(October 2004 – September 2005)

Recommendation

Action Steps

Status

Build capacity among all stakeholders.

Identify partners from school districts, higher education, professional organizations, and business and industry for each region.

• Establish a Statewide PreK-12 Focus on Science Education Advisory Committee. Committee will meet biannually to address the broad needs and issues in science education as related to the New York State Science Initiative and the Statewide Strategic Plan for Science.

•  Explore the possibilities for a statewide teleconference/presentation to promote the Statewide Strategic Plan for Science.
   
• Offer regional video conferencing with the Big 5 Science Coordinators to build support for the Statewide Strategic Plan for Science in the large cities.

• The committee will include members who are active leaders in science education at the national, state, regional, and local levels representing stakeholders from government agencies, the science community, education, and business and industry. The committee will be comprised of science educators who:

are active leaders in respective field of science and science education;

have expertise in science discipline area and/or science education

are knowledgeable about large-scale issues related to improving science education including curriculum, instruction and assessment;

are aware of current evidence-based research applicable to enhancing teaching and learning in science PreK-12.

• The Education Department is currently holding monthly conference calls with the Science Coordinators of each of New York State’s large cities.

Provide opportunities for PreK-12 students to meet the New York State Learning Standards for Mathematics, Science, and Technology using exemplary local science curriculum programs emphasizing an inquiry-centered approach to learning science.

Provide technical assistance to support the regional and local development of PreK-12 coherent curriculum aligned to science standards as included in the Core curricula.

• Make curriculum-mapping tools available on the New York State Education Department Virtual Learning System.

• Issue guidance on the six science Core curricula to assure consistency among the Cores and alignment with the Learning Standards for Mathematics, Science, and Technology.

• Currently, the six science cores are being reviewed by the Education Department to ensure the alignment with the New York State Learning Standards for Mathematics, Science, and Technology.

Use State and local science assessment data to inform decisions regarding curriculum, instruction, and assessment for the improvement of student learning and achievement.

Provide models of science assessment tools and professional development to improve state and local test development.

• Assemble a Part D Advisory Committee to meet twice and advise the Department on the commencement-level Regents examinations in science.

• A Part D Advisory Committee convened on October 6^th, 2004 in Albany. The committee included representation from the four commencement-level science content areas.
• The Part D Advisory Committee provided recommendations to the Education Department for consideration related to the continued development of the laboratory components (Part D) for the commencement-level science content areas.
• An update outlining the Education Department's next steps in regard to Part D for each content area can be accessed from our science website at http://www.emsc.nysed.gov/ciai/mst/partD.html.
• The second meeting of the Part D Advisory Committee convened on April 8, 2005. Each commencement-level content area team was given a set of charges pertaining to the relationship between the new Part D policy and curriculum, instruction, and assessment. Check the Science website often for updates. The Science website can be found at: http://www.emsc.nysed.gov/ciai/mst/sci.html.

Design and develop a Statewide plan for sustained professional development to support scientific literacy.

Build the capacity of stakeholders in science.

Form a Content Area Field Advisory Committee in each science content area (elementary, intermediate, and commencement levels) that provides technical assistance at the regional level.

• Establish Content Area Field Advisory Committees to support the New York State Education Department’s initiatives in each science content area at the elementary, intermediate, and commencement levels across the designated regions.

• Disseminate relevant curriculum guidance materials through the New York State Education Department Virtual Learning System and to State networks such as BOCES, SCDN, Teachers Centers, professional organizations, and regional and local educators.

• Coordinate the work of the Title II-B Mathematics and Science Partnerships science grant projects with the Statewide Strategic Plan for Science.

• The Education Department has posted an on-line "Call for Expertise" form. PreK-12 teachers of science are encouraged to complete the information form in order to be considered for participation in committees related to curriculum, instruction, and assessments in science.
• Item writer training sessions in science continue to be implemented with new professional development materials designed to assist in the development of items for the State assessments in science. Science teachers from across the State are represented and participate in these sessions.
  
   
• The New York State Education Department Virtual Learning System (VLS) has a brand new look. The purpose of the VLS is to encourage the use of the Internet as a tool for teaching and learning and to assist classroom teachers in locating Internet resources for instruction. VLS offers the full text of New York State's learning standards with their key ideas and performance indicators, as well as alternate performance indicators for students with severe disabilities. It provides resources that classroom teachers can use to support preK-12 standards-based instruction, such as sample tasks, learning experiences and lesson plans. The NYSED VLS may be found at: http://eservices.nysed.gov/vls/
   
• The Education Department has announced 2004-2007 awards for the Mathematics and Science Partnership competitive grant program. First-year grant awards for the program total approximately $13.2 million. It is intended to increase academic achievement of students in mathematics and science by enhancing the content knowledge and teaching skills of classroom teachers. Partnerships between high-need school districts and the science, technology, engineering, and mathematics faculty in institutions of higher education are at the core of these improvement efforts. A list of awarded partnerships is available at the following website: http://www.emsc.nysed.gov/ciai/mst/awards.html

Support the development and implementation of inquiry-centered programs by providing models of effective systems management of science materials.

Identify existing science material centers (regional, district, school-based) and related resources to support the implementation of inquiry-centered science programs.

Provide State support for the purchase, implementation, and continued support of inquiry-centered science programs.

•  Provide curriculum guidance in the management of science materials that includes the following components: work environment, space planning, equipment, expenses, and staffing.

• Investigate and make available through the New York State Education Department Virtual Learning System current fiscal regulations and policies related to securing curriculum programs and instructional materials in science for resource support.

• The Education Department is currently reviewing the logistics of delineating the VLS for science at the commencement-level into the four different content areas to further assist educators in the development of curriculum.