THE GK12 EXPERIENCE IN THE FIFTH GRADE CLASSROOM WITH AT-RISK STUDENTS: THE BENEFITS AND CHALLENGES

This project focuses on three major challenges facing the United States and Texas in elementary school science: retaining elementary teachers who are highly qualified to teach science; administering a science curriculum that presents current and accurate scientific information; and teaching inquiry-based science that reflects how scientists act and think. These challenges are especially difficult to meet in schools with high percentages of at risk students, which include children who are poor, speak English as their second language, and have a history of failing state-mandated tests. One elementary school with very high numbers of students in these categories was identified in a large central Texas school district to be the field site for our GK12 Fellows project. In this high-minority (96.6% African American and Hispanic) school, 80% of the children have been identified by the state as at risk; 94% are classified as economically disadvantaged and 43.8% are limited English proficient. In the past two years, 41% and 53% of fifth grade students in this school passed the science portion of the Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills (TAKS) test. The aim of our GK12 program is to enhance the science learning and teaching environments of fifth grade children at this elementary school through incorporating twelve graduate student fellows into the classroom. Goals of the program include the following: (i) fellows obtain experience communicating science to the public, (ii) teachers receive science content knowledge and pedagogy, (iii) first-year teachers receive support to minimize the first year stress level, (iv) students' performance on TAKS science tests increase, and (v) students develop new conceptual understandings of science processes and perceptions of science. Integrating a short-term program of such magnitude across university and public school education with members of varying distributed expertise can be difficult. In this presentation the benefits and challenges thus far encountered in the implementation of the 2006-2007 Texas A&M GK12 program in fifth grade at risk classrooms is discussed. Results of a pre-attitudinal survey that measured the fellows/teachers' self-efficacy/conceptual models in science teaching are also illustrated as evidence of perceived and potential benefits and challenges.