The Preparing Urban Lakeshore Science Educators (PULSE) project brings together the University of Wisconsin-Parkside as lead institution, and the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh and the Racine Unified School District as core partners. These partners are working with the Kenosha Unified School District and other school districts and University of Wisconsin campuses to establish a broad partnership with a shared vision to address the science achievement gap between urban and suburban students and the challenge of high teacher turnover. The partnership brings together university science and education faculty, district science teachers, and administrators from the universities and school districts, to conduct a thorough review of the literature and resources for science professional development, particularly for grades 3-8, and a comprehensive needs analysis of area teachers. The needs analysis includes collecting and analyzing survey and focus group data on characteristic teacher needs and reviewing student achievement data, with specific intentions to explore questions about teacher shortages, attrition and retention, pre-service preparation, in-service professional development, and barriers to student achievement in science. A greater understanding of the needs is guiding the development of curricula for professional development workshops. Infrastructure is being developed to offer workshop sessions in a variety of venues, including local classrooms, regional teacher academies, and internet/videoconferences. The central goal of the project is to develop an empirically-based and replicable plan to reach pre-service and in-service science teachers of grades 3-8 with professional development focused on skills and knowledge to teach science, with particular emphasis on developing an understanding of the challenges and issues faced in urban educational settings. In the course of building the partnership across multiple higher education and K-12 institutions, the project team is also studying the process of partnership-building, with particular focus on studying how best to support different types of urban school districts. The partners intend to create an MSP-Targeted proposal designed to empirically investigate the different needs, challenges, successes, and opportunities of several public institutions of higher education in collaborative partnership with several K-12 school districts whose demographics, geography, and performance levels differ.
The University of Wisconsin-Parkside is a public, primarily undergraduate university with the most diverse campus in the University of Wisconsin system, drawing the majority of its students from an urban corridor in southeastern Wisconsin with lower income and educational levels than the rest of the state. The University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh is nearly three times the size of the Parkside campus, and while primarily undergraduate, also has master's degree programs. The Racine Unified School District serves approximately 21,000 students from a mix of urban, suburban, and rural communities, and includes 21 elementary schools, 7 middle schools, and 3 high schools. Overall, nearly half of students served are from racial minorities. The results of this MSP-Start project include collaboration-building activities, the needs assessment, and the program model. These products are to be shared publicly through conference and publication venues.
planning grant project investigated science education training needs and challenges faced by several urban Wisconsin school environments including Fond du Lac, Kenosha, Racine and Oshkosh, with a goal of developing a model science training program based on best practices and state/national science standards and incorporating information about the needs and challenges faced by urban schools. Through a series of meetings, summit sessions and dialogue with teachers and administrators from our partner districts, science education training needs for both pre-service and in-service educators were identified, as well as barriers to teaching science and increasing student interest in science. Identified science education training needs for pre-service teachers: - Teaching / Pedagogical Knowledge: Almost two of five (37%) comments of training needs for pre-service teachers were connected to knowledge of teaching or how to teach (pedagogy). The most common response category was the connection of the science curriculum to over-arching major concepts. - Content Knowledge: A third of comments (33%) related to a lack of content knowledge. Others included a lack of confidence, and a disconnection from context for the courses. - Student Teaching Issues: Just over a quarter (27%) reported needs linked to student teaching. The need for better quality teachers for pre-service placements was the most frequent category – i.e., "better teachers from whom to learn." - Connections between Schools, Districts, and Universities: Three percent of responses reported the need for better collaboration or coordination between schools, districts, and universities. Identified science education training needs for in-service teachers: - Training: A quarter of responses indicated the need for more training. The most commonly identified categories were the need for more continuing education for teachers, the need to include administration, and the need for more variety. - Content Knowledge: About one in nine (11%) comments reported to needs around content knowledge, including more training connected to process and to the context of the science being taught. - Curriculum: One in ten (10%) responses concerned training needs regarding curriculum. Identified barriers to teaching science: - Curriculum Challenges: One in five responses (21%) identified challenges and barriers connected with curriculum. The most common categorized response under this theme related to the need for the curriculum to be relevant and applicable to a student’s experience. - Inadequate Resources: Seventeen percent of responses indicated challenges and barriers due to inadequate resources. The lack of equipment and materials was cited most often, along with a lack of funding in general. - Content Knowledge Issues: About one in eleven responses (9%) concerned content knowledge issues. A lack of comfort or a lack of content knowledge was the most common sub-theme. - Teaching / Pedagogical Issues: Nine percent of responses identified teaching and pedagogical issues. Classroom management and differentiation for students of differing abilities were the two most common categories of responses under this theme. - Training Issues: About nine percent identified training issues as challenges. The lack of and/or need for quality professional development and training opportunities was the most common category for this theme. Identified barriers to student learning: - Home / Family Issues: One quarter (25%) of responses connected home or family issues as barriers to student learning. Family dysfunction of various types was the most common sub-theme. - Curriculum Challenges: Sixteen percent of responses concerned curriculum. The most commonly categorized response under this theme identified the need for the curriculum to be relevant and to have connections for the student as well as the wider lessons. - Student-related Issues: About one in six responses (16%) indicated student-related challenges and barriers to learning – specifically hormonal and developmental changes and the lack of engagement and motivation of the students. - Cultural Issues: One in nine responses (11%) was associated with cultural challenges and barriers to student learning. The wide diversity within districts and the bilingual nature of the communities were cited by participants. - Knowledge / Skills Gaps: Nine percent of responses reported the challenge and barrier as the lack of knowledge and skills of the students. Along with identifying important factors related to teaching science, this project developed relationships between university personnel and school district staff, which has led to greater collaboration and partnership in addressing local science education training needs. No formal professional development programs were created or delivered, but the process led to two notable outcomes related to training and professional development. First, this project shaped the focus of a state Title IIB – MSP project which provides professional development to many of the same project partners. Second, this project helped to inform the development of the new teacher education program at UW-Parkside. This program, which re-opened in fall 2013, now has a strong focus on STEM education and will provide ongoing support for training teachers to meet the needs of PULSE districts.
