NSSSA Annual Holiday Meeting: You're Invited!

Please join us for the annual North Shore Science Supervisors Association's Holiday Party on January 22nd!

The holiday party will be held at the Sheraton Colonial Boston North Hotel (on the Lynnfield / Wakefield line) and will begin promptly at 4:00 PM.

This event is being sponsored by Glencoe and is free to NSSSA members. If you are attending please consider completing this RSVP. While not required it will help us gauge what amount of members plan to attend so we can plan dinner and refreshments accordingly!

If you ha​​ve not yet paid your annual membership this year please bring your dues to the banquet. The cost is $15 for active members and $5 for retirees.

Don't miss this opportunity to reconnect with your fellow science education leaders and start 2015 off right. We look forward to seeing you there.

Invitation from Melrose Public Schools to Join "Job-Alike" Meeting Discussing DDMs in Science

NSSSA member Julie Shea of the Melrose Public Schools has invited all NSSSA members to join a "Job-Alike" meeting hosted by Melrose to discuss district determined measures, or DDMs as part of their involvement with the SEEM Collaborative. The purpose of the job-alike is to provide support in curriculum, instruction, and assessment by participating districts by sharing resources among the departments and districts.

The meeting will be on Tuesday, January 27th at 3:00 PM at Melrose High School (360 Lynn Fells Parkway, Melrose, MA) in the newly renovated science labs. We have arranged a snow date for Tuesday, February 3rd. The meeting is open to science directors, chairs, and curriculum coordinators at any grade level. We ask participants to bring at least one DDM being used by their district including any accompanying rubrics. To facilitate collaboration, please bring five copies. Participants will be invited to a DropBox folder where additional DDM’s can be shared. We also ask you to bring your calendars so that we can plan subsequent meetings.

If you would plan to attend to this meeting (or want to be involved in future meetings) you may contact Julie Shea directly please by email with your name, position, school district, phone number, and email.

David Lyons Inducted into Massachusetts Science Teacher Hall of Fame

 Former NSSSA President, David Lyons, was honored during the annual MAST/MSELA award banquet as the newest member of the Massachusetts Science Teacher Hall of Fame.


David retired from public education in June of 2010 after several years with the Revere Public Schools as both a science teacher and a science curriculum coordinator. David was inducted with the help from another former NSSSA President, Harriet Page, who had this to say about David in her speech:

I am very pleased that David M. Lyons, EdD, will be inducted tonight into the Massachusetts Hall of Fame for Science Educators. I have known David for many years and have served with him in numerous ways that have revolved around supporting and improving science education in Massachusetts. 

I have worked with David over the years back when I was President of North Shore Science Supervisors Association and when he was President of NSSSA and we continue to work together presently as we serve on this organization’s Board of Directors- in striving to keep this association alive and vibrant- in an era when it is much more difficult to motivate science educators to come out and participate in organizations of this type.  

I had also worked with David when the “old” Massachusetts Science Supervisors Association held yearly state conventions and David always volunteered to be a presenter at the conventions. But- besides participating in the conventions himself, he also made sure, as the Science Curriculum Director for the Revere Public Schools, that funding was available for several of his K-12 science faculty to attend these conventions which he knew would “sow the seed” for these teachers to think about involving themselves in science education on a broader level beyond just their local district. 

David has expanded his desire to support Massachusetts science teachers through his business- Lyons Educational Consulting Services. He enthusiastically helps to develop competent new Massachusetts science teachers via his role as Senior Science instructor at Cambridge College. Evidence to his success in this endeavor- I worked with one of David’s new science teachers in my DESE Summer Chemistry Institute in July and this young teacher shouted praises about how much David’s mentoring has helped shape her into a much more competent biology teacher and how he has continued to be supportive to her in her classroom well past their formal mentorship period. 

For all of the reasons that I have just mentioned and many more, it makes me very happy to see David Lyons inducted tonight into the Massachusetts Hall of Fame for Science Educators.

Congratulations to David and a thank you from the entire NSSSA membership for his years of service and fellowship!

Reminder: MSELA / MAST Conference This Week!

This is just a reminder that the MAST/MSELA Conference is being held this week at the Boxborough Inn. The MSELA President, Wendell Cerne, who joined us for our fall meeting was kind enough to also pass along the agenda for the MSELA portion of the event, in hopes that you might join your fellow science leaders while there for one or more of their sessions. You can still register for this event if interested, just follow the link shared above.

The MSELA agenda has been published below for your convenience. Also, keep your eyes peeled for more information in regards to the NSSSA holiday meeting, as always courteously held after the busy holiday season!

Massachusetts Science Standards Update

Former NSSSA President, David Lyons and retired NSSSA member, John Papadonis attended both the recent STEM Summit in Worcester and a Science Standards Colloquium hosted by Cambridge College at the Museum of Science. There they took in a presentation by DESE's Assistant Director of STEM, Jacob Foster, whose presentation slides have been shared below. In addition, David Lyons has been kind enough to share his notes from this presentation and our fall meetings roundtable discussion on the revised science standards.

Timeline:

• Expected ratification Fall 2015
• MCAS change 2-3 years after ratification, but high school may take longer (due to competency determination).

The Big Picture:

• 32% of currently advertised jobs in Massachusetts are for STEM fields.
• 60% of jobs that pay more than 60 thousand/year are in STEM.

We need to begin now to prepare students for these future jobs! Rather than focusing on the specifics of a Biology course, Career and College readiness means having students not only learn, but use relevant science and engineering practices, relevant scientific reasoning and relevant math.

Scientists and engineers basically use the same skills (with only their purpose and product being different). In the new standards content and practice are now integrated, which, hopefully, will lead to greater interest.

We need to address student misperceptions at all grade levels. All students are taught about photosynthesis, but do they actually know how a tree becomes a tree? We don't simply want students to know facts, our goal is for students to be able to interpret and explain the natural world.

The Implications 

1. Relevance-there is a shift from learning facts to explaining phenomena
2. Rigor- standards include practice with content, inquiry-based practices
3. Coherence- learning builds across time and across disciplines

One paradigm shift is to student directed learning. We want our students to be able to argue from evidence. To quote Scott Morrison, "seeing is not doing, participation is not ownership!"

Engineering is not just a simple application of science (old standards). For engineering practices we want our students to Ask, Imagine, Plan, Create, and Improve (just like in the real world).

Specifics:

• New standards articulate desired student performance.
• New standards do not define how you teach. 
• New standards feature a change in the verbs (moving away from Bloom's) 
• New standards will be linked over time, connected, with increasing sophistication.

Old standards: (relative to photosynthesis) paraphrased, and compared to the new.

Grade band 3-5: Describe how energy from the Sun.....
Grade band 6-8: Recognize that producers.......
High School: Identify the reactants, products and purposes.........

New standards: 

Grade 5: Support an argument that plants......... 
Middle School: Develop a model to describe........
High School: Use a model to illustrate how photosynthesis......

• Pre k-8 will now be grade specific (unlike prior bands) 
• Pre k-5 practically mirror Next Generation standards, so Jake explained that aligned resources should be much easier to find.

Jake advised not to keep both sets of standards, but to start using Next Gen now (pre k-5).

Districts are encouraged to have integrated curriculum, but they will not be mandated to do it. Middle school should be spiral, as this is the format of the new standards (but not mandated).

Middle school decisions to be made:

• Do you spiral or continue the layer cake (Earth/Space-Life-Physical)?
• How do you handle content-specific teachers? 

Assessment: 

The schedule of MCAS exams is not expected to change (no grade to grade test). There will probably be a different look to the test because the present test does not assess practice.
DESE will be watching the PARCC to gauge how the science tests will change because to conform to the new standards there needs to be a performance assessment.
The high school standards are for introductory 9th and 10th grade courses.

Every district determines their own pathway. There is an overall reduction in the scope of high school standards. High school standards feature an overlap in STEM and ELA standards.

"Pu Pu Platter" Fall Meeting Brings Colleagues Together

This past Thursday over thirty members and guests braved the fall nor'easter and came together at the Kowloon restaurant in Saugus for a variety of roundtable discussions at the NSSSA 2014 fall meeting. The "pu pu platter" of discussions coalesced around three major themes, the draft revised science standards for Massachusetts, 21st century lab spaces, and integrating the arts into our STEM disciplines, transforming STEM into STE'A'M.

MSELA President, Wendell Cerne and NSSSA President, Frank Woods

Members were encouraged to bring fellow teacher leaders from their district as guests, diversifying the conversation and broadening perspectives. NSSSA was also honored with the presence of MSELA President, Wendell Cerne who traveled from Duxbury to attend and was inspired by the organization's turnout and rich discussions.

Our next meeting will be our annual holiday event which will be held in January (details coming soon!) We hope even more members will attend and that the NSSSA will eventually host an event on an afternoon with fair weather!

NSSSA Presents Joe Tarello with Lifetime Achievement Award

Along with the Outstanding Science Teacher awards handed out at last week's NSSSA annual awards banquet, a surprise honor was bestowed upon Somerville High School teacher, Joe Tarello for his incredible commitment to science education over the past 50 years in the Somerville Public Schools.
Several Somerville teachers and science supervisors were on hand for this historic occasion. Joe was surprised by the recognition, though he kept graceful composure throughout as a number of Joe's past and present leaders and students spoke personally about his impact on their lives and the students who were fortunate enough to take his courses.

Joe Tarello has been teaching at Somerville High School for 50 years. Joe graduated from SHS and then stared his long teaching career in September of 1964. In the years that followed, Joe has had students who have gone on to become congressmen, pilots, surgeons, and even fellow teachers at SHS. Joe has been an instrumental figure in the proliferation of Science Fair in Massachusetts. He started hosting the Region IV Science Fair at Somerville High School in 1976 and the Regional Fair is still held there each March. Joe also brought students to the International Science Fair for more than 10 years. Joe brought the very first AP class (AP Chemistry) to Somerville in 1978 and has been teaching chemistry at Bunker Hill Community College since that time. During the summers, Joe has trained teachers all over the country. In all his years of teaching, he has never grown tired of working with the students. Seeing his students succeed is what gives Joe the energy to keep coming back year after year. Joe has touched the lives of well over 5,000 students and he has no plans of retiring and for that, we are thankful. -Karen Woods, Science Department Chair

The NSSSA congratulates Mr. Tarello on his incredible achievements as a science educator over his illustrious tenure and look forward to hearing more about his future achievements, for Joe has yet to indicate when he intends to retire!

NSSSA Recognizes Outstanding Science Educators at 2014 Awards Banquet

Another year of science leadership is in the books as the NSSSA celebrated the 2013-2014 academic year at the Danversport Yacht Club on Thursday, May 1st. There was plenty to celebrate about the success of the organization, but all was overshadowed by the recognition of five outstanding science educators from across the region.

Tim Hawkins - Andover Public Schools

Tim Harkins is an elementary teacher at West Elementary School in Andover, MA. He has taught 2nd grade for the past 3 years after teaching 5th grade at the same school for the previous seven years. Tim is known across the Andover School District for his innovative use of technology in his science lessons and his leadership role training Andover teachers how to more fully integrate technology into their instruction in all disciplines. He’s been an active member on the district’s science curriculum councils in the past and his work has helped to shape the elementary science program for the past decade. Tim contributed to the development of the nationally recognized Engineering Is Elementary for which he piloted many of the program resources and has worked closely with the Museum of Science developers since the program's beginning. Tim has his fingerprints on most things related to elementary science in Andover and was nominated for this award because his past contributions and his capacity to grow into a broader leadership role in local and regional STEM elementary education. -Steve Sanborn, PreK-12 Science Program Advisor

Aemi Herrera - Lynn Vocational Technical Institute

Ms. Herrera's approach to all her ELL Science classes are inquiry based. Ms. Herrera goes beyond the school and the text book requirements for her classroom lessons and the activities. Ms. Herrera spends hours after school to prepare the right lab or activity for her students. Ms. Herrera’s approach to all her curriculums comes from her very organized manner of foreseeing the steps to work with different levels of ELL students. Ms. Herrera has wonderfully divided the subject areas into many small lessons and activities, and she has identified all her students needs; she therefore, teaches based on her students’ needs. Ms. Herrera’s students willingly attend afterschool tutoring sessions and they truly appreciate their teacher’s hard work and passion about science. We are very lucky to have Aemi Herrera as our ELL science teacher. -Banafsheh Salamat, Science Department Head

Anita Mason - Burlington Public Schools

Anita exemplifies the meaning of an outstanding science educator in the elementary classroom. Her excitement and dedication to science rises above and beyond. She is a leader in understanding the importance of the science standards and their reinforcement with hands-on science activities. Despite the increasing pressure and time constraints, Anita always finds the time to engages kids with practicing real science (live animals, engineering design process, magnets, sound, and light explorations, pellet dissections and worm bins.) She is always looking to try new activities to teach her students about the world around them and regularly teaches them how science is a part of their everyday lives. She also encourages her students to practice their science observation skills while outside of school and at home. She trains her students to focus on thinking science and doing science. Anita holds her students to high expectations and gets great results. Anita is always eager to share her ideas, activities, and experiments with her school community and the Science Center. She has been a lifelong learner and has regularly attended conferences and PD opportunities to increase her science skills and knowledge. Above all Anita Mason is a caring, competent and quality science teacher and we are fortunate to have her in Burlington!  -Wendy Pavlicek, K-5 Science Director

Don Pinkerton - Revere Public Schools

Don Pinkerton is in his fifth year as an educator at Revere High School. In this time Don has had a significant impact on the lives of students and the quality of science education at RHS. He currently teaches Freshman Biology and Biotechnology. He is passionate, curious, and knowledgeable about science. He is tireless and has developed strong and lasting relationships with students. Don is a sharing colleague, whose love for our student’s diversity and resiliency has grown to where he is among their greatest advocates. He is currently taking classes that will further his ability to meet their diverse learning styles. Don fought for and successfully restored the school’s science team, part of the North Shore Science League. The team is now a vibrant part of the community. For the first time in the history of the North Shore Science League, RHS hosted a meet which was a tremendous success. Don has developed a fruitful relationship with the Harvard Life Science Outreach Program. This has provided technical and material assistance. He frequently heads out to Cambridge to pick up materials for the next day’s inquiry lab. He is a big supporter of science fair and has served as a judge at the regional fair. He has participated in numerous workshops and is a member of several professional organizations including the Massachusetts Marine Educators. He frequently attends lectures at the Broad Institute at MIT and at Harvard University. No one in the department does better at soliciting others to participate in extracurricular science activities than Mr. Pinkerton. Don is a critical piece in the success of the Revere High School science department and the future of our students. Colleagues such as Don ensure a bright future for science at Revere High School. -David Eatough, Science Supervisor for Revere Public Schools

The NSSSA congratulations all of our outstanding science educators and look forward to seeing them at our events next year as honorary members. The NSSSA would also like to thank Wheelabrator Technologies of Saugus for sponsoring our award plaques and Pearson Education for sponsoring the banquet.

2013-2014 Holiday Event Recap

Despite the rescheduling around wintry conditions, this year's holiday party was well attended and a great opportunity for science leaders to share news and information about science education in their districts. As an honored guest and speaker for the evening, DESE Director of Science, Engineering and Technology, Jake Foster shared more about the drafted revised science, technology and engineering standards recently released to the public.

Mr. Foster started by outlining the unique time frame the state’s newly drafted standards and by and large the value it presented to districts looking forward to science, technology and engineering standards revisions. With “no public survey planned until the 2015-2016 academic year” districts “may choose what to do” when it came to deciding in what way and how quickly to move forward. When asked if changes were likely, Foster responded by stating that it is firmly believed that the standards are “structurally sound.” While Foster expects “some tweaking after feedback, no major shifts are anticipated with some exception in regards to the high school expectations and college/career readiness.”

When confronted on the cool feedback from some districts regarding the middle school spiral curriculum, Foster emphasized that the standards crafters wished to keep “as much consistent with the NGSS as possible.” Foster acknowledged that, “the state never makes you do anything… except take MCAS (to which there were slight chuckles), and the assessment is expected to remain an end of band assessment with no mandate or money for any form of grade by grade testing.” Foster insisted districts could “do what they want but the state had to do something” and that the spiral format has been designed “with overarching themes such as structure and function, systems, and cause and effect at each grade level.” Foster noted that while districts appeared to be roughly split 50/50 in regards to spiraling or sandwiched curriculum, but “the vast majority of kids in Massachusetts are taught in integrated systems” with sandwiched districts being smaller in overall population. Therefore the adoption of a spiral curriculum was ultimately selected to stay as true to NGSS as possible and to “nudge” the state toward standards that would help ease the challenges faced by transitional students.

When testing was brought up towards the end of the Q&A, Foster applauded the audience for waiting so long to introduce the question before answering it, then went on to emphasize that the practices built into the standards would be exactly that, integrated into the assessment and “always in the context of the content.” When asked what that looked like, Foster admitted that conversation was one that still needed to be fully had, and that he and others responsible for assessment development were watching the PARCC closely, expecting that “what happens with PARCC will reveal a lot” and that while no transition plan has been outlined for any switch between the MCAS and PARCC, any such switch would “likely be modeled on ELA and math transitions.”

Lastly, Foster asked that we as science leaders help him carry the message to our fellow educators that the new standards and embedded practices does not imply that science classrooms become those of full inquiry. Foster recognized that it is implied that the standards be attainable in one academic year, given that skills leading up to that year have been practiced. Foster also recognized that there were some instances, particularly in math where a science teacher may have to “teach some math where it is introduced” but also emphasized that overall "there is strong overlap," particularly with ELA common core and its inclusion of informational texts.

Jake reminded and encouraged everyone to use the tools provided by the DESE when developing curriculum, district determined measures or other initiatives, identifying the concept map as a particularly valuable tool for better visualizing learning progressions and connections between content and scientific concepts. A link to these resources has been provided here.