Wasted Science?Peter Hippardbyline‚ May. 08‚ 2007Presently, the San Francisco Unified School District has assigned a committee to evaluate a list of textbooks for a new science adoption for elementary and middle schools. The School Board will allocate millions of dollars on the new science program, the first in over a decade. But will this be money well spent? Will teachers, especially at the elementary level, embrace it come next August? Will textbooks gather dust, as burned-out teachers wonder how to squeeze in time for a new science program that must fit between the mandated instructional time for language arts and math? The missing component for a successful science adoption is an effective professional development (PD) program that goes beyond a one-day event of top down presentations. Without thoughtfully constructed and on-going PD attached to the new science adoption, we run the risk of teachers avoiding it. Teachers may instead revert to the previous science curriculum that they are familiar with, but is not aligned to the new state science standards. This would be a great disservice to our students, and need not occur. |