, is the hands-on approach to teaching. The district provides supplies and a science warehouse at Collins Elementary School, which are used to make complete instructional science kits.
Inside a converted gymnasium, the warehouse is packed with the supplies needed for any type of science experiment imaginable. For example, there are coffee filters and measuring cups used to fill a kit about mixtures and solutions. The kit is part of Earth science instruction and aims to teach that matter behaves in different ways based on its structure and surroundings. Carino said students in the fifth grade use the kit to find out the physical properties of how to separate mixtures.
The kits are nationally accredited and developed by both Full Option Science System and Science and Technology for Children. They include a teacher's instruction manual, a video about the lesson plan, materials for experiments and literature to learn the history of scientists and further science applications.
There are three kit trainings per year that total six hours, Ostrov said. They are in August, before school starts, as well as December and March. New teachers are required to attend the training and any veteran teacher changing grade levels or seeking extra support may refresh their skills, Carino said.
A class uses a kit for 9 to 11 weeks and then returns it to the warehouse to refurbish it. According to Carino, a three-person staff works full-time at the warehouse and spends between 15 minutes and 2 hours replenishing materials such as vinegar and evaporation dishes.
Kits are designed for each grade level and teach different aspects of physical science, Earth science, life science and drug and alcohol prevention, Ostrov said.
"Kits save teachers time from having to go to the grocery store and go shopping," Carino said.
The city also supports using the education program in conjunction with the Creek Studies Program. According to Carino, the creek program is designed for third-graders who are learning environmental and water education. Students visit McClellan Ranch and work with an environmental volunteer to help keep creeks clean. There are approximately 100 third-grade students per 20 elementary schools in the district involved in this program.
Recently an assessment of 2,000 fifth-grade students involved in the program proved that they are performing better than students not involved in the program. The Partnership for the Assessment of Standards-based Science was responsible for testing students in their ability to pass tests in hands-on experimentation, instead of the standard multiple choice or true/false test, Ostrov said.
One fifth-grade class per school in Cupertino was tested and the results showed a marked improvement among students, especially African American and Hispanic students, Carino said.
According to Ostrov, part of the success of the program is due to administrative and community support. The community support includes volunteer teaching by various members of the community, including professors and retired scientists and engineers.
Parents also embrace the program, Ostrov said. This is shown through their participation in family night at the Children's Discovery Museum.
"The training in this program is absolutely spectacular," said Lorna Horton, assistant superintendent, instructional services, CUSD. "The program really benefits the teachers and the students."
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Cupertino, California Since 1947
