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| K-6 Principal's Checklist For Assessing Your School's Elementary Science Program Preface A science curriculum is defined as the sum total of learning experiences in school ... of what students learn, of what is taught, of what students do in science. As educators, we all want the best possible learning experiences for our children, but I am sure that you have discovered, as have I, -- there is NO perfect science curriculum. A curriculum is always a work in progress. Our knowledge of science changes ... and we need to change with it. Our knowledge of how children learn science changes ... and we need to change our science curriculum with it. Technology has expanded learning opportunities ... and our curricula must change with it. We know that if we continue to do what we've always done, we'll continue to get what we've always got. So we seek to improve our science curricula ... to make it better. If good elementary science programs were easy to come by, most schools would have one. Needless to say, it isn't easy and most schools don't. Problems abound with science programs: teachers often lack preparation in science, they don't feel confident about teaching it, time is cramped, supplies and equipment are lacking, there is little in-service education for teachers of K-6 science, and leadership for science is scarce. The list could go on and on. Your school is probably faced with one or more of these problems. Fortunately, there are good science programs that we can look to as exemplary: programs that get kids excited, programs that teachers enjoy and do a good job of teaching, programs that enjoy the support of the school community, programs that are keyed to standards, and programs in which children learn science processes, concepts, and attitudes valuable to their lives now and in the future. We can learn from those programs. Through our own observations, through what others have written, through research, and, especially, through the advice of successful elementary school principals and curriculum leaders we know the characteristics of outstanding elementary science programs. The purpose of this Checklist is to help you, a principal or curriculum leader, to identify some of the characteristics and use them to assess and improve the effectiveness of your own science curriculum. The Checklist is a revised and updated version of a checklist first written by Ken Mechling and Donna Oliver and published by the National Science Teachers Association in 1982. It includes selected characteristics of exemplary science programs stated in the form of questions. In each section, it also includes blanks intended for you to write in your own characteristics, if you wish. We urge you to use the Checklist to assess your own K-6 science program ... and take action to make it better. Purpose and use of the checklist Good elementary school science programs don't just happen. They are built with support from the school community, with good science teaching in the classrooms, and with leadership from you, the principal. This Checklist is designed to help you assess and improve the science program in your school. The Checklist is not comprehensive. After reviewing the literature and reflecting on our own experiences with good elementary science programs and school leaders, we have selected questions which seemed particularly appropriate for consideration by principals. We have tried to limit them so you can evaluate your program with reasonable expenditures of time and effort. The Checklist can be effective only if you, the principal and science curriculum leader in your school, carefully examine your elementary science program. For your convenience we have divided the Checklist into four major sections, each dealing with an area of great impact on your science program. They are administrative aspects, science texts and other written materials, classroom visitation, and resources and facilities. You'll be able to answer some of the questions while sitting at your desk. For others it will be necessary to review your administrative policies, examine samples of science texts and other curriculum materials, visit teachers in classrooms when science is being taught, and check your school's science education resources and facilities. As you proceed through the Checklist, please read each item, keeping in mind that it represents a characteristic of a good elementary science program, and check yes if your school has that characteristic, no if it does not, and no data if you lack information to answer the question. Over a period of time you will undoubtedly be able to whittle down the no data responses to very few, eventually converting them to yes or no as you learn more about your program. If you are uncertain about the meaning of any items or of how they apply to your school, use your judgment in responding. Keep in mind that these are only guidelines and, consequently, they will be open to some interpretation. If you think of additional characteristics which should be on the list but are not, use the space provided in each subsection to add your own. After you have completed the Checklist, go to the last page which includes spaces for your overall evaluation. Count your yes, no, and no data responses. If you have a lot of responses for no data, it may mean that you have more to learn about your science program. If you have a substantial number of no responses, it may mean that your program offers lots of opportunities for improvement. Keep in mind that a specific analysis of the no responses can enable you to identify where your program needs the most help. Finally, if your responses are predominantly yes, it may mean that your science program is already pretty good. A principal who answered yes to all or almost all of the questions would have a science program of the very highest quality. If your school falls short of this standard, the checklist provides criteria for improvement. You can decide where to start. The evaluation page requests that you identify the strengths and weaknesses of your science program and to select five actions which you can take during the coming year to improve it. With your leadership, initiative, and support, improvement can be achieved. Start now! NOTE: Some principals have indicated a desire to use a matrix response format rather than the yes, no, no data format. The last section of this document includes easy directions for converting the Checklist to a matrix format. Download the K-6 Principal's Checklist (598KB) |
| ©2003 School Science Services, Inc. All Rights Reserved. | Reina O'Hale Executive Director, MAIS Madrid, Spain | Dr. Ken Mechling - Project Director 1305 Robinwood Drive Clarion, PA 16214 USA | ||||