"We're Actually Teaching Science!": A Partnership Approach to Investigating a New Model for Embedding Language in Science

Due to a lack of science instruction and a need to serve an increasing number of students identifying as Emerging Bilingual, one school district in Oregon sought to develop a new method of integrating science and language instruction. In the model, all teachers taught science with embedded language...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:School-university partnerships 2021-04, Vol.14 (1), p.45-55
Main Authors: Ralston, Nicole, Shortino, Mary, Smith, Rebecca, Waggoner, Jacqueline
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Achievement tests
Bilingual Students
Careers
Case studies
Collaboration
College School Cooperation
Computer programming
Elementary School Teachers
Elementary schools
Employment
Engineering
English Language Learners
Interdisciplinary Approach
Knowledge Level
Language instruction
Language Proficiency
Learning
Mathematics education
Mathematics teachers
Minority & ethnic groups
No Child Left Behind Act 2001-US
Partnerships in Education
Program Effectiveness
Quantitative analysis
Reflective practice
Research centers
Science education
Science Instruction
Second Language Learning
Standardized Tests
STEM Education
STEM professions
Student Attitudes
Students
Teacher Attitudes
Teachers
Teaching
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Due to a lack of science instruction and a need to serve an increasing number of students identifying as Emerging Bilingual, one school district in Oregon sought to develop a new method of integrating science and language instruction. In the model, all teachers taught science with embedded language instruction, three to four days a week, to every K-5 student, during a specific, dedicated time of the school day. This initiative sought to build science content knowledge and language proficiency simultaneously through science investigations that put language as the integral component to learning. The research was designed in collaboration with a local university as part of a long-term research-practice partnership with the goal to understand, refine, and repeat the initiative using a reflective, triangulated case study approach. The partnership utilized three rounds of teacher surveys, teacher interviews, and quantitative analyses of student science standardized test scores to understand how science investigations could build science content knowledge and language proficiency simultaneously. Results showed that the innovative initiative increased the quantity of science teaching in the district, may have increased students' science knowledge, but results also showed that improvements to the model are needed.
ISSN:1935-7125