STEELS Special Topics, Session A

STEELS Special Topics, Session A

Instructor(s): Peney E. Wright 

Tier 3 STEELS PL. See prerequisites below. 
Session A includes: 
Equity and Inclusion 

•  Engage with PA’s Equitable Practices Hub
•  Review the Smithsonian Science Education Centers Zero Barriers in STEM Education  
  * Strategies for Teaching All STEM Learners 
  * Instructional Strategies for All STEM Classrooms 
   

3D Assessments 

•  Explore the features of equitable, high quality formative and summative assessments
• Critique sample summative assessments
• Determine “must haves” for 3D assessments 
   

Integrating STEELS and ELA K-5 
Participants provided with: 

•  Varied daily/weekly science and engineering scheduling options
•  Sample unit plans including project-based integrated learning
•  Q & A Session

Meeting the pedagogical shifts to move towards the new STEELS Standards is more than just learning the 3-Dimensions. It requires that educators engage students in frequent opportunities to talk with one another to “figure out” the phenomena and to make sense of investigations and data collected. One framework to do this is Project/Problem-based learning, which integrates subject areas, encouraging students to use their strengths and represent their learning in multiple ways. 

For 3-Dimensional Formative and Summative Assessments we “test what (and how) we teach. Frequent formative assessments monitor changes in student’s thinking. Summative assessments have a variety of question/response types and several open-ended questions to allow students to “show what they know.” 

Prerequisites: 
Tier 1: At least one Tier #1 Professional Learning Session 
Tier 2: Ambitious Science Teaching Sessions #1-#4 

Strongly recommended:  read the National Research Council: A Framework for K-12 Science Education: Practices, Crosscutting Concepts and Core Ideas (2012), free download

Audience: administrators, science leads/department chairs, instructional coaches, K-12 teachers, paraprofessionals, substitute teachers