INDIVIDUALIZING K-3 SCIENCE INSTRUCTION
TO PROMOTE READING AND SCIENCE LEARNING
Every child enters a classroom with different experiences and skills. The purpose of the experimental ISI Science study is to gain a better understanding regarding how these differences among children affect the impact of science and literacy instruction on their science and literacy learning (child-by-instruction interactions), especially in lower elementary grades. For some students, knowledge gained from science activities can be limited by literacy and vocabulary skills, whereas some science activities further develop their science and literacy skills. The purpose of this study is to develop an individualized science curriculum (present through 2009) that can be easily tailored to students’ individual learning needs. We will then test the efficacy of the curriculum, compared to a business-as-usual control in 2010, to test the causal implications of individualized science instruction and child by instruction interactions. Second grade teachers in the treatment group will learn how to individualize science instruction, use A2i to plan and implement effective science instruction for all students, and organize their classrooms and science instructional activities to ensure optimal reading and science learning for all students. Control group teachers will receive professional development on effective literacy and science instruction and will receive the A2i software and training the following year. Students’ science, math, and reading skills will be assessed in the fall, winter and spring and teachers’ classrooms will be video-taped to monitor fidelity and the scope and sequence of ISI science. Broader implementation, including the randomized field trial, will begin in the coming school years. The research team has applied for additional funding from the Institute of Education Sciences and the National Science Foundation to expand the study.
The following document provides more information
about this study and was developed for discussion at the International
Advisory Board meeting in February, 2008. The document can be downloaded
in Word document and PDF form.
ISI.doc
ISI.pdf