Understanding science allows students with and without developmental and behavioral-based (DB) disabilities to better appreciate the world around them as well as prepare them for the growing science-related job market. However, students in the United States consistently underperform on science achievement tests compared to students from other…

Previous studies have documented the promising results from student-constructed representations, including stop-motion animation (SMA), in supporting mechanistic reasoning (MR), which is considered an essential thinking skill in science education. Our current study presents theoretically and empirically how student-constructed SMA contributes to…

Science classroom assessment often requires multilingual learners to demonstrate ideas using only English-language resources. These assessments can provide an incomplete picture of students' knowledge and limit subsequent learning opportunities. Increasingly, science teachers are incorporating translanguaging pedagogies in their instructional…

Research indicates many professional development (PD) programs fail to promote a significant change in science teaching, despite the resources invested in them. While previous research addresses this problem through aspects of policy making, design, and teachers' identity, we suggest a focus on teachers' engagement in learning during PD sessions.…

Science teachers and educators seek to promote equity and inclusion within their classrooms. Yet, many do not examine how their roles could reproduce oppression that continues to exclude certain groups of students. Centering on how oppression interacts with science teaching and learning, this naturalistic study observed Ms. William and her…

This study used a cluster randomized controlled trial to investigate the effectiveness of two approaches to increasing middle school students' science learning when using an inquiry-based science curriculum. Eighty-nine schools, with 253 teachers and 20,591 students, were randomly assigned into one of three conditions: (a) a treatment condition in…

This article explores the challenges of enacting reform-oriented curriculum in science classrooms. We use the concept of figured worlds to analyze a case study of an eighth-grade science class where the teacher reported that the students were resistant to changes she was trying to make. By examining stimulated recall interviews with the teacher…

Grappling with uncertainty is an essential element of students' science learning and sense-making processes, yet literature is limited regarding how teachers can facilitate and use student scientific uncertainty as a pedagogical resource in their classrooms. Furthermore, progress on pedagogical practice depends on both the ability to notice one's…

The study investigated the influence of a connected learning approach for explicit nature of science (NOS) instruction and explicit argumentation instruction, in comparison with a non-connected approach, on students' NOS conceptions and argumentation skills. Participants comprised 42 students enrolled in two sections of grade 10 that were randomly…

In the United States, the Next Generation Science Standards advocate for the integration of computational thinking (CT) as a science and engineering practice. Additionally, there is agreement among some educational researchers that increasing opportunities for engaging in computational thinking can lend authenticity to classroom activities. This…

Reforms such as the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) call for substantial change in teacher practice such as instruction that is more phenomenon-based, three-dimensional, supportive of student epistemic agency, and coherent from the student perspective. Such change requires ongoing support in the form of aligned curricular materials and…

The Framework for K-12 Science Education set an ambitious goal of broadening participation in science learning for all students. Meeting this vision will involve supporting teachers in making meaningful connections with the cultural and linguistic resources their students bring to school; in essence, developing pedagogies that frame these…

This study uses state-level staffing data to analyze the five-year career trajectories of all 231 first-year secondary science teachers in New Jersey who began teaching during the 2010-2011 school year. The person-position framework for studying teacher retention is introduced in this analysis, and the authors present a case for the importance of…

Learning progressions (LPs) serve as frameworks for understanding the level of complexity of students' ideas within a domain. Multifaceted LPs contain multiple interrelated constructs where increased knowledge in one construct may increase knowledge of a separate construct. While it is challenging to identify and test these contingencies between…

We report on the development of a rubric to reliably qualify and score responses to the "Views of Nature of Science Questionnaire" (VNOS): The "VNOS Analysis and Scoring Rubric" (VAScoR). The "VAScoR" is designed to (a) provide systematic guidance for the qualitative analysis, and score assignment to nuanced…