Increasingly, learning in science and mathematics is considered in terms of induction into the multimodal language practices of the disciplinary community. A strong strand of research in this tradition has involved students being challenged to invent multimodal language forms, and their ideas refined through structured guidance. Often, however,…

Large numbers of U.S. students lack proficiency in science, and students from different racial/ethnic and socioeconomic groups show disparities in science achievement. Science knowledge and skills are important for both academic and workplace success, and a variety of interventions have been developed to improve student achievement in science.…

Large numbers of U.S. students lack proficiency in science, and students from different racial/ethnic and socioeconomic groups show disparities in science achievement. Science knowledge and skills are important for both academic and workplace success, and a variety of interventions have been developed to improve student achievement in science.…

Improving the reading ability of young students could hardly be a more urgent priority for our elementary schools. Two thirds of American fourth and eighth graders are not able to read proficiently--and the outcomes are far worse for students from disadvantaged backgrounds. The National Assessment of Educational Progress in 2019 showed that only…

New content standards in English language arts and literacy, mathematics, and science expect all students, including English learners (ELs), to use multiple modes beyond language. Traditionally, conceptualizations of multimodality in EL education and the content areas have differed considerably. To acknowledge and begin confronting these…

Although visual complexity is increasing and graphics are essential to support readers' comprehension of disciplinary texts, visual literacy receives scant attention. Research suggests that effectively instructing students to interpret discipline-specific graphics would yield better comprehension. However, before this line of inquiry can be…

Inquiry science instruction is especially challenging in elementary grades where teachers are constrained by crowded curricula and time. Professional development (PD) may provide an opportunity to support elementary teacher development of inquiry science instruction. The study examines the inquiry practice of two teachers who participated in an…

The racial and ethnic makeup of the United States is in constant flux and is expected to experience substantial increases in racial and ethnic diversity over the next four decades. The problem the American educational system faces is attempting to problematize race/racism in its educational system and creating a system to counteract educational…

In this paper, we investigate how elementary school students develop multi-level explanations of population dynamics in a simple predator-prey ecosystem, through scaffolded interactions with a multi-agent-based computational model (MABM). The term "agent" in an MABM indicates individual computational objects or actors (e.g., cars), and these…

Teachers can reflect on and analyze their classroom discourse to inform their instructional practice. When teachers try to do so however, they often face analytic difficulties, which include the data set (e.g., data input, data transformation, and utterances by unknown speakers), coding (e.g., coding complexity, reliability, and efficiency),…

The impact of a professional development experience involving scientists and fourth to eighth grade teachers of science was explored. Teachers attended a summer program at a research facility where they had various experiences such as job shadowing and interviewing scientists. They also participated in authentic inquiry investigations and planned…

"Great Explorations in Math and Science[R] (GEMS[R]) Space Science" is an instructional sequence for grades 3-5 that covers fundamental concepts, including planetary sizes and distance, the Earth's shape and movement, gravity, and moon phases and eclipses. Part of the "GEMS"[R] core curriculum, "GEMS[R] Space Science"…

This column focuses on promoting learning through assessment. The author discusses the formative assessment probe "Pond Water," which reveals how elementary children will often apply what they know about animal structures to newly discovered microscopic organisms, connecting their knowledge of the familiar to the unfamiliar through…

Students' academic success in science is widely seen by political and business leaders as key to the nation's economic rebirth and future competitiveness. President Obama has made clear his belief in the importance of scientific literacy by stating that "our nation's long-term economic prosperity depends on providing a world-class education…

This study explored the nature of science (NOS) assessments K-4 classroom teachers developed for measuring students' understandings of NOS elements. We used the Views of Nature of Science Questionnaire-Form VNOS-D2 (Views of Nature of Science Elementary School Version 2) and interviews to verify that teachers' conceptions of NOS were sufficient to…