In many countries around the world, there has been an increasing emphasis on improving science education. Recent reform efforts in the USA call for teachers to integrate scientific and engineering practices into science teaching; for example, science teachers are asked to provide learning experiences for students that apply crosscutting concepts…

This study attempted to determine which combinations of student, teacher, curricular, and task factors characterize effective life science instruction, where effectiveness is defined as the acquisition of scientific literacy. The framework of scientific literacy used includes five teacher behavior components: (1) explaining science content; (2)…

This 10-chapter report provides detailed information on a study which examined what combinations of teacher, student, and curricular variables were associated with more effective life science instruction at the intermediate level. The conception of effectiveness was guided by the normative framework of scientific literacy and by student growth on…

This study is an extension of an on-going longitudinal study, the Girls Engagement With/In Science (GEIS) Project. The GEIS Project was designed to understand how girls who are poor, minority or both, engage in science. The two teachers who form the focus for this study are these girls' 7th and 8th grade teachers. Data for this interpretive…