California adopted the Next Generation Science Standards (CA NGSS) in 2013, with the aim of improving scientific literacy and strengthening the global competitiveness of the state's workforce. But the COVID-19 pandemic has been especially disruptive for science education, which has long been a lower priority than math and English language arts.…

The project described in this article took place in fall 2019 and lasted for seven months in a preschool classroom consisting of a master teacher, teacher and assistants, and 21 children (ages 3-5) within a university-based early childhood education center that serves children from birth through six years old. The teachers began the inquiry,…

The California Next Generation Science Standards (CA NGSS)--adopted in 2013--have the potential to improve scientific literacy and strengthen the global competitiveness of California's workforce. However, longstanding underinvestment in science education and the unprecedented disruptions caused by COVID-19 have heightened challenges faced by…

This resource list identifies resources from 2010 to 2017 that highlight resources on science in early care and education under the following categories: 1) Policy resources, 2) Promising practices, 3) Professional development and teacher preparation.

The importance of introducing computational approaches early and actively in science education is widely acknowledged among educators and scientists. Many great ideas have been put forward and implemented by advocates and organizations such as Partnership for Integration of Computation into Undergraduate Physics (https://www.compadre.org/PICUP)…

Although the benefits of early science, technology, engineering, arts, mathematics (STEAM) education are understood, science is seldom found in early childhood education. One major impediment is teachers' perceived lack of their own competence with scientific skills. Many early childhood teachers feel that they do not know science sufficiently to…

Incorporating computational thinking (CT) ideas into core subjects, such as mathematics and science, is one way of bringing early computer science (CS) education into elementary school. Minimal research has explored how teachers can translate their knowledge of CT into practice to create opportunities for their students to engage in CT during…

This report describes the core standards process for Utah Public Schools. During fiscal year 2017-2018, the Utah State Board of Education (Board) continued revisions to core standards for Health Education, K-5 and 9-12 Science, and Early Childhood Education. The Health Education Core is currently out for 90 days of public review which closes…

High quality early childhood education and science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) learning have gained recognition as key levers in the progress toward high quality education for all students. STEM activities can be an effective platform for providing rich learning experiences that are accessible to dual language learners and…

Objects are everywhere. People deal with them from the beginning of their lives. From babyhood, they start to recognise them and, progressively, learn to define their attributes and designate the actions related to them. Although the basis of object-oriented programming is translating real-world objects into the object-oriented code, learning…

The instructional congruence framework has been used to enhance congruence between students' non-dominant backgrounds and science instruction in upper grades. The purpose of this paper is to propose and model the use of the framework to address two key areas of concern in the field of early childhood teacher education: family engagement and the…

There has been sustained research interest in the role of early career researchers in advancing the field and the challenges that they face. However, efforts to document lived experiences of researchers working in a specific research area within science education have been scarce. This paper considers the meaning of innovation in the context of…

This paper reflects upon the value of education in nature, its features and particularities and especially its relationship with learning science and sustainability early in childhood. The relationship with the natural environment is closely linked to learning. Nature is replete with risk, emotions, challenges, etc. Walking through a fierce storm,…

Competent clinical reasoning skills are necessary for providing safe and effective health care. Professional level health science education programs are keenly interested in fostering effective clinical reasoning skills. As such, many programs expect students to engage in complex clinical reasoning tasks early in their education. However, early…

Inspired by Freire's principle of dialogue, in this article we present a series of dialogues and critical syntheses between a science teacher-researcher with 35 years of experience and an early-career science teacher-researcher. We explore being in-between academic research in science education and high school teaching. Following Anzaldúa's…