Learning Forward
Equity and excellence in teaching and learning.
FOCUS
Teacher expertise makes high-quality curriculum work
By Katherine L. McNeill and Renee Affolter
October 2024
You walk into the first lesson of a 6th-grade science unit and see participants gathered in small groups sharing experiences about when they or someone they knew healed from an injury. When you ask them what they are doing, they excitedly show you the doctor reports, X-rays, and operation notes for a middle school student who injured his foot and show you their models full of pictures and words for how they think he healed. After the students have shared their own healing experiences, the teacher asks them to record questions on sticky notes about the topics they discussed. They pose questions and post them on a big chart: Why did the student lose feeling in his foot? What holds bones and skin together? Why
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References
Harris, C.J., Penuel, W.R., D’Angelo, C.M., DeBarger, A.H., Gallagher, L.P., Kennedy, C.A., Cheng, B.H., & Krajcik, J.S. (2015). Impact of project-based curriculum materials on student learning in science: Results of a randomized controlled trial. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 52(10), 1362-1385.
Lowell, B.R., Fogelman, S.E., & McNeill, K.L. (2024). Organizational sensemaking during curriculum implementation: The dilemma of agency, role of collaboration, and importance of discipline-specific leadership. Science Education, 108(5), 1448-1473.
Lowell, B.R. & McNeill, K.L. (2023). Changes in beliefs and confidence over time: A longitudinal study of science teachers engaging in storyline curriculum-based professional development. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 60(7), 1457-1487.
McNeill, K.L., Affolter, R., Lowell, B.R., Moore, A.T., Moreno Vera, M.A., & Lee, S. (2024). Professional learning to support teachers’ customization of middle school science curriculum to support equitable sensemaking [Paper presentation]. Annual meeting of NARST: A worldwide organization for improving science teaching and learning through research, Denver, CO.
McNeill, K.L., Lee, S., Zhang, Y., Moore, A.T., Buell, J., Reiser, B., Affolter, R., Fine, C., & Moreno Vera, M.A. (2024). Customization of curriculum materials as a site for identifying and taking action on shared problems of practice[Paper presentation]. Annual meeting of the International Conference of the Learning Sciences, Buffalo, NY.
Miller, E.A., Berland, L., & Campbell, T. (2024). Equity for students requires equity for teachers: The inextricable link between teacher professionalization and equity-centered science classrooms. Journal of Science Teacher Education, 35(1), 24-43.
Short, J. & Hirsh, S. (2020). The elements: Transforming teaching through curriculum-based professional learning. Carnegie Corporation of New York.
Wilson, S., Schweingruber, H., & Nielsen, N. (Eds.) 2015. Science teachers’ learning: Enhancing opportunities, creating supportive contexts. The National Academies Press.
Katherine L. McNeill is the Bryk faculty fellow and professor of science education at Boston College. Her research focuses on the design and scale of curriculum, professional learning and other resources to support students, teachers and instructional leaders in equitable scientific sensemaking. Currently, she is researching the customization and scale up of a highly rated open source science curriculum (OpenSciEd). McNeill has published the findings from her work in over 85+ publications including books, book chapters, and journal articles for both educational researchers and practitioners.
Renee Affolter has supported K-12 science education for over 20 years by designing, researching, and delivering professional learning for teachers and leaders. She is currently leading Professional Learning Design at OpenSciEd. Prior to this, Renee was at Boston College first as part of the OpenSciEd MS Developers Consortium and then working to design and research supports for the adoption and customization of high quality instructional materials for science like OpenSciEd.
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