Education Week - May 6, 2015 - 21

school level that's going to impact
students?' That's a positive shift."
At up Academy Leonard Middle
School, Principal Komal Bhasin
says the dedicated planning time
that teachers get each Friday has
been powerful. Working in cohorts,
teachers spend 2½ hours on Fridays
reviewing student data, revising curriculum,
sharing successful teaching
strategies, and setting goals for the
school on a range of issues such as
school climate or support for special
education students.
Defying Negative Views
Ms. Bhasin's school, a high-energy,
structured environment, emphasizes a
college-going culture: Every classroom
bears the name of a university as an
overt reminder of what the students
are working toward. Teachers must
call parents multiple times a week to
discuss their children's progress.
"They really push you," 13-yearold
Nalleli Nuñez, a 7th grader at
up Academy Leonard, said recently
as students queued up at the beginning
of the school day to be greeted
by Ms. Bashin. "And they would do
anything-literally anything-to get
you higher [scores] on the mcas."
Nalleli, who called her school
"awesome," described her teachers'
spending extra time with newly arrived
immigrant students who may
be struggling with English, and pulling
aside lower-performing students
at the end of the day to focus on remedying
their weaknesses. And students
who are doing well are asked
to help others, she said.
"I like that because it gives everybody
an opportunity to get good
scores on the mcas, ... not just a group
of people because they are more advanced
than others," she said.
Thirteen-year-old Kiaya Fernandez
said she has noticed how much her
teachers care about how she's doing
inside, and outside, the classroom.
"Everything is so organized here,
and the passion for teaching is phenomenal,"
Kiaya said. "They don't
just care about being teachers, but
also about getting to know us and
how we feel about school. "
Kiaya said it took her some time
to get used to the school's system of
merits and demerits, but she appreciates
the emphasis on discipline.
All of these changes bode well for
the future of the school system and the
city, said Mayor Daniel Rivera, who
was elected last year and also serves
as the chairman of the school board.
Mr. Rivera sees what's happening
in the schools as part of a citywide
transformation. In 2012, Boston
magazine called Lawrence "the most
godforsaken place in Massachusetts."
These days, the mayor said the city
is defying such negative viewpoints.
"We're not supposed to have a
functioning government. We are
not supposed to attract businesses
or fight crime or fight poverty, and
kids aren't supposed to be doing
well in school. And what we are
finding is that we can."
Coverage of leadership, expanded
learning time, and arts learning is
supported in part by a grant from
The Wallace Foundation, at www.
wallacefoundation.org. Education Week
retains sole editorial control over the
content of this coverage.
Districts Get Jump on States on Science Standards
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1
Columbia have formally adopted the
standards, which emphasize scientific
inquiry and engineering design,
and ask students to link broad concepts
across the science fields. Many
states have been too tied up with the
Common Core State Standards-
providing professional development,
preparing for the new computerized
tests, and fending off political backlash-to
consider adopting new science
benchmarks. In other states,
such as West Virginia and Wyoming,
controversial language in the science
standards regarding evolution and
climate change have waylaid adoption.
(West Virginia recently adopted
a version of the standards that was
modified to reflect doubt about climate
change.)
Bucking a Trend
But in states such as Florida, Missouri,
Nebraska, and Pennsylvania,
which have not yet adopted the
standards-and may never do so in
totality-some districts are moving
ahead with the Next Generation Science
Standards anyway.
"We recognize that Pennsylvania
for a variety of political and financial
reasons may not be quick to make
the change, but we're committed
to the more rigorous and engaging
standards the Next Generation will
provide," said David Geaneatte, the
director of science, technology, engineering,
and mathematics for the
8,400-student Neshaminy district in
Langhorne, Pa.
In fact, at nsta's national conference
in Chicago this March, more
than 100 teams of teachers and administrators
from individual districts
attended a block of sessions that focused
on the new science standards.
The groups came from 34 states,
according to Mr. Evans, 25 of which
had not yet adopted the standards.
"In states that we know are going
to struggle with adoption because of
current common-core issues or legislative
issues, it's neat to hear teachers
in the districts saying we're going
to do this on our own," said Stephen
L. Pruitt, a senior vice president at
Achieve, a Washington-based research
and advocacy group that oversaw
the development of the science
standards.
Florida's Early Start
In Hillsborough County, Fla.,
which serves 200,000 students and
is one of the largest districts in the
state, elementary teachers have been
incorporating inquiry and engineering-design
challenges, based on the
common science standards, into their
instruction for nearly two years. (The
standards were published in April
2013.)
"We're still teaching what the state
says is important but we've added
layers to our work that look like
the Next Generation Science Standards,"
said Larry Plank, the director
of stem education for the district.
"We're adopting a lot of the elements
and making a lot of culture shifts
and changes. The feel of [how we're
using the] engineering practices is
the same as it would be in an adoption
state."
Even though Florida was not one
of the 26 "lead state partners" that
contributed to the standards' development,
Mr. Plank connected with
the writers and attended professional
development early on, and has
championed the standards in his district
since before they were finalized.
The chance of Florida adopting
the standards as is, according to Mr.
Plank, is "zero."
"We're not in a political climate
here where we're able to do that," he
said. "But will we [eventually] have
standards that look a lot like the
Next Generation Science Standards?
I would bet on it."
Meanwhile, the 3,700-student district
in Pulaski, Wis., has officially
adopted the Next Generation Science
Standards, with the approval of the
local school board and the encourage"
It
was our teachers who really said that
these [Next Generation] standards
accomplished what we needed."
JENNY GRACYALNY
Director of Learning Services, Pulaski, Wis., schools
ment of many teachers.
"What we expected to happen
was the state would do their adoption
in the summer of 2013, but
that didn't happen," said Jenny
Gracyalny, the director of learning
services for the district. "So we decided
go forward. ... We're a localcontrol
state anyway."
The state standards in place were
developed in 1998, which she said
frustrated teachers. "It was our
teachers who really said that these
[Next Generation] standards accomplished
what we needed," she said. "If
I'd had my way originally, we'd have
taken it a little slower and not gone
for adoption, but it was them saying
our standards are old, they're not relevant
for students, we need to make
some changes."
Full implementation will take
some time, though, and is not expected
until the 2016-17 school year,
she said.
Phasing In Standards
In Neshaminy, Pa., the district has
taken a slow approach to implementing
the Next Generation Science
Standards as well. This year, 6th
grade teachers are using them; next
year, the district will add 7th grade
teachers; then 8th.
The state's current standards have
been in place since 2002. "We are
still doing the state standards, we're
just going beyond them and teaching
them in the way science should be
done, through the [ngss] practices,"
said Brian Suter, the lead K-12 science
teacher for Neshaminy and an
18-year teaching veteran. "At the end
of the day, the current research says
this is what's good for kids," he said,
referring to the standards' evidenceEDUCATION
WEEK | May 6, 2015 | www.edweek.org | 21
standards, one of the largest districts
is already doing some ngss work.
James Blake, the K-12 science curriculum
specialist for Lincoln public
schools, which have 38,000 students,
is piloting the standards at one
middle school starting next year, in
part because the teachers there were
eager to teach the ngss practices, or
behaviors that scientists engage in.
Bubble-Test Problem
One problem with implementing
the Next Generation Science Standards
in a state that has not yet adopted
them is that the end-of-year
science assessments are likely still
linked to the state's existing stanbased
framework.
Middle school teachers in particular
are on board with the need
for change, said Mr. Geaneatte,
the district's stem director. "[They]
have gone for over a decade without
having a lot of attention paid their
way," he said. "They've been hungry
and determined to reinvent science
education."
In Wyoming, where the science
standards have caused particular uproar-the
state initially passed a law
forbidding their adoption altogether
but has since ended the ban-as
many as 15 districts are using the
ngss, reports the Casper Star-Tribune,
a newspaper in the state. (See
Education Week, January 21, 2015.)
And in Nebraska, one of the four
states that never adopted the Common
Core State Standards for reading
and mathematics, and is therefore
unlikely to adopt the science
dards. State summative tests tend
not to use the hands-on, inquiry approach
that the ngss promote.
But some educators say they're not
too worried about that wrinkle.
"We're going to make sure we're
putting kids in those situations with
problem-solving and designing and
engineering," said Ms. Gracyalny of
Pulaski, "and it should take care of
itself when a bubble test is put in
front of them."
As of now, there is no standardized
test aligned to the science standards
at all, so even those states that have
adopted are muddling through assessment
issues.
Another hurdle that districts and
states are dealing with is a lack of
resources aligned to the standards.
"We all know sometimes textbook
companies slap a sticker on that says
they're ready or aligned to ngss but
they didn't make a lot of changes,"
said Ms. Gracyalny.
That's part of why Neshaminy is
rolling out the standards so slowly.
"The major companies aren't willing
to put big bucks into this yet,"
said Mr. Geannette. "It's the beginning
of a process here in Neshaminy."
But as Mr. Blake of Lincoln points
out, there are also benefits to diving
into the standards at the district
level, rather than doing so under a
state mandate. "There is some freedom,
being in a nonadopt state, to
take the pieces [of the standards] we
can do a better job with and not be
forced to cover so much breadth," he
said. For now, he can use the "cafeteria
plan," as he calls it, picking and
choosing slices of the standards to
implement when teachers are ready.
Coverage of the implementation of college
and career-ready standards is supported
in part by a grant from the Bill &
Melinda Gates Foundation. Education
Week retains sole editorial control over
the content of this coverage.
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Education Week - May 6, 2015

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