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Strengthening Science Education in California

Concerned that too few California public school children have access to high-quality learning opportunities in science, the Center for the Future of Teaching and Learning launched the Strengthening Science Education in Californiainitiative with support from the S.D. Bechtel, Jr. Foundation. The goal of the initiative is to shed light on the status of science education in California and identify ways in which science education can be strengthened. Initiative partners are the Center for Education Policy at SRI, U.C. Berkeley’s Lawrence Hall of Science, and Belden, Russonello, & Stewart.

Together, the partners are gathering data on Californians’ understanding of and views about science education and public school educators’ experiences with teaching science. The research design calls for the following data collection activities:

• Public opinion research
• Statewide surveys of California districts, principals, and teachers
• Case studies in 12 California elementary schools
• Analyses of secondary data on teachers.

SRI’s primary role is to manage and conduct the cases studies and analyses of secondary data on teachers. For the case studies, California elementary schools that provide high-quality science learning opportunities were identified through a statewide nomination process. We also consulted with our partners on the design of the statewide surveys.

(The S.D. Bechtel Jr. Foundation, 2010-2011)

Key Staff

Project Director: Patrick Shields

Staff: Teresa McCaffrey, Juliet Tiffany-Morales, Katrina Woodworth