Educators Look to Improve Students’ Science Literacy
Over 40 educators from across Kansas met recently to learn how to improve student achievement in reading in order to enhance state test scores. Schools nationwide must meet Adequate Yearly Progress through state assessments in order to meet requirements of the No Child Left Behind Legislation.
The workshop, called Seeing Inside: Tracing Students’ Misconceptions, was organized by the Jones Institute for Educational Excellence and held Friday, March 2, 2007.
The workshop’s presenter, Kelly Deters, is in her eighth year of teaching at Shawnee Heights High School and has taught a wide range of chemistry courses at both high school and college levels, including a chemistry class with an emphasis on art.
The middle and high school science teachers attending the workshop learned to address commonly held student misconceptions drawn from science education literature. Prior to the workshop, the teachers were asked to administer to their students an assessment probe provided by Deters. At the workshop, teachers analyzed the responses and develop their own formative assessments and strategies for use in the classroom.
Deters was awarded the NSTA high school award for Excellence in Inquiry-Based Science Teaching for 2006 and Kansas Sate University ACS’s Patrick Award for Excellence in High School Teaching in Kansas. She founded the Kansas Association of Chemistry Teachers and is currently serving as the first president.
For more information about this workshop, contact Toni Bowling at 620-341-5372 or 1-877-378-5433, mbowling@emporia.edu.
Educators in attendance at the workshop included:
USD 202, Turner-Kansas City – Charles Andersen, Roger Finkemeier, Shawn Phillips
USD 229, Blue Valley – Ken Bingman, Wendy Elkins, Mary Monzyk, Christie Purdon, Charlena Sieve
USD 244, Burlington – Barton Laib, Dave Sloop
USD 252, Southern Lyon County – Monica Countryman, Todd Robert
USD 258, Humboldt – Teri Shaughnessy
USD 264, Clearwater – Abbi Huber
USD 267, Renwick – Sharon Betzen,
Lois Ann Landwehr
USD 320, Wamego – Jimmie Page
USD 330, Mission Valley – Deborah Van Cleave
USD 360, Caldwell – David Teeter
USD 378, Riley County – Dunia Harmison
USD 389, Eureka – Stacey Hart, Kim Ring, Sam Wine
USD 400, Smoky Valley – Chelsi Mannebach, Karla Pihl
USD 405, Lyons – Penny Blue, Julie Tipton
USD 421, Lyndon – Leisa Albers
USD 434, Santa Fe Trail – Curtis Lilly
USD 436, Caney-Valley – John Brooks, Cathy Estes
USD 440, Halstead – Duane Knoll, Adrianne Wedel
USD 463, Udall – Bob Clasen, Crystal Moore
USD 490, El Dorado – Steve Fellers, Todd Miller, Teresa Riedinger, Jamie Swafford
Last Updated July 2, 2007>