Based on increasing enrollment and budget constraints in many schools across the nation, it is common for the following undesirable conditions to exist for science teachers:
- Science lab / classrooms have more students assigned than “built-in” lab stations;
- Teachers are assigned three or four different lab courses to teach;
- Some of their lab class sizes have reached thirty or more;
- They are teaching in four or five different classrooms during a week;
- Their lab prep room is often more than 200 feet from their lab / classroom;
- Master schedules are developed which do not allow for “team planning” among instructors who teach the same courses.
During this critical period in the history of science education, all of the national and state studies, initiatives, and programs (Project 2061, SS&C, national and state science standards, and Systemic State Initiatives) have strongly advocated an improvement in science teaching pre-k through 16. Progress in science is so important that in 1990, the President and Governors adopted six national goals in education. National Education Goal number four states that:
“by the year 2000, U.S. students will be the first in the world in mathematics and science achievement.”
Science teachers must meet many challenges as they attempt to improve science education and achieve these state and national science goals, and school districts must not place science instructors in conditions which are counterproductive to improving science education. Therefore the National Science Education Leadership Association (NJSELA) advocates the following:
- The number of different lab science courses to an instructor during any academic term should not exceed two.
- The number of students assigned to a science lab class section should not exceed 24 (and may be less depending upon safety occupancy levels and the specific needs of “exceptional students”). It is extremely difficult for one instructor to adequately supervise more than 24 students in a lab setting.
- Teachers should not be assigned a schedule which requires them to teach the same lab science course in two different rooms.
- When considering the lab and lecture aspects of teachers’ assignments, a schedule should be developed which insures that an instructor does not have to use more than two different rooms.
- Teachers should be assigned a lab / classroom that is properly equipped for the specific science course(s) they are expected to teach. For example, a teacher should not have to teach a chemistry course in a lab room that has been designed and equipped for biology.
- A lab prep room should be next to the science lab / classroom. If this is not possible, the prep room should be no more than 760 feet for the science lab / classroom and chemistry teachers should never be assigned to a room that does not have a prep room adjoining it.
Note: Teachers should not have to prepare solutions in one area, place them on a cart, and transport them to other rooms.
- Every lab science course should be designed in such a manner that at least one double period is schedule each week, unless some innovative type of scheduling exists which provides an extended block of time.
Note: One cannot expect a quality hands-on and inquiry-oriented science program unless there are extended periods for students to perform discovery / inquiry lab investigations. It is very difficult to perform quality science investigations in a forty-five minute class period.
- Teachers should be provided with release time or receive a stipend during the summer to help develop the science curriculum. They should not be expected to work on a task of this importance after completing a day of teaching.
- A science schedule should be developed which will allow science teachers to do the following:
- Participate in team planning with their colleagues who teach the same courses;
- Be involved in multidisciplinary team planning with teachers from other curricular areas such as mathematics, social studies, English, and technology.
- Professional development opportunities should be provided for members of the science staff which will enable them to remain abreast of recent developments in science. Emphasis should be placed on a variety of learning styles and instructional strategies such as cooperative learning and assessment alternatives, as well as on laboratory safety, working with diverse classrooms, and the responsibilities of the science teachers.
- Each science lab / classroom should be equipped with at least one computer with appropriate software that supports the objectives of the curriculum.
- Procedures should exist which will allow for prompt replacement or repair of equipment that is damaged or becomes inoperative. Also, the science budget should provide for immediate purchase of consumables and early replacement and maintenance of science equipment.
- Paraprofessional support should be provided (to prepare solutions, assemble apparatus, and perform the safety checks that are listed in the district’s chemical hygiene plan) and provision should be made for the proper disposal of chemicals.
- Science lab classes should be scheduled in rooms that meet all appropriate safety standards.
- Non-science classes should not be scheduled in a science lab / classroom.
- Adequate and secure space must be provided to store science supplies and equipment.
- Financial support and release time should be provided for teachers to participate in their professional association(s) and network with colleagues in other parts of the state / nation.
- If science instructors must be assigned a duty it should be, whenever possible, a duty that involves science and not as an administrative duty such as hall monitor of cafeteria duty.
