California Science Project Environmental Literacy Institutes 2017-2019

CSP and NCLB Proposed Scope of Work Overall Vision 2017-2020 For the past 17 years, the San Fernando Valley Science Project (SFVSP) at California State University, Northridge (CSUN) has provided professional development opportunities for science educators to support the improvement of science learning among California?s secondary school students. We are committed to providing sustained support for science teachers to improve their practice, and to develop teacher leaders who will share best practices with their colleagues. The SFVSP has established a strong collaboration between university faculty and secondary school science educators while servicing high need students, schools and districts including our largest partner district, the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD). For the first time in the SFVSP history, we are supporting the transition to a new teaching standard. The transition to the California State Board of Education adopted Next Generation Science Standards (CA NGSS) will dominate the scope of work for the next three years. Despite this new focus, we remain committed to developing teachers who support all students? science learning, particularly addressing the high numbers of English language learners and underperforming students in the urban schools we serve. Goals for the NGSS Transition The next three years of the science project will focus on the transition to the new teaching standards. Our prior work provides tools that will support the transition process such as the CSCS instructional model and CPD. Our specific goals for the new phase are: 1. Support teachers learning about the new NGSS and provide timely information on how to modify their courses and instruction. 2. Engage teachers in lesson design and analysis that go beyond addressing standards to implementing full three-dimensional teaching that meets the needs of urban students. 3. Support teacher collaboration and sharing of instructional resources. 4. Study the implementation of NGSS and EP&C?s in urban classrooms.