Exceptional Outcomes in Science EducationEncouraging cohorts of students of varying abilities to achieve in science requires sustained and collaborative effort from students, parents, teachers and the senior executive in a school. By harnessing their energies to form a `united front' based around shared goals and values the collective creates a learning environment that assists all students achieve their best. While available research identifies the important contribution provided by each of these groups to the learning process, many of these studies overlook the subtle interconnections and complex interplay that exists in a `working' school. The findings from the study presented in this book address this latter point by exploring in a holistic manner the factors producing outstanding outcomes in science for low, middle and high achieving students. These emerged from thorough observations of classroom practice; intensive interviews with teachers, parents, principals, and students; and, detailed analyses of school and faculty documentation in six government high schools in metropolitan, rural and coastal regions of NSW. [Back cover]. |
