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JOURNAL OF RESEARCH IN SCIENCE TEACHING

VOL. 50, NO. 1, PP. 1232 (2013)

Research Article Teaching Science From Cultural Points of Intersection


Bruna Irene Grimberg1 and Edith Gummer2
Math Resource Center, Montana State University, Bozeman, 401 Lineld Hall, Science, Bozeman, Montana 59717 2 WestEd, 1350 Connecticut Ave. NW Suite 1050 Washington, District of Columbia 20036 Received 24 April 2012; Accepted 24 October 2012
Abstract: This study focuses on a professional development program for science teachers near or on American Indian reservations in Montana. This program was framed by culturally relevant pedagogy premises and was characterized by instructional strategies and content foci resulting from the intersection between three cultures: tribal, science teaching, and science. The study employs a quasi-experimental design and quantitative methods to examine the impact of the program on teachers practice and beliefs, and to determine the relationship between student-centered equity-focused instruction and students science test score gains. Results of the analyses indicate that after 2 years in the program teachers changed their teaching practices and beliefs about their ability to teach science and to implement equitable instruction in a way that positively impacted students performance. Using a multiple regression analysis it was found that gains in teacher beliefs about their ability to implement equitable strategies and the increase of teaching strategies that prompt students to make connections between science and their real-life issues signicantly explained the 36.7% of the variance of student science test scores gains in treatment classrooms. No signicant changes in beliefs or teaching strategies were found for comparison teachers. The results obtained from this study contribute to the identication of characteristics of a professional development program that positively impacted the science teaching of American Indian students. 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 50: 1232, 2013 Keywords: professional development; equitable instruction; student science achievement
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The development of an educational system that is supportive of diverse cultures is imperative in light of rapid and sustained globalization. Globalizationdened as the worldwide redistribution of ideas, culture, organisms, goods, capital, and communication (Bencze & Carter, 2011)links communities of different cultural backgrounds. In the U.S., globalization accounts for three phenomena: the increase of rst and second generation immigrant students, estimated to be 30% in 2015 (Fix, Passel, & Ruiz De Velasco, 2004); the inclusion of nonmainstream American students in mainstream public schools; and the national standardization of education permeating all public schools. Globalization not only entails systemic changes required of educational institutions to address the needs of students with multiple cultural backgrounds; globalization also requires community-level reections about the meaning and role of education as a globalizing force.
Contract grant sponsor: NSF-MSP; Contract grant number: DUE-0634587. Correspondence to: Bruna Irene Grimberg; E-mail: grimberg@montana.edu DOI 10.1002/tea.21066 Published online 30 November 2012 in Wiley Online Library (wileyonlinelibrary.com). 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

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Culture and education confront each other when education becomes the vector of one hegemonic culture, or a tool of colonialism. Consequently students and teachers of non-mainstream groups may be forced into a dichotomy that sometimes necessitates strategies to make the duality bearable, while at other times this dichotomy increases their marginalization. For example, Brayboy (2004) found experiences of American Indian college students in Ivy League institutions to be reactive to mainstream perceptions of American Indians such that students used strategies [of (in)visibility] that helped them maintain a connection with their cultural and tribal backgrounds, and thus preserved their individual and group identities within an uncomfortable and often oppressive context (p. 127). In ways similar to American Indian students enrolled at Ivy League institutions, American Indian communities have contested the detrimental effects of standardization on educational, cultural, and linguistic self-determination and sovereignty with initiatives that have included the identication and implementation of culturally responsive standards for teaching (AANE, 1998), Native American charter schools (Lomawaima & McCarty, 2006), and full-immersion programs in which instruction is delivered almost exclusively in the Native language and centered on the tribal culture (Warner, 2001). Globalization also imposes a least common denominator in terms of workforce qualications, including communication skills, and scientic and technological knowledge, in order to be part of the global community. Poor technological and scientic literacy presumably pose a barrier for economic development (Chiu & Duit, 2011; DeBoer, 2011) and hinder integration. In a globalized world, education in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) becomes a gatekeeper for participation in global productivity and wealth systems. That is, globalization simultaneously leads to an increase of cultural encounters and diversity and, in the case of universally valid science, to an increase of homogeneity (van Eijck & Roth, 2011, p. 825). The tension between unifying and decentralizing tendencies is at the core of science education in a globalized society. This study examines the impact of a professional development program on science teaching practice and teachers beliefs, and subsequently on the science achievement of non-mainstream students in American Indian reservations. The program was designed based on the ideas of culturally relevant pedagogy, and culturally responsive and congruent instruction. Theoretical Perspectives Culture, Culturally Relevant Pedagogy, and Culturally Responsive and Congruent Instruction Culture can be conceptualized as the combination of norms, values, beliefs, expectations, and conventional actions of a group (Phalen, Davidson, & Cao, 1991). The outcome of cultures is knowledge, which in turn impacts cultures. The cyclic nature of cultureknowledge makes culture a dynamic construct. How knowledge is produced, and what knowledge is produced are the most dening differences among cultures. The realization of the discontinuity between the cultures of school and community, and its negative impact on the schooling experience of non-mainstream students led to instructional approaches that focused on the positive interaction between culture and learning. Ladson-Billings (1995) proposed a culturally relevant pedagogy framework for the collective empowerment of non-mainstream students and educational systemic change. This pedagogy is based on three main ideas: (a) students academic success; (b) students cultural competence; and (c) students critical social consciousness (Ladson-Billings, 1995). Thus, instruction that approaches content knowledge in such a way that it afrms students values and competences related to a particular cultural group (students cultural competence) and enhances their
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communities (students critical social consciousness) would result in students achievement gains (students academic success). Culturally responsive instructional models are framed by the conceptual premises of culturally relevant pedagogy and are implemented through culturally congruent instruction. Culturally responsive models can be explained as instruction that makes sense to students who are not members of, or assimilated into, the dominant social group (Klug & Whiteld, 2003, p. 151). These models require the integration of multicultural content, and the use of instructional approaches that are aligned with students cultural learning styles (Pewewardy, 1998). Responsiveness also implies awareness of students cultural differences and how these differences might impact students learning. Indeed, research ndings provide evidence of the benets of making explicit connections between students cultural experiences in and outside the school on students learning (Apthorp, DAmato, & Richardson, 2002; Lee & Luykx, 2006; Lipka, 2002) and on increasing parental involvement and support (Simpson & Parsons, 2009). Culturally congruent instruction intends to bridge the cultural differences between school, and homes and communities of non-mainstream students (Parsons, Foster, Travis, & Simpson, 2005). Such instruction requires teachers to: (a) understand and value students language and cultural backgrounds; (b) have knowledge of the nature of science; and (c) be able to connect science to students experiences (Lee, 2004; Lee & Fradd, 1998). Cultural congruence emphasizes that shared ways of communication and interaction between teachers and students facilitate non-mainstream students learning. In contrast, cultural incongruence hinders access to quality science education for non-mainstream students (Parsons, Foster, Gomillion, & Simpson, 2008). Concurrently, research on classroom uses of students funds of knowledgedened as historically accumulated cultural knowledge, skills, and resources lez, 1992)shows an students bring from their households (Moll, Amanti, Neff, & Gonza increase in the learning experience of all students (Barton & Tan, 2009; Rios-Aguilar, 2010). In summary, science learning opportunities for all students occur when values and experiences students bring from their homes and communities are included in the classroom through the integration between disciplinary, and cultural and linguistic knowledge; and when support systems and resources for science learning are in place (Lee & Buxton, 2011). As First Nations community members expressed, the education system should be able to espouse traditional values and at the same time meet the changes taking place in society (Agbo, 2004, p. 14). Science, School Science, and Science Teaching Cultures Practices reect their associated culture because they involve patterns of norms, values, and beliefs; in this regard, the practice of science entails a process of gradually engaging in sciences culture (Aikenhead, 2001; Krogh & Thomsen, 2005; Lyons, 2006; Taconis & Kessels, 2009). Scientic knowledge is constantly monitored against validated theories and constrained by dominant paradigms. In the context of this study, science culture is dened as the combination of norms, values, beliefs, expectations, and conventional actions of a group with the purpose to produce and warrant knowledge following scientic epistemic ways. In turn, the produced knowledge changes the norms, values, and beliefs of science practice; it is in this regard that science culture is viewed as a practiceknowledge cycle. As in any community of cultural practice, science practices, policies, and foci are related to their historical time and place (they have a chronotopic nature). Chronotopic backdrops that shape scientic activity reect power tensions between the groups engaged in the practice of science. The culture of science is dened by the attributes and paradigms of the scientic activity itself, but its practice echoes the social dynamic, place, and historical circumstances of the practitioners.
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Although school science is expected to transfer science attributes into the classrooms (AAAS, 1993; NRC, 1996, 2007, 2012), the culture of schools radically changes some aspects of science. For example, the organization of the school day using limited time periods, and the authoritarian structure of schools, constrain the open-ended activity of science. Similarly, the dynamic nature of scientic knowledge characterized by the practice knowledge cycle is at odds with teacher-centered instruction. In this study, school science and science will be considered as different cultures. School science entails a socio-cultural process highly dependent on the culture of the school and the classroom, and is shaped by the social dynamics among students, the curriculum, teacher and administrator expectations, and teaching approaches (Carlone, Haun-Frank, & Webb, 2011). Curriculum, instruction, and teacher and administrator expectations reproduce social and political tensions (Mickelson & Velasco, 2006), such that science education can be perceived as chronotopic (Lemke, 2005; van Eijck & Roth, 2011) because its practice and outcomes are time and place bound. The culture of science teaching is characterized by shared practices, expectations, discourse (Bartholomew, Osborne, & Ratcliffe, 2004), knowledge derived from the practice of teaching science, and beliefs about science teaching (Luft, 2001). These characteristics of science teaching depend on the socio-cultural and historical circumstances in which teaching is embedded. Cultural Border-Crossing, Cultural Flexibility, and Hybridization In this section three theories related to students scientic knowledge construction are discussed: cultural border-crossing, cultural exibility, and hybridization. These theories view science learning from a cultural perspective implying learners integration or incorporation of science knowledge in students cultural schemata. In his seminal work on science learning and cultural border-crossing, Aikenhead (1996) argues about the need to recognize the inherent border crossings between students life-world subcultures and the subculture of science, and that we need to develop curriculum and instruction with these border crossings explicitly in mind, before the science curriculum can be accessible to most students (p. 2). In this framework, science learning is viewed as culture acquisition; it requires developing prociency in the discourse and semiotics of science (Gee, 2004; Lemke, 1990). Bordercrossings are mediated by one of two processes: (i) enculturation when the culture of science agrees with students worldview, or (ii) assimilation when the culture of science is at odds with students worldview (Aikenhead, 1996, 2001; Aikenhead & Jegede, 1999). How conictive a cultural border crossing is depends on the process that mediates it. Although science learning requires all students to cross a cultural border, school science has connotations of social status and power putting non-mainstream students at a disadvantage either due to linguistic differences (Zuniga, Olson, & Winter, 2005), dissonances with their home culture (Gilbert & Yerrick, 2001), or intrapersonal conicts (Brown, 2004). Cultural exibility theory claims that students over the course of their social development, effectively navigate diverse social environs such as the workplace, communities, and neighborhoods (Carter, 2010, p. 1529). Cultural exibility promotes participation in many different cultures, as opposed to acceptance of one rigid or homogenous worldview. Sussman (2000) introduced the notion of intercultural identity in which students are able to interact effectively in many different cultural settings. Cultural exibility can be seen as the development of students individual identity through a process of multiple assimilations into multiple cultural settings. School science provides a ground for students and teachers to develop an intercultural identity and cultural exibility. Unlike previous views of pre-existing constructs of culture with well-dened boundaries, the concept of hybridity implies students actively constructing meanings and understandings
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through the creolization of communication around school science (Elmesky & Seiler, 2007). Hybridity theory attempts to describe how non-mainstream learners generate science knowledge (Barton & Tan, 2009; Barton, Tan, & Rivet, 2008; Elmesky, 2011; Seiler, 2011). It claims that teachers and students establish new forms of participation that merge the rst space of school science with the second space of the home (Barton et al., 2008, p. 73). In a study focused on the incorporation of students home knowledge into a teaching unit on nutrition, Barton and Tan (2009) elicited the generation of hybrid spaces and noted their positive impact on students engagement and learning. In a later study, Seiler (2011) focused on the hybridization of teachers identity and science teaching as a vehicle for students identication with school science. In both examples hybridity results from the synergy of students and teachers, differing from the notion of a determined socio-cultural space achieved through teacher-controlled instruction (Richardson Bruna, 2009). Instead, hybridity depicts students and teachers co-constructing the school science culture. In summary, the ideas and theoretical frameworks that are relevant to this study are the following:
 Equitable science instruction, or instruction that attempts to provide learning opportunities for all, is imperative in a globalized, and presumably democratic, world.  Science culture is characterized by a practice-knowledge cycle producing a dynamic, chronotopic body of knowledge.  School science is strongly shaped by the school culture and teaching and learning.  Learning and teaching science requires engagement in cultural processes.  Science learning can be described as: (i) cultural border-crossing, either through assimilation or enculturation; (ii) cultural exibility; or (iii) hybridization.  Instructional approaches conducive to science learning of non-mainstream students are supported by a culturally relevant pedagogical framework, and facilitated by the implementation of culturally responsive and culturally congruent instruction.

This study focuses on the impact on school science teaching, teachers beliefs, and students science achievement of a professional development program for teachers of predominantly American Indian students that was framed by the premises of culturally relevant pedagogy. Overview of the Study After the implementation of Not Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB, 2002), the time allocated to teaching science at elementary schools decreased considerably, and in schools that have not attained the adequately yearly progress (most often focused on language arts and mathematics) teachers seldom teach science throughout the year (NSTA, 2009). This situation reects the status of science teaching in many of the schools included in this project. The lack of continuity in science teaching and the cultural distance between school science, students culture, and teachers culture also hinder science teaching. So, one main goal of the program was to facilitate professional development meaningful and feasible for the teachers near or on American Indian reservations in Montana. Building on the theoretical frameworks discussed above, the professional development was designed under the following assumptions:
(1) Learners constantly cross cultural borders among the many cultures to which they belong. Yet, there are points of intersection blurring these borders. Journal of Research in Science Teaching

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(2) Effective teaching occurs when intersection points are made explicit to the learners. (3) Teachers need to be able to identify intersection points between school science and students real-world cultures.

The intersection points between school science (science content knowledge), science teaching (how to teach science), and contemporary American Indian culture of the schools communities (cultural knowledge), guided the design of the professional development science curriculum, modes of delivery, and assessment tools. American Indian contemporary culture results from the merging of traditional tribal culture with mainstream cultural elements, and is characterized by the preservation and revitalization of the tribal cultural heritage (van Hamme, 1995; Henze & Vanett, 1993). Traditional values, beliefs and conventional activities of American Indians are closely related to the tribal land and natural environment, hence the cultural diversity among American Indian people. Relevant cultural elements of the tribal communities involved in this study include: spiritual, ritual, linguistic, and family relations aspects. This research examines the effects of a professional development program framed by the premises of culturally relevant pedagogy on teachers science teaching practice and beliefs, and on American Indian students science test score gains. The research questions that guide this study are: (1) To what extent does a teacher professional development program built upon cultural intersection points between school science, science inquiry teaching, and American Indian cultures facilitate a shift in science teaching? (2) How do shifts in teaching practices and teachers beliefs contribute to science test score gains of American Indian students? Methodology Implementation of the Professional Development Program This study focuses on a teacher professional development program that links the theoretical frames of culturally relevant pedagogy, program implementation, and impact on teaching practices and students test score gains. Culturally relevant pedagogy provided the conceptual premises from which the assumptions of the intervention were draw; culturally responsive models assisted in the identication of topics relevant to the tribal communities; and culturally congruent instruction guided the design of the activities by determining which tribal cultural elements and practices would be matched up with science content. It involved the joined effort of tribal advisory teams, faculty of institutions of higher education, and participant teachers. Program Characteristics. This research was conducted in the frame of a professional development (PD) program for teachers near or on American Indian reservations in Montana. The overall project was 5 years long such that two cohorts of teachers received 3 years of PD with an overlap of cohorts in year 3. Each cohort comprised treatment and comparison teacher groups. The PD took place simultaneously in two regions in the state, each with a high concentration of tribal communities. The northwest region included the Flathead Reservation, contemporary home of the Salish-Kootenai and Pend d Oreille tribes; and the southeast region, on the Crow and Northern Cheyenne Reservations. These communities share many characteristics of rural communities but they also have differences in relation to their cultures that can be characterized as differences in cultural repertoires of practices due to variations rrez & Rogof, 2003). Although the in the way people participate in common practices (Gutie PD model and science content was common to both sites, each site had an advisory team composed of tribal members and teacher leaders to provide guidance on cultural knowledge,
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protocol, and culturally relevant pedagogy suitable to the tribal cultures. The professional development was delivered in a blended way combining face-to-face and online interactions. All face-to-face interactions were onsite, including: day-long monthly academies, a 2-week Summer Institute, and 3-day summer cultural camps. The ongoing year-long online component supported teachers discussion about the science content and culturally relevant pedagogy presented during the face-to-face events. The aim of the professional development was to: (1) develop teachers knowledge of the tribal cultures; (2) model teaching methods and science content applications congruent with the cultural practices of the tribal communities; (3) enhance teachers science knowledge; and (4) enhance teachers knowledge of how to teach science. Because all professional development activities wove three cultural strandstribal community, science teaching, and school sciencescience and education faculty involved in the program worked closely with tribal advisory teams to identify intersection points between American Indian culture, school science, and science teaching. The advisory teams included experienced teachers and tribal elders that have the recognition of their communities, and were actively involved in the community life. Advisory teams were consulted during the planning and implementation of the professional development, in order to identify common and unique cultural elements of the tribes involved in the project. Tribal advisory teams mainly provided suggestions about the relevance of the science topics and meaningful contexts for science teaching. The science content foci of the program included Earth Science, Astronomy and Weather and Climate, and Physics and the topics addressed by the program aligned with the Montana State Science Standards (OPI, 2011). Cultural intersection points were identied by matching science concepts to cultural practices. Teaching approaches that allowed to incorporate tribal values and students learning styles were modeled in the face-to-face meetings. Then, teachers implemented these approaches in their classrooms, and the impact of the teaching was discussed online or in the face-to-face meetings. An example of a unit on accelerated motion that incorporates cultural points of intersection is presented in Table 1. In this unit the major science concept woven throughout is:
Table 1 Cultural points of intersection for a unit on accelerated motion Science Content Accelerated motion American Indian Cultural Element Arrow making and throwing Science Teaching Cultural Element Formative assessment Cultural Points of Intersection Result from the common concepts of arrow making and the game of Basketball with the science content Result from the common practices between science teaching and American Indian ways of knowing

Unbalanced forces

Basketball game

Collaborative activities

Vectors

Community festivals Story-telling by community elders Learning by observing Native language

Naturalistic observations Modeling exploratory activities

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Accelerated motions result from the application of an unbalanced force. The pedagogy component addressed the use of formative assessment, the implementation of collaborative activities, the use of naturalistic observations, and modeling exploratory activities. The formative assessment emphasized the use of multiple representational modes (text-based, diagrams, picture-based, kinesthetic, etc.) and being authentic in the context of students everyday life. The cultural component was present through two contemporary cultural practicesarrow making and throwing, and basketball gamesand by the fact that members of the community presented such topics. A tribal elder gave a presentation about the art of making and throwing arrows and also explained who and when it is appropriate to engage in this practice according to the Northern Cheyenne tradition. He introduced words in the Native language and related the practice of arrow throwing to festivals and community events familiar to the teachers of the community. The game of basketball is a very important community event for Montana tribes as it incorporates family related cultural values. Moreover, basketball games are also part of contemporary Powwows-competitions of traditional dances and drumming that involves multigenerational members of the community. High school Crow students demonstrated different ways to throw the ball providing opportunities to discuss applied forces and parabolic motion. The curriculum and instruction of this unit reected a culturally responsive approach because the culture of the tribes was integrated in an authentic way: on-site, relevant to the students and teachers life experiences, and presented by community members who held mastery of the cultural practices. Content knowledge resulted from nding intersection points between tribal, science teaching, and school science cultures. In the example provided above, the science concept of accelerated motion was identied in the cultural practice of arrow making and throwing. The shape of the bow, the elasticity of the materials of the arrow and bow, the tension in the string, the body position in the throw, and many more intricacies of this practice were matched to the concept of force and accelerated motion. In this example the empirical epistemology of the tribal practice was matched to the abstract, model-based epistemology of school science as both knowledge bases have the same purpose: the prediction of the motion of an object subject to an unbalanced force. School and Classroom Characteristics. The schools involved in the project included 25 K-8 schools on the Flathead, Northern Cheyenne and Crow Reservations and surrounding areas. These schools are small, isolated, and resource-limited. Poverty rates vary from 31% to 75% of the students participating in the Free and Reduced Lunch program. Students transfer rate between schools is high; and the lack of curriculum continuity and alignment leads to disjointed educational experiences for these students. The quality of the science programs in the schools varied: 43% of the teachers rated their school science program high quality (4 or 5 on a 5-point scale), 30% gave it a middle rating, and 28% gave it a low rating (1 or 2 on a 5-point scale). In 75% of cohort 1 schools, classes were organized as self-contained, likewise in 79% of schools of cohort 2. The number of students per class varied: about 45% of cohort 1 and 2 treatment classrooms had 2125 students, and 10% of the classrooms had 2630 students; while for comparison groups, about 33% of the classrooms had 2125 students, and 21% of the classrooms had 2630 students. The grade bands considered in this study were: G34, G56, G78; their distribution in both cohorts for treatment and control groups peaked at the G34 grade band. Teachers and Students Characteristics. Teachers volunteered to participate in the program; the assignment into treatment or comparison roles was the choice of the teacher. Both treatment and comparison teachers received a stipend for their participation. Forty percent of the teachers enrolled in the program were American Indians while 60% were Caucasians. The
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teachers gender distribution varied between cohorts. In cohort 1 the percentage of females teachers was 89% in the treatment group and 79% in the comparison group; in cohort 2 the percentage of females teachers was 80% for both treatment and comparison groups. The highest education degree of 80% of the treatment teachers of both cohorts was B.S. or B.A. in Elementary Education. Comparison teacher groups held a higher degree of education: 58% of cohort 1 comparison teachers had a B.S. or B.A., while 37% a M.S. or higher; 47% of cohort 2 comparison teachers had a B.S. or B.A, while 50% held a higher degree. More than 90% of all teachers involved in the program (both cohorts and treatments) have a certication for teaching elementary grades and about 30% have multiple certications (elementary and middle grades). Teachers expertise, indicated by the number of years in the profession, was consistent across cohorts and treatment groups. Teachers with more than 15 years of expertise constituted the largest category. The delity of the treatment varied per cohort group. Forty-eight cohort 1 treatment teachers were enrolled in the program, but 36 teachers completed the 3 years of professional development. Forty treatment teachers enrolled in cohort 2, but only 29 completed the program. Comparison teachers had a lower attrition rate. Twenty-nine comparison teachers started in cohort 1 and 24 completed the period of the professional development; and 36 comparison teachers for cohort 2 started and ended in the program. The number of teachers included in each analysis corresponds to the teachers that had a complete set of data required by the analysis. The teachers that participated in this project (treatment and comparison groups) taught classrooms with about 10030% students enrolled as American Indians, depending on the school district. The American Indian students live either on or near a reservation, and in most cases with American Indian family members. Students gender distribution varied per cohort and treatment group, such that between 53% and 80% of the classrooms had between 50% and 60% male students. The percentage of Limited English Procient (LEP) students was consistent across cohorts and treatment groups, about 72% or more of the classrooms included in the project had less that 10% LEP students. Characteristics of the Study The tapestry of characteristics of schools, classrooms, teachers, and students reects the nature of rural school settings with low-density populations, very small school districts, and a small number of teachers. Thus, the treatment and comparison groups were matched based on their teaching grade-band as they have comparable teaching demands (in terms of curriculum and instruction). All comparison and treatment teachers belong to the same pool of school districts housed on the Flathead, Northern Cheyenne and Crow Reservations, and surrounding areas. Methods and Tools for Data Collection. Various methods of data collection were used to document the impact of the professional development on teachers science instruction, on teachers science content knowledge, on teachers beliefs about their ability to implement equitable instruction and condence about their science knowledge, and on students science learning. These methods included: classroom observations, portfolios with lesson plans and students work, teacher surveys on culturally congruent instruction and on science teaching practices and beliefs, and teachers and students science content tests. This study used a teacher survey called Surveys of Enacted Curriculum (SEC; CCSSO, 2005), and students pre/post-science tests for Earth Science, and Astronomy, Weather and Climate. The content areas addressed in this study relate to topics that were taught by cohort 1 and 2 teachers. This study uses data corresponding to the rst and second year of teachers being in the program.
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Teachers completed the SEC individually and online, in early fall (baseline) and subsequently once a year at the end of the school year. SEC is comprised of 17 dimensions and captures the way teachers allocate classroom time to different instructional tasks, and documents teachers beliefs about their readiness to teach science content and to implement equitable instruction. Qualitative data, including classroom observation eld notes and teachers portfolios, were used to provide delity of the professional development intervention and to identify instructional strategies that were most frequently observed in the classrooms and documented in teachers portfolios. These strategies included approaches that prompted students to: (1) communicate understandings and ndings using multiple modalities, (2) analyze information, (3) perform exploratory activities such as hands-on investigations and simulations, and (4) make connections between science and topics relevant to students life and their community, and between science content and hands-on activities that involves predicting and designing new experiments. A description of these dimensions is included in Table 2.
Table 2 List of items in the dimensions of teachers survey Communicate Understanding Teaching practices Write about science in science papers Complete written assignments from the textbook or workbook Write up results or prepare a presentation from an investigation, or experiment Analyze Information Analyze and interpret science data Make a prediction based on the data Analyze and interpret the information orally or in writing Performing Procedures Do a laboratory activity, investigation, or experiment Follow step-by-step directions Use science equipment or measuring tools Make Connections Make educated guesses, or predictions using prior knowledge Change a variable in an experiment to test a hypothesis Design their own investigation to answer a scientific question related to their community

Work on a writing project Display and analyze seeking peer comments data Have class discussions about the data Organize and display the information in tables or graphs

Collect data Organize and display information in tables or graphs Make observations Practice procedures Use sensors or probes

Content Readiness Teachers believes about their ability to . . . Teach science at your assigned level Integrate science with other subjects Provide science instruction that meets science standards Use a variety of assessment strategies Manage using hands-on activities Take into account students prior conceptions when planning

Equity Readiness Teach students with disabilities Teach classes with students with diverse abilities Teach science to students from a variety of cultural backgrounds Teach science to ELL students

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In this study we focused on six dimensions, four of which are the aforementioned practices, in addition to teachers beliefs about their readiness to teach science content at their grade level, and to implement equitable instruction. Each dimension consisted of a different number of items; the number of items per dimension (n) and its reliability coefcient estimated by the Cronbach alpha correlation are: content ready (n 6), 0.90; equity ready (n 4), 0.78; performing procedures (n 8), 0.79; communicate understanding (n 7), 0.79; analyze information (n 4), 0.84; and make connections (n 3), 0.82. The internal consistency of each of the SEC dimension was estimated using the full sample size, both treatment and comparison teachers. Changes in teaching practices and teachers beliefs after 1 and 2 years in the program for teachers of both cohorts, were obtained from a repeated-measures ANOVA. Equity readiness and content readiness were rated over a four-point Likert scale; while the other dimensions were rated over a ve-point Likert scale. The results of signicance and effect size correspond to the multivariate results of the Greenhouse-Geisser correction because the sphericity condition for the ANOVA was not achieved (Leach, Barret, & Morgan, 2008). Students science tests were designed by the external evaluators, and the education and STEM faculty involved in the project, using released test items from various sources. The external evaluators as well as the STEM and education faculty had an extended experience of working with American Indian communities and in-service teachers. Test items were aligned with the content topics targeted by the professional development program and the competencies associated with research-based science instruction. Issues of language and contexts suitable to American Indian students were considered in adapting the items. Three different tests, corresponding to the G34, G56, and G79 grade bands, were designed and used in the treatment and comparison classrooms. All questions were multiple choice, and the number of items varied depending on the grade band test, such that Earth Science tests included 16, 25, and 29 items for G34, G56, and G79, respectively; and the Astronomy, Weather, and Climate test included 25, 27, and 28 questions for G34, G56, and G79, respectively. Students pre and posttests were administered in their classrooms during September and April, respectively. Students score sheets were scanned, and scores recorded in spreadsheets. The reliability of Earth Science and Astronomy, Weather, and Climate tests were estimated using the Cronbach alpha correlation coefcient. The reliability estimates for the Earth Science test were: 0.61 pretest, 0.71 posttest for G34; 0.76 pretest, 0.78 posttest for G 56; and for both pre and posttests of G78 Cronbach alpha 0.80. The reliability estimates for the Weather, Astronomy and Climate test were: 0.63 pretest, 0.70 posttest for G34; 0.60 pretest, 0.72 posttest for G 56; and 0.74 for the pretest and 0.61 for the posttest of G78. Methods of Analysis. The analyses included in this study are: (i) a repeated measures ANOVA of the SEC data for two teacher cohorts including treatment and comparison groups; (ii) a mixed ANOVA of test score gains of the students in the treatment and comparison teacher groups; and (iii) a multiple regression analysis to explain students science test score gains with changes in science instruction and beliefs of treatment and comparison teacher groups. The unit of analysis in this study is the teacher/classroom. The repeated-measures ANOVA provided results of the variance of teachers practice and beliefs (SEC data) throughout the time teachers were enrolled in the program. Cohort 1 treatment teachers data correspond to three-time SEC measurements: baseline, after 1 year in the program, and at end of the second year. The analyses for comparison teachers of cohort 1 and 2 teachers included two-time SEC measurements: baseline and at the end of 1 year in the program. The mixed ANOVA was conducted to assess whether there were differences in students average scores
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in terms of the time of the year of the test administration (pre/post), and of the treatment condition of the teachers (treatment or comparison). The multiple linear regression analysis was conducted with the classrooms that have a full set of data including: teachers SEC data (baselines and subsequent years), and classroom students tests data (pre and postdata). Even though this approach to the management of missing data, also called a complete-case analysis, reduces the sample size it leads to unbiased parameter estimates (Howell, 2007). Thus, the sample size for the regression analysis was smaller than the number of teachers initially enrolled in the project from 36 teachers down to 27 teachers; constraining the number of variables that can be used to meaningfully model classroom average students test score gains. Findings This study examines the effects of a professional development program framed by the premises of culturally relevant pedagogy on teachers science teaching beliefs and practice, and on students science test score gains on or near American Indian reservations in Montana. The questions that guided this study are: (1) To what extent does a teacher professional development program built upon cultural intersection points between school science, science inquiry teaching, and American Indian cultures facilitate a shift in science teaching? (2) How do shifts in teaching practices and teachers beliefs contribute to science test score gains of American Indian students? The teaching practices included in this study correspond to strategies that prompted students to: (1) communicate understandings and ndings using multiple modalities, (2) analyze information, (3) perform procedures such as exploratory activities, and hands-on investigations, and (4) make connections between science and topics relevant to students life and their community, and between science content and hands-on activities that involves predicting and designing new experiments. The teachers beliefs that were included in this study referred to their readiness to teach science content, and to implement equitable instruction. The ndings reported here attempt to answer these questions. Shift in Teachers Science Instruction and Beliefs Results of cohort 1 teachers, including treatment and comparison teachers, are included in Table 3. Treatment teachers results show a change in content and equity readiness, analysis of information, and the make connection variables. These variables signicantly p followed a linear increment from year to year, and their effect sizes ( h2 ) are large (Cohen, 1988). Comparison teachers signicantly increased the use of strategies that prompt students to analyze data. This variable had a signicant increment in 1 year. The observed low power of the comparison group results can be attributed to the small sample of comparison teachers that completed both SECs. Results for cohort 2 treatment and comparison teachers are based on baseline and after 1-year program SEC data. Treatment teachers changed their beliefs in their ability to implement equitable instruction and to teach science content knowledge, and practices that require students to make connections between science topics, students real-world issues, and hands-on activities; while comparison teachers showed changes only in practices requiring students to communicate understandings and ndings. Results for cohort 2 teachers are shown in Table 4. A third repeated-measures ANOVA was conducted for cohort 1 treatment teachers after 1 year in the program with the purpose of comparing these results to cohort 2 treatment teachers and to identify the teachers practices and beliefs that are impacted after 1 year in the program. The results for both cohorts overlap. The variables that changed over a 1-year
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Table 3 Teachers practices and beliefs (cohort 1) Teaching Variable Y0 Mean (SD) Y1 Mean (SD) 1.89 (0.60) 1.77 (0.65) 2.26 (0.63) 1.70 (0.65) 1.95 (0.82) 2.09 (0.76) 1.93 (.64) 1.49 (0.59) 2.37 (0.56) 1.85 (0.74) 2.43 (0.76) 2.47 (0.89) Y2 Mean (SD) 2.00 (0.63) 1.74 (0.58) 2.26 (0.67) 1.81 (0.69) 2.23 (0.83) 2.19 (0.89) Sig. (p) 0.003 <0.001 0.151 0.250 0.029 0.001 0.148 0.711 0.635 0.178 0.024 0.461 Effect Size 0.45 0.51 0.25 0.22 0.34 0.45 0.33 0.01 0.10 0.30 0.49 0.17 Power 0.89 0.95 0.34 0.28 0.66 0.93 0.30 0.30 0.07 0.26 0.64 0.11

Treatment teachers (N 31)a Content readiness 1.58 (.54) Equity readiness 1.27 (0.65) Performing procedures 2.08 (0.59) Communication 1.61 (0.67) Analysis of information 1.88 (0.75) Make connections 1.71 (.74) Comparison teachers (N 20)a Content readiness 1.78 (0.60) Equity readiness 1.52 (0.72) Performing procedures 2.32 (0.63) Communication 1.61 (0.70) Analysis of information 1.92 (0.96) Connections 2.35 (0.92)

Y0, Y1, and Y2 refer to: baseline, after 1 year, and after 2 years in the program. a N denotes the number of cohort 1 teachers with complete SEC data for baseline and subsequent years. This number might differ from the number of teachers enrolled in the program.

period were: teachers beliefs in their ability to implement equitable science instruction and teach science content, and teaching strategies that prompt students to make connections. In summary, after 1 year in the program treatment teachers felt empowered in their ability to teach science content and to implement equitable instruction, and they increased the classroom time students spent making connections between science topics and issues related to their life and communities, and to hands-on experiences. These results were obtained for both cohorts. Similarly, during the rst 2 years in the program, treatment teachers showed a
Table 4 Teachers practices and beliefs (cohort 2) Teaching Variable
a

Y0 Mean (SD) 1.67 (0.70) 1.30 (0.55) 2.18 (0.68) 1.79 (0.73) 2.11 (0.77) 1.71 (.74) 1.75 (0.65) 1.60 (0.62) 2.07 (0.58) 1.39 (0.45) 1.83 (0.86) 1.87 (0.89)

Y1 Mean (SD) 1.95 (0.40) 1.54 (0.44) 2.36 (0.49) 1.94 (0.65) 2.36 (0.82) 2.09 (0.65) 1.73 (0.60) 1.48 (0.63) 1.90 (0.53) 1.57 (0.56) 1.70 (0.59) 1.77 (0.69)

Sig. (p) 0.009 0.008 0.111 0.164 0.064 0.025 0.750 0.186 0.060 0.020 0.160 0.430

Effect Size 0.48 0.49 0.31 0.27 0.35 0.42 0.05 0.22 0.31 0.39 0.24 0.14

Power 0.77 0.79 0.36 0.28 0.46 0.63 0.06 0.26 0.47 0.67 0.28 0.12

Treatment teachers (N 27) Content readiness Equity readiness Performing procedures Communication Analysis of information Connections Comparison teachers (N 35)a Content readiness Equity readiness Procedures Communication Analysis Connections

Y0 and Y1 refer to: baseline and after 1 year in the program, respectively. a N denotes the number of cohort 2 teachers with complete SEC data for both baseline and end-of-rst year. This number might differ from the number of teachers enrolled in the program.

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signicant improvement in teaching practices that prompt students to analyze data and to make connections. Also, they built on their condence in their ability to teach science content and to implement equitable approaches in the classroom. No signicant changes were found in treatment teachers implementation of practices that involve exploratory procedures; or practices prompting students to use various ways of communication. In turn, comparison teachers change of practice and beliefs did not display a clear trend between cohorts. First cohort comparison teachers improved the implementation of teaching strategies that prompt students to communicate their ndings using multiple ways of representations. While the second cohort of comparison teachers reported a change only in teaching strategies that prompt students to analyze data. Comparison teachers readiness to implement equitable instruction decreased in the 1-year interval (1.52 0.72 and 1.49 0.59 for baseline and year 1, respectively, for cohort 1; and 1.60 0.62 and 1.48 0.63 for baseline and year 1, respectively, for cohort 2). This trend contrasts with treatment teachers results, in which mean values of the equity readiness variable increased after 1 year in the program (1.27 0.65 and 1.77 0.65 for baseline and year 1, respectively, for cohort 1; and 1.30 0.55 and 1.54 0.44 for baseline and year 1, respectively, for cohort 2). Similarly, the mean values of treatment teachers SEC variables are overall higher than the mean values for comparison teachers. Another, unintended, result is the decrease in the number of teachers that completed the SEC survey throughout the years. About 15% of cohort 1 treatment and comparison teachers, and 27% of cohort 2 treatment teachers did not complete the SEC survey as the years passed. This trend, common in both cohorts and more prominent for treatment teachers, speaks to the difculties of data collection in rural settings in which long commuting distances and inconsistent access to online communications pose a real obstacle. Students Test Score Gains Classroom average scores of student science tests, for treatment and comparison groups, are presented in Table 5. A mixed ANOVA was conducted to assess whether there were differences in the average scores in terms of the time of the year of test administration (pre/post), and of the treatment condition of the teachers (treatment or comparison). Results for the Earth Science test indicate a signicant effect of the time of the year, F(1, 59) 67.99, p < 0.001, but not of the treatment condition, F(1, 59) 0.00, p 0.99; nor is there indication of an interaction between the time of the year and the treatment condition,
Table 5 Classroom average students science test scores Treatment Condition Pretest Treatment Comparison Posttest Treatment Comparison Earth Science Mean (SD) 54.40 (13.30) N 29 54.40 (14.32) N 32 60.70 (14.17) N 29 60.64 (14.42) N 32 Astronomy, Weather, and Climate Mean (SD) 41.57 (10.48) N 29 44.39 (10.06) N 28 48.34 (11.45) N 29 49.30 (10.21) N 28

N represents the number of classrooms that have both pre- and post-student science test data.

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F(1, 59) 0.002, p 0.967. Results for the Astronomy, Weather and Climate test indicate a signicant effect for the time of the year, F(1, 55) 67.76, p < 0.001, but not of the treatment condition, F(1, 55) 0.46, p 0.50, nor of the interaction between the time of the year and the treatment condition, F(1, 55) 1.75, p 0.197. The results for both science tests indicate that even though there is a difference in the classroom average scores between the beginning and end of year tests, unexpectedly, this difference is not associated to the treatment condition of the teachers. In order to explore if the increase of the average posttest scores was related to teachers changes of practices and beliefs, a multiple linear regression analysis between classroom average test score gains and changes of practices and beliefs was done. The regression model used the variables that displayed a signicant and sustained change as reported by treatment teachers, including: make connections, equity readiness, content readiness, and analysis of information. For comparison classrooms, where a sustained change was not found, test score gains were modeled using multiple regression linear models of combinations of two, three, and up to four variables out of the six variables included in this study. Classroom average student test score gains for Astronomy, Weather, and Climate of treatment teachers were best predicted by a linear regression model that combined the changes in make connections and equity readiness variables. This model explains 36.7% of the variance of average test score gains (adjusted R); the correlation coefcient is 0.645, and the model is signicant at p 0.002 level. The parameters of this model are shown in Table 6. It is important to note that both variables of the modelthe changes in teachers beliefs about their ability to implement equitable instruction, and students making connectionsare linearly independent, as shown by the colinearity tolerance (close to 1.00). In contrast, no combination of variables produced a signicant model (p 0.05) when linear regression models were used to predict comparison classrooms average score gains of the Astronomy, Weather, and Climate student test. In addition, quadratic and cubic relationships between dependent and independent variables were explored, but no signicant relationships were found. Similar multiple regression linear models were applied to the Earth Science classroom average test score gains but no combination of variables produced a signicant model for both treatment and comparison groups. It is important to note that students score gains on the Astronomy, Weather, and Climate test were modeled with the changes in practices of teachers that had been 2 years in the program. In contrast, the Earth Science score gains were modeled with changes in practices of teachers that spent 1 year in the program. Thus, although teachers signicantly improved some of their practices and self-condence after 1 year in the program, these changes are not enough to explain students test score gains. Discussion The ndings related to the impact of the professional development on teachers practice provide evidence that the shifts in science teaching incorporated the ideas of equitable and reform-based instruction. Teachers also increased their condence in the ability to teach
Table 6 Regression linear model of treatment average score gains Linear Model Making connection Equity readiness Standardized Coefficient 0.583 0.409 Significance (p) 0.001 0.017 Collinearity Tolerance 0.963

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science content and to implement equitable teaching approaches. ANOVA results of the SEC data show that after 1 year in the program, treatment teachers increased the use of teaching strategies that prompt students to make connections between science and topics relevant to their life and community, and to hands-on experiences that involves predicting and designing new experiments. According to the results of the ANOVA for a 2-year span, treatment teachers showed a consistent pattern of changes in these beliefs and practices, while comparison teachers rendered a random-like change in teaching practices. The ndings for the treatment teachers are closely aligned with the foci of the professional development program aiming to integrate American Indian culture of the local communities, science content, and reform-based pedagogy through identifying cultural points of intersection. These ndings are in agreement with the claim about the effectiveness of science teaching when it occurs in a hybrid space resulting from the incorporation of everyday discourses in science teaching and learning (Barton et al., 2008; Seiler, 2011), or when teachers tap into students funds of knowledge (Barton & Tan, 2009). Similarly, in a context of professional development, Chinn (2007) found that programs focused on eliciting Native knowledge in relation to science signicantly increased participants appreciation of Native culture and its importance to effectively teach science. Additionally, Johnson (2011) found that professional development models grounded on the premises of improving the educational experiences of diverse students, effective science teaching, and culturally congruent instruction enable participant teachers to shift their practice towards a culturally relevant pedagogy. So, what is the novel contribution of cultural points of intersections? Points of intersection between science knowledge, community culture, and science teaching suggest that the effectiveness of a hybrid space can be expanded to the practiceknowledge cycle of a communitys culture. Matching cultural practices with core concepts in science promotes the construction of hybrid content. In other words, cultural points of intersection suggest that school science would not only be shaped by the school culture and paradigms of science teaching and learning, but also by the cultural practices of the communities in which teaching is taking place. The impact of the professional development program on students science test score gains can be explained by the increment of teachers implementation of equitable instruction, which prompted students to make connections between science topics, issues relevant to their lives, and hands-on experiments. This result, only corresponding to treatment classrooms, fully supports the premises of instructional congruence (Lee, 2002, 2003, 2004; Lee & Fradd, 1998) about the importance of developing congruence not only between students cultural expectations and classroom interactional norms but also between academic disciplines and students linguistic and cultural experiences (Lee, Hart, Cuevas, & Enders, 2004, p.4). Both variables of the model - the changes in teachers beliefs about their ability to implement equitable instruction, and students making connectionsare linearly independent indicating that both aspects of the instruction are necessary to contribute to students test score gains. Remarkably, of the six variables included in this study, only the two variables that directly relate to the notion of cultural intersection points signicantly predict the increase of student science tests scores. One of the variables refers to teachers condence in implementing strategies that explicitly address cultural points of intersection; while the other variable refers to what students do in class in order to bridge their worldview and school science cultures through cultural intersection points. This relationship is absent in comparison groups, in which teachers neither increased their belief about their ability to effectively implement equitable instructional strategies, nor gains were found in relation to strategies that
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prompt students to make connections between science and topics relevant to their life and community. The constructs of culturally congruent instruction and cultural points of intersection emerged from the realization of the critical role of students cultural background and prior knowledge in knowledge construction (Driver, Leach, Millar, & Scott, 1996). Cultural congruence stresses shared ways of communication, through common languages and cultural backgrounds between teachers and students. However, culturally congruent ways of knowing and communicating are sometimes incompatible with the nature of science as represented by science education standards (Lee & Fradd, 1998, p. 18). Cultural points of intersection stress the common conceptual grounds between cultural practices (e.g., the ones derived from empirical and technological knowledge) and science core ideas (e.g., the ones obtained from abstract or model-based knowledge), such that incompatibilities between students cultural background and science are greatly reduced. For example, the analysis of the way a tipi is built will be conducive to the concepts of force and Newtons First Law of Motion. Cultural points of intersection do not emphasize the adaptation of scientic habits of mind to students cultural frame, but digs into both frames to nd common constructs. This view of science instruction emerged from the fundamental view that cultures of practice and school science contribute to learners knowledge construction. Indeed, by eliciting the science concept in the light of a cultural practice, the culture of science and the cultural practice contribute to the school science Discourse. This approach dissipates the dichotomy imposed by an education based on a hegemonic culture and contributes to equitable normative scientic practices of the classroom; such practices expand the notion of science literacy and positively impact non-mainstream students (Carlone et al., 2011). Conclusions This research shows the effectiveness of a professional development program that focuses on cultural points of intersection for the enhancement of teachers science teaching in nonmainstream students classrooms. After 2 years in the program teachers steadily and signicantly increased their condence in the ability to teach science content and to reach nonmainstream students; they also increased the classroom instruction time allocated to practices that require students to make connections between science content and topics relevant to their life, communities, and real-world hands-on experiences. We also showed that teaching strategies and curriculum that explicitly address cultural points of intersection between school science and students worldviews substantially contribute to students science test score gains. In this regard, teaching through cultural points of intersection constitutes an instructional strategy that addresses culturally responsive models paradigm. Globalization entails the re-distribution of ideas, goods, people, and practices; it urges people to dene their cultural identity in order to partake in the globalized exchange. People bring to and take from a large pool of cultural elements to re-create their own. The notion of cultural points of intersection mirrors this cultural exchange through conceptual juxtaposition. This study, that prompts to connect different cultural zones, contributes meeting the challenges of globalization. A next step in considering cultural points of intersection as a viable equitable instructional strategy is to address this construct in classrooms with multiple diverse cultures. The ndings presented here emerged from science instruction in bi-cultural (mainstream and American Indian) or mono-cultural (American Indian) classrooms; thus, the door is open to further explore the implementation of cultural points of intersection.
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We are grateful to Regina Sievert and Tim Olson of Salish Kootenai Community College; Elisabeth Swanson of Montana State University; Judith Devine, Education Northwest Lab; Gail Whiteman Runs Him, Crow Tribe; and to all participant teachers, that certainly have been a source of inspiration. Also, we want to express our gratitude to the reviewers and editors of the manuscript for their insightful suggestions. This research has been possible with an NSF-MSP grant # DUE-0634587.

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