BLAINE - Passing a state science test isn't a graduation requirement yet, but teachers in the Blaine School District are taking every opportunity to ensure students can be successful when it is.
For the past several years, district teachers have been part of grant programs that focus on improving science teaching practices so student achievement in the subject increases. Most recently, district science teachers have been working with Western Washington University instructors through a grant program called College Readiness in Science Partnership, or CRISP.
It appears to be working: Last spring the district had the highest passing rate in the county on the 10th-grade state science test.
Through the grant program, the middle and high school science teachers, under the leadership of high school chemistry teacher Mike Couto and seventh-grade science and math teacher Sheri Jansma, have been working together to examine each other's teaching styles and lessons. Teachers from both school levels have been meeting every few weeks, and with the assistance of WWU instructors, they have been reviewing student work, brainstorming ways to reach struggling students and aligning lessons across grades so work in 12th grade is building upon lessons from sixth grade.
Teachers also have been released from their own classrooms periodically to observe a fellow science teacher's methods, allowing them to pick up new tips as well as offer constructive feedback.
"It's a huge level of trust to invite another teacher into your classroom," said longtime Blaine Middle School science teacher Sheri Jansma, who was a teacher science coach a few years ago. "But it's probably been the most helpful."
And if test scores are any indication, the work science teachers have been doing is impacting students.
Over the last five years, the percentage of students across the district passing the state science test has been increasing.
On the 2011 spring test, about 67 percent of district 10th-graders passed the test, the highest district-level passing rate in the county. That's more than double the percentage of students who passed in 2007.
Even larger gains were made in the fifth grade, where about 27 percent of students passed in 2007 and nearly 67 percent passed in 2011.
And it's not only the number of students passing the test that's increasing; the number of students earning the highest score possible also has been increasing. About a quarter of fifth-graders earned the top grade on the 2011 spring test; none earned it in 2007. Nearly a third of eighth-graders earned the top score in 2011 compared to about 10 percent in 2007.
But progress in science achievement can be seen in more than test scores. The sheer number of students taking higher-level science classes at the high school has steadily increased.
When Couto started seven years ago, there were three chemistry classes and they were partially full. Now there are four chemistry classes, all with more than 30 students, plus AP chemistry, AP biology and AP environmental science.
"Before students would get to biology, maybe, and call it good," said Blaine High School Principal Scott Ellis. "We're a school with 600 kids, and to have the offerings we have and to be full is a testament."
"It stems back to the work in middle school and getting more foundation and understanding of the subject," Couto added.
And while elementary teachers haven't been part of the grant, Jansma has been noticing students entering middle school with more science background, due to those teachers placing more of an emphasis on a subject that is frequently pushed aside at that age level.
One way teachers have been trying to make sure students are actually learning the information, rather than going through the motions, is with a focus on learning targets. The idea is that a teacher will write on the board a statement about what students are supposed to get out of the day's lesson. Then throughout the class session, students are regularly directed back to the learning target and reflect on whether they've met it or not.
It may seem like a simple idea, but it has been helping, Couto said.
"Old-school teachers just talk, and if you're a good student, you developed a strategy on your own to determine what you need to learn," Couto said. "Rather than make it a secret that a student needs to discover, why not just tell them what they're supposed to learn?"
But the challenge comes in getting struggling students to "reflect on their understanding," Jansma said.
"I see the value in it," Jansma said. "But it's hard to get kids who struggle to move forward with it."
Another challenge arises at the middle school level, with students being tested by the state only at the end of their time. Jansma and other middle school science teachers have been developing trimester tests that specifically target areas students will face on the Measurements of Student Progress exam at the end of eighth grade.
With the classroom assessments the same across each grade level, teachers can meet and then break students into small groups based on ability, and then tailor lessons for individual students as well as classrooms as a whole.
Even though the CRISP grant is in its third and final year, Couto and Jansma are hopeful the district science teachers will still work as a group, possibly incorporating elementary teachers in the future.
"I believe it's the best model for professional development in schools," Couto said about groups of teachers working together as a team. "It's the best bang for your buck when trying to improve practices in the building."
