Teachers’ Perceived Knowledge and Practices in Science Instruction with ELL Students
The items for this scale asked teachers to rate their level of knowledge in teaching the eight science topics according to the state science content standards (see Table 6). Cronbach a for the score of this scale was .95, indicating strong reliability. The mean for this scale was 2.81, indicating that teachers reported they were generally knowledgeable about science topics at their grade level. Teachers’ responses were largely consistent across the science topics, ranging from the mean of 2.74 for the topic of force and motion to the mean of 2.92 for the topic of processes of life. Teachers’ self-reported practices for teaching science while supporting English language development of ELL students are presented in Table 7. These scales had fewer respondents because only teachers who were teaching science when the survey was administered were asked to answer these items. Faculty departmentalization at
certain grade levels and in certain schools meant that some teachers were not asked to teach science during some academic years. As a result, we included only those teachers teaching science during this particular school year for this analysis. The scales included scientific understanding, scientific inquiry, traditional/conventional practices in teaching science, use of ESOL strategies, and use of ELL students’ home language. Cronbach a for the scores of these scales ranged from .71 (acceptable but fairly low) to .86 (strong). The mean for the scale of teaching science for understanding was 2.90 and the mean for inquiry was 2.86, indicating that teachers claimed that they taught science to promote students’ understanding and inquiry in most science lessons. In some lessons, they taught science using traditional/ conventional approaches (M = 2.32). They reported that they used ESOL strategies to promote English language development in only some of the science lessons, (M = 2.04) and used ELL students’ home languages in few lessons (M = 1.85).
Organizational Supports and Barriers in Teaching Science for Student Diversity
Teachers’ perceptions of organizational supports for teaching science are presented in Table 8. The scales included principal support for science, teacher collaboration in science practices, teacher collaboration in science tasks, and teacher discussion of how to address student diversity. Cronbach a for the scores of these scales ranged from .74 to .89, indicating moderate to strong reliability. Teachers generally agreed that their principals supported science instruction (M = 2.90) and that teachers at their schools collaborated for teaching science (M = 2.93). However, teachers infrequently shared teaching materials and activities, assessment tasks, students’ work, or stories about teaching experiences in science (M = 1.60). Furthermore, teachers rarely discussed inclusion of girls, ESE students, ELL students, or culturally diverse students in teaching science (M = .86). As a counterpart to the organizational supports, teachers reported their perceptions of organizational barriers to teaching science (see Table 9). The scales included barriers due to internal characteristics including (a) school-level constraints, (b) school personnel, and (c) students’ poor academic skills. The scales also included barriers due to external forces including (a) statewide assessments and (b) parents, family, and community. Cronbach a for the scores of these scales ranged from .74 to .92, indicating moderate to strong reliability. Teachers reported that emphasis on statewide assessments in reading, writing, and mathematics was a moderate barrier to teaching science (M = 3.06). Similarly, they reported the following as moderate barriers: students’ poor academic skills in reading, writing, and mathematics (M = 2.92); school-level constraints (M = 2.75); and parents, family, and community (M = 2.75). In contrast, teachers reported school personnel as a minor barrier (M = 1.91).