Developing culturally responsive science teachers requires changes in one's knowledge and dispositions, as well as one's instructional practices. Multicultural science instruction (MSI) provides educators with a framework for strengthening and disrupting the formal curriculum in ways that infuse critical, historical, and culturally responsive…

In this paper, the authors explore how teachers and community members in Nepal come together to transform students' science teaching and science learning experiences. The community members, primarily parents of the students, took the opportunity to drive the kinds of science topics and the nature of science activities the teachers needed to teach…

In-service teachers of science work with unique content and pedagogical experiences within a changing educational landscape. Understanding teacher agency in these circumstances will help researchers understand the actions that these teachers take. The purpose of this meta-analysis was to review how the agency of K-12 in-service teachers of science…

The Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) emphasize engaging students in science practices through which students can develop content, procedural, and epistemic knowledge of science. To accomplish this goal, science teachers must embed science content in authentic science practice. Successfully integrating content and practice will require…

This paper calls for a critical reimagination of science epistemology and praxis by advocating for a move toward Black liberation in and through K-12 science education. This call is driven by our desires as authors to foster a future of K-12 science teaching and learning that centers, embraces, and promotes historical and contemporary Black…

Inquiry-based science education (IBSE) has been a key element in science education for the past decade and should therefore be a key element of pre-service teacher (PST) education as well. This study aims to explore how IBSE is implemented in teacher education for primary and lower secondary levels (years 1-10) to prepare PSTs for their…

In this study, we present a conceptual tool for guiding teachers' principled pedagogical actions toward equitable instruction, referred to as the "Transforming Science Learning" (TSL) framework. The TSL framework was developed to address the challenges of enacting an ideological commitment in local contexts--promoting equity and justice…

A growing body of work regarding teacher learning and implementation of reform has pointed to the significant role organizational contexts play in shaping teachers' engagement with reform and their implementation decisions. Within science education, the adoption of the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) and standards reflective of the…

This qualitative case study of 20 teachers enrolled in a two-year fellowship, examines the professional development of science teachers during participation in a professional learning community. Our professional development model specifically employs vertical teaming of teachers from elementary, middle, and high school levels to examine the…

This paper reports the qualitative analysis of science teachers' pedagogical reflections while attending institutes focused on the "Next Generation Science Standards" (NGSS). The researchers collected reflection slips from 165 science teachers (K-12) across 14 different NGSS institutes. To analyze the data, researchers classified…

Recent national reforms focus on learning disciplinary core ideas through engaging in science and engineering practices. These reforms also call for students and teachers to use crosscutting concepts (CCCs), or analytical lenses, that support scientific sensemaking and connections across disciplines. The "Framework for K-12 Science…

The National Survey of Science and Mathematics Education (NSSME) has provided periodic snapshots of K-12 science instruction in the United States for over 40 years. Study topics include teacher background and beliefs, professional learning opportunities, course offerings, instructional objectives and activities, resources for instruction, and…

The purpose of this study was to understand how biology teachers experienced and learned from professional development (PD) in which the 5R Instructional Model was used as a framework for planning inclusive lesson for emerging multilingual learners (EML). The PD integrated biology content with the scientific practices of using mathematical…

Specialized science courses (SSCs) integrate content knowledge (CK) with pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) and prepare pre-service teachers (PSTs) for reform-oriented teaching. Studies of individual SSCs report positive short-term outcomes, including an increase in self-efficacy and CK. However, few studies explore the longer-term impact of SSCs…

In "A Framework for K-12 Science Education," researchers call for teachers to make dramatic shifts in practice -- and sustain in these changes in practice -- so students can engage in rigorous and equitable three-dimensional science learning. Project-Based Learning (PBL) motivates students from diverse backgrounds to persist in learning.…