Teacher/Faculty Surveys

Instrument 14: Teacher Survey For Grades K-8 Science

Project: Surveys of Enacted Curriculum
Council of Chief State School Officers

Funding Source: NSF: EHR

Purpose: To provide education policymakers, administrators, and teachers with comparative information on math and science instruction

Administered To: K-8 teachers whose school districts are participating in the Mathematics and Science Partnership Program

Topics Covered:

• Demographics (Student): gender, ethnicity, language spoken
• Implementation Activities: content, method, activities, curriculum/materials, equipment/technology, professional development activities
• Institutional Context: length of school year
• Learning Environment/Classroom: class size, classroom organization, number of instructional hours
• Lesson/Curriculum Plan: learning environment, methods, content, activities

Format/Length: 901 closed-ended items

SURVEYS OF ENACTED CURRICULUM

Teacher Survey
For
Grades K-8
Science

Thank you for agreeing to participate in this survey on science and mathematics instruction. The enclosed survey is part of a collaborative effort to provide education policymakers, administrators, and most importantly, teachers like yourself with comparative information about mathematics and science instruction in districts participating in the Mathematics and Science Partnership Program. To learn more about the surveys of enacted curriculum and their use in other projects, please visit the project website; http://www.ccsso.org/sec.html

Your participation in this survey is voluntary. If you choose to participate, all of your responses will be kept confidential. No one outside of the research team will have access to your responses, nor will any individual responses be shared with staff in your school, district or state. No individuals will be identified in any of the reports. The questionnaire poses no risk to you and there is no penalty for refusal to participate. You may withdraw from the study simply by returning the questionnaire without completing it, without penalty or loss of services or benefits to which you would be otherwise entitled.

If you have any questions regarding your rights as a research participant, please contact the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Education's Human Subjects Committee office at (608) 262-2463.

A joint project of the Council of Chief State School Officers, the American Institutes for Research and the Wisconsin Center for
Education Research, with funding support from the National Science Foundation.

The following pages request information regarding students in the target Science class for the 2002-2003 school year (last school year).

Please read each question and the possible responses carefully, and then mark your response by filling in the appropriate circle in the response section. A pen or pencil may be used to complete the survey.

SCHOOL DESCRIPTION
1	Which of these categories best describes the way classes at this school are organized?			Departmentalized Instruction
				Taught by Subject Area Specialist (non-departmental)
				Self-contained
				Team taught
2	If your school is departmentalized, or you are a subject area specialist, how many different Science courses do you currently teach?		(Number of courses taught)
TARGET CLASS DESCRIPTION Selecting the Target Class-- For all questions about instructional content and practices, please refer only to activities in the Science class that you teach. If you teach more than one Science class, select the first class that you teach each week.
3	Which term best describes the target class, or course, you are teaching?			Other		Earth Science
				Elem..Middle. Sch Sci.		Biology
				General Science		Chemistry
				Life Science		Physics
				Physical Science		Coordinated/Integrated

4	Indicate the grade level of the majority of students in the target class.	K	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12

5	How many students are in the target class?			10 or less							21 to 25
				11 to 15							26 to 30
				16 to 20							31 or more
6	What percentage of the students in the target class are female? (Estimate to the nearest ten percent.)
	Less than 10				10	20	30	40	50	60	70	80	90+ %
7	What percentage of the students in the target class are not Caucasian? (Estimate to the nearest ten percent.)
	Less than 10				10	20	30	40	50	60	70	80	90+ %
8	During a typical week, approximately how many hours will the target class spend in Science instruction?
			(Number of instructional hours)
9	What is the average length of each class period for this targeted Science class?			Not applicable						51 to 60 minutes
				30 to 40 minutes						61 to 90 minutes
				41 to 50 minutes						91 to 120 minutes
				Varies due to block scheduling or integrated instruction
10	How many weeks total will the target Science class/course meet for this school year?
		Total # weeks =				1 to 12			13 to 24			25 to 36
11	Estimate the achievement level of the majority of students in the target class, based on national standards.			High Achievement Levels
				Average Achievement Levels
				Low Achievement Levels
				Mixed Levels of Achievement
12	What percentage of students in the target class are Limited English Proficient (LEP)? (Estimate to the nearest ten percent.)
	Less than 10				10	20	30	40	50	60	70	80	90+ %
13	What is considered most in scheduling students into this class?			Ability or Achievement						Parent Request
				Limited English Proficiency						No one factor more than another
				Teacher Recommendation						Student selects
Please read the instructions on the next two pages carefully before proceeding.

Step 1; Indicate topics not covered in this class.

Begin by reviewing the entire list of topics identified in the topics column of each table, noting how topics are grouped. After reviewing each topic within a given grouping, if none of the topics listed within that group receive any instructional coverage, circle the "<none>" in the "Time on Topic" column for that group. For any individual topic which is not covered in this science class, fill in the circled "zero" in the "Time on Topic" column. (Not necessary for those groups with "<none>" circled.) Any topics or topic groups so identified will not require further response. [Note, for example, that the class described in the example below did not cover any topics under "Science and Technology" and so "<none>" is circled.]

Step 2; Indicate amount of time spent on each topic covered in this class.

Examine the list of topics a second time. This time note the amount of coverage devoted to each topic by filling in the appropriately numbered circle in the "Time on Topic" column, based upon the following codes:

Step 3; Indicate relative emphases of each student expectation for every topic taught.

The final step in completing this section of the survey concerns your expectations for what students should know and be able to do. For each topic area, please provide information about the relative amount of instructional time spent on work designed to help students reach each of the listed expectations by filling in the appropriately numbered circle using the response codes listed below. (Note: To the left of each content sheet you will find a list of descriptors for each of the five expectations for students.)

Council of Chief State School Officers
Wisconsin Center for Education Research

Instructional Content
For
Grades K-8
Science

The content matrix that follows contains lists of discrete topics associated with Science instruction. The categories and the level of specificity are intended to gather information about content across a wide variety of programs. It is not intended to reflect any recommended or prescribed content for the grade level and may or may not be reflective of your local curriculum. The following pages request information regarding topic coverage and your expectations for students in the target Science class for the 2002-2003 school year (last school year).

Step 1: Indicate topics not covered in this class

Begin by reviewing the entire list of topics identified in the topics column of each table, noting how topics are grouped. After reviewing each topic within a given grouping, if none of the topics listed within that group receive any instructional coverage, circle the "<none>" in the "Time on Topic" column for that group. For any individual topic which is not covered in this Science class, fill in the circled "zero" in the "Time on Topic" column. (Not necessary for those groups with "<none>" circled.) Any topics or topic group so identified will not require further response. [Note, for example, that the class described in the example below did not cover any topics under "Instructional Technology" and so "<none>" is circled.]

Step 2: Indicate the amount of time spent on each topic covered in this class

Examine the list of topics a second time. This time note the amount of coverage devoted to each topic by filling in the appropriately numbered circle in the "Time on Topic" column based upon the following codes:

Step 3: Indicate relative emphasis of each student expectation for every topic taught

The final step in completing this section of the survey concerns your expectations for what students should know and be able to do. For each topic area, please provide information about the relative amount of instructional time spent on work designed to help students reach each of the listed expectations by filling in the appropriately numbered circle using the response codes listed below. (Note: To the left of each content sheet, you will find a list of descriptors for each of the five expectations for students.)

Expectations for Students in Science