Welcome to the 2021-22 back-to-school edition of Science News and Updates.
We ended our newsletter introduction in May referring to STEM Teaching Tools Brief 71: How Can You Advance Equity and Justice Through Science Teaching? As we continue to work to dismantle the inequities built into the systems of science education, our newsletter introductions will focus on one (or more) of the seven key equity projects this brief discusses. These “equity projects provide different entry points into meaningful work to transform systems in support of students’ science learning.”
We will start with the key equity project of centering racial justice. This is explained in the brief in the following section: “Centering Racial Justice: By focusing on the brilliance of Black, Indigenous, Latinx, Asian, Polynesian, Pacific Islander, and other racialized groups and how science has and continues to produce racialized harms — in classrooms, communities, scientific fields — you can help disrupt anti-indigeneity, antiblackness, and other forms of racism. Disrupt racist assumptions, practices, policies, and systems that uphold whiteness.”
Think about the work you can do in your school and district to center racial justice. Ask the hard questions, and do the work. Kids deserve it! If you’re not sure where to begin, here is a question you can start with: Does the percentage of Black, Indigenous, Latinx, Asian, Polynesian, Pacific Islander, and other racialized groups enrolled in Advanced Placement and other advanced science courses match our overall enrollment data of the identified group?
- If not, what work can be done to dismantle this inequity?
- If yes, nice work! That’s a great start, but the work isn’t done. Next, ask if the pedagogical practices of science teachers welcome the brilliance of all students? (Check the Teacher Resources section of this newsletter for ideas and support.)
If you are looking for resources to support the work of dismantling inequitable practices in your system, consider starting with one of these:
Please share this link with others so they can receive future Science News and Updates.
San Diego County Office of Education (SDCOE) Science Team
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California Science Test
The updated California Science Test (CAST) item specifications are now posted on the California Department of Education (CDE) CAST Item Specifications webpage. A total of 175 item specifications are organized by grade and science domain — 45 for grade five, 59 for grade eight, and 71 for high school. These resources help educators gain a better understanding of the three-dimensional nature of the CAST. Along with the 2016 Science Framework, they can be used to develop items for classroom assessments. A useful flyer, Introducing the CAST Item Specification, is located on the CDE CAST webpage.
National Assessment of Educational Progress
The National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) Science Assessment Framework, used to develop the 2019 NAEP Science Assessment and Report Card, was last revised in 2005. The National Assessment Governing Board is initiating a preliminary review of the current NAEP framework to determine if revisions are necessary to develop new assessment questions and recommendations for stakeholders in the science education field. See the current NAEP Framework and call for public comment here.
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Curious Kids: K-2 Math and Science Storylines
Learn how the authentic integration of science and mathematics in K-2 can activate student curiosity for deeper learning. Identify connections between the subjects and walk away with ways to implement integration in your classroom. This two-day professional learning will take place Oct. 26 and Nov. 2. Register today for this free online event.
Elementary Science Network
The Elementary Science Network is a professional learning opportunity for all elementary educators looking for support and networking opportunities related to science teaching and learning. It will replace and expand on the former SDCOE Elementary Science Academy Follow-Up Network or ESA-FUN.
This new network will focus on student curiosity and using science as a lever for literacy and language development. Participants will continue to deepen their understanding of three-dimensional learning and phenomena-based instruction with an emphasis on student writing and productive talk. The network will meet on a monthly basis. Register today.
Science Leaders Network
The Science Leaders Network is offered monthly as an ongoing opportunity for science education leaders across San Diego County to come together monthly to share best practices and highlight current efforts to support science learning for all students. Target audience is district or site administrators, ToSAs, and lead teachers. Register today.
Science Snippets+ Professional Learning Series Archive
All eight sessions of our Science Snippets series are now available for on-demand viewing on the SDCOE Science website.
- Winter Science Snippets+ (originally offered winter 2021)
- Session 1: Using the Crosscutting Concepts to Spark and Deepen Classroom Discourse
- Session 2: Using Formative Assessment to Enhance Student Learning
- Session 3: Getting Students Outside with Science Notebooks
- Session 4: Citizen Science
- Summer Science Snippets (originally offered summer 2020)
- Session 1: Using SDCOE’s Distance Learning Units of Study
- Session 2: Using Science to Spark Meaningful Conversations
- Session 3: Leveraging Local Phenomena in Virtual Learning Spaces
- Session 4: Supporting Use of the Science and Engineering Practices in Virtual Learning Spaces - Developing and Using Models
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SDCOE Equity Conference 2022
Call for Presenters
Consider submitting a proposal to highlight equity work in science and present at SDCOE's Equity Conference 2022! Please submit this form by Oct. 22. The planning committee will review all proposals to choose sessions that are most closely aligned with the conference goals.
Attend the Conference
Join hundreds of educators, parents, students, policymakers, advocates, and community members to advance educational equity for California’s students at the 2022 Equity Conference on Jan. 20 and 21 at the San Diego Convention Center. The Equity Conference will be an opportunity to grow and learn as we work to make our campuses safe spaces for all students, staff members, and families, where they feel honored and valued. We look forward to coming together with a renewed sense of purpose to transform our individual and collective equity work and create places of exceptional vision, hope, and opportunity for every student. Register today to access the discounted early rate.
Lighthouse Award
Nominations are now being accepted for the 2022 Lighthouse Awards. Do you know someone in your school community who is a beacon for educational equity? Each year at the Equity Conference, SDCOE recognizes champions for equity who embrace and help others embrace equity, diversity, and inclusion at their school, in their district, and in their community. Learn more about the categories and nominate someone by Dec. 7.
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Additional Science Professional Learning Opportunities
CA NGSS Statewide Collaborative
The CA NGSS Statewide Implementation Professional Learning Series: Building Student Sensemaking Through Disciplinary Literacy is now open for registration. This is a critical topic for the continued growth and implementation of the California Next Generation Science Standards. Four strands have been developed to address literacy including using text, argumentation, discourse, and notebooking. Each strand has both an elementary and secondary section. Choose from one of the four online professional learning strands.
- Use of Science Notebooks
- Dates: Sept. 21, 23, 28, and 30, from 4 to 7 p.m.
- Follow-up event on Nov. 9, from 4 to 6 p.m.
- Discourse of Sensemaking in Science
- Dates: Nov. 30, Dec. 1, 7, and 8, from 4 to 7 p.m.
- Follow-up event on Feb. 1, from 4 to 6 p.m.
- How to Use Science Text
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Dates: Feb. 8, 9, 15, and 16, from 4 to 7 p.m.
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Follow-up event on April 6, from 4 to 6 p.m.
- Argumentation/Moving Beyond CER
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Dates: March 22, 24, 29, and 31, from 4 to 7 p.m.
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Follow-up event on April 28, from 4 to 6 p.m.
Register as a team of two or more at the same time to receive a $50 discount per attendee.
California Assessment of Student Performance and Progress — Tools for Teachers
The 2021-22 Tools for Teachers Shared Practices Webinar Series begins this month. Educators can select any or all of the five webinars in the series to become familiar with Tools for Teachers, a website that offers formative assessment instructional resources for English language arts/literacy, mathematics, and science. The webinars in this series are scheduled as follows:
- Supporting English Learners with the Tools for Teachers Website
- Sept. 21 from 3:30 to 4:30 p.m.
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Using Interim Assessment Data and Tools for Teachers to Support Instruction
- Oct. 5 from 2 to 3 p.m.
- Making Elementary Science Sizzle with Tools for Teachers
- Nov. 9 from 3:30 to 4:30 p.m.
- Tools for Teachers Resources at Your Fingertips
- Jan. 25 from 3:30 to 4:30 p.m.
- A Teacher’s Best Kept Secret: Interim Assessments and Tools for Teachers
- March 1 from 3:30 to 4:30 p.m.
UCCE Master Gardener of San Diego County
Gardening with Class 2021 is an online garden education program that teaches school garden teachers, parents, administrators, and volunteers how to garden with their preschool to high school-age students. The program includes a collection of instructional videos to watch on your computer with an Oct. 23 Zoom where you’ll join garden teachers to learn grade-level-specific gardening techniques.
Tijuana River National Estuarine Research Reserve
Teacher on the Estuary will take place Oct. 27 to 29. It will be offered in a hybrid/blended format this Fall. The training program is for middle and high school teachers. It explores authentic data literacy and brings coastal research into the classroom. Register today.
At this training, you will see and experience:
- Science being done at Tijuana River National Estuarine Research Reserve and learn how you can use it to enhance your teaching
- Interacting with reserve researchers, visiting wetland restoration sites, and seeing the long-term monitoring that is used to manage these projects (living experiments)
- How to integrate your training experiences with online nationwide reserve data and the virtual and in-person monitoring-based field trips
Be sure to check out the Tijuana River National Estuarine Research Reserve education page for more information about additional K-12 programs.
CASE 2021 Virtual California Science Education Conference
The CASE 2021 Virtual California Science Education Conference is Oct. 8 to 10. This year’s theme is Computer Science and Science. Together, the fields of science and computer science are powerful ways of knowing our natural and human-made world, and necessary to empower our youth. Historically, in TK-16 classrooms, the disciplines of computer science and science have long been treated as isolated fields. This does not reflect the reality of the synergy between the two. Integrating computer science into science classes will prepare students for future endeavors as computationally enabled and scientifically literate community members. It is essential, now more than ever, to understand that neither replace each other nor are alternatives, but rather are complementary in understanding nature and affecting the human-made world. Registration is now open.
NSTA Area Conference on Science Education
Everything you remember from pre-pandemic conferences will be included in the NSTA face-to-face conference in Los Angeles, including the famous exhibit hall and exhibitor workshops as well as hundreds of presentations and sessions that will focus on inclusive classrooms, supporting students post COVID-19, developing authentic assessment strategies, linking literacy and science, and so much more. The conference will be held at the Los Angeles Convention Center Dec. 9 to 11. More information and registration information can be found on the conference website.
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This section of Science News and Updates highlights districts and schools across San Diego County focused on bringing high-quality science learning experiences to all students.
We know amazing work is happening throughout our county. We’d love to showcase you and your students. To have your school or district featured in the next edition of Science News and Updates, please share your NGSS story by completing this Google form.
If you are looking for ways to bring more science into your classrooms and need to be flexible in the delivery format, consider using the SDCOE Distance Learning Units of Study. The units were purposefully designed to integrate content, and provide flexibility and choice. The elementary units of study connect content in the following areas: English language arts, English language development, mathematics, science, history/social science, arts, computer science, and physical education. K-3 grade units have been translated into Spanish. All units include designated English language development companion units. The secondary content specific units were developed around a cross-curricular theme. There are three units for grades 6, 7, 8, The Living Earth, Chemistry in the Earth System, and Physics of the Universe courses.
If you are using any of these units, please let us know. We would love to hear about your experiences and feature them in the NGSS in Action videos section of the Science News and Updates.
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ArtsBusXpress
ArtsBusXpress is a nonprofit organization that connects students with arts and science venues for field trip opportunities, and is preparing for in-person and virtual field trips to over 100 museums, theaters, discovery centers, and more to supplement teachers' STEAM lessons. K-12 teachers can visit the Places to Go page on the organization's website to see a list of field trip destinations, including options for virtual experiences. For more information, visit the ArtsBusXpress website.
California State Parks
Parks Online Resources for Teachers and Students (PORTS) provides free, interactive virtual field trips for K-12 students to stay connected to our state's natural, cultural, and historical resources. Designed for in-person and virtual classrooms, the programs are customizable for all grade levels and include additional teacher resources built around the program. The fall calendar includes topics such as California's indigenous cultures, towering trees, marine protected areas, immigration stories, gold rush history, and desert ecology. Visit the PORTS website to browse programs by location or topic and for booking details.
California Academy of Sciences
Register now for free live streams this fall. Each livestream is taught by a team of professional educators and broadcast to multiple classes simultaneously. The Academy's interactive Distance Learning programs are designed for K-8 students wherever they are set up to engage in learning during the school day.
All live streams are free, but advanced registration is required. Upcoming programs include:
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Tending Nature
Tending Nature on KCET shines a light on the environmental knowledge of Indigenous peoples across California by exploring how the state's Native peoples have actively shaped and tended the land for millennia. The series examines how traditional practices can inspire a new generation of Californians to find a balance between humans and nature. Traveling across the state, the series allows viewers to hear first-hand from Native communities engaged in contemporary projects that revive their culture and inform western sciences.
STEM Teaching Tools
The STEM Teaching Tools site can help you teach science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM). Each tool is focused on a specific issue and leverages the best knowledge from research and practice. The site currently offers 78 practice briefs. Three practice briefs worth highlighting are:
SDG&E, DonorsChoose Match Program Helps Fund Teacher Projects
Through a partnership with DonorsChoose, San Diego Gas & Electric (SDG&E) has set aside $250,000 in shareholder funding to help local educators supplement classroom education with science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) projects. Teachers at public schools within SDG&E’s service territory can visit the DonorsChoose website to apply, and also view the matched projects here. Eligible projects at schools in disadvantaged communities as defined by CalEnviroScreen will have donations to their projects matched with $2 for every $1 that they raise. The campaign will run until funds are exhausted.
North Island Credit Union Teacher Grant
North Island Credit Union, a division of California Credit Union, invites all San Diego-area teachers who have a class project idea to apply for a grant through its biannual Teacher Grant Program. Any full-time classroom teacher in San Diego County can apply. The program is designed to assist educators in funding innovative learning opportunities. Ten grants of $500 each will be awarded in November Visit the grant webpage. The application deadline is Oct. 1.
Wild Ones Seeds for Education Fund
The Lorrie Otto Seeds for Education Fund awards grants of $100 to $500 to public schools for educational gardens that use native plants or seeds. Gardens should provide youth with hands-on learning opportunities to plan, plant, and care for native plant gardens. Visit the grant webpage. The application deadline is Oct. 15.
Society for Advancement of Chicanos/Hispanics and Native Americans in Science
Indigenous STEAM
The Indigenous STEAM website is full of science, technology, engineering, art, and mathematics resources for families, teachers, and communities that foreground Indigenous knowledge systems — roles, relations, responsibilities, and gifts between and within human and other-than-human communities — and intergenerational arrangements in teaching and learning.
Google for Education
From the structure of a molecule to the design of a vehicle, your students can create a model using Google Sheets and Google Drawings with this new applied digital skills lesson, Develop a Model in Google Drawings, from Google for Education. Explore the growing Science collection and see how you can use Google tools to support and plan for instruction.
To have your event or resource considered for a future edition of SDCOE’s Science News and Updates provide your information via this Google form.
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If you have any questions or comments about Science News and Updates, please contact one of our science team members.
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Curriculum and Instruction Director
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Environmental Literacy Coordinator
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Science Administrative Assistant
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Get up-to-the-minute information about what's happening at SDCOE and in our districts across the county.
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