Contact: Sammy McDavid
STARKVILLE, Miss.--Two College of Education researchers at Mississippi State are receiving major support from the National Science Foundation to identify characteristics of leading African-American elementary science teachers in Mississippi.
With a nearly $300,000, three-year grant from the federal agency, Linda T. Coats and Jianzhong Xu of the university's department of curriculum and instruction also will be examining the role of mentoring on beginning elementary science teachers and their students.
Coats, interim department head who holds degrees from MSU and Jackson State University, is project investigator; Xu, a professor in the department and graduate of Columbia University's Teachers College, is co-investigator.
They will be working with Mary Davidson of the Mississippi School for Mathematics and Science in Columbus on a project formally titled "Worldviews of Exemplary African-American Science Teachers." Davidson also is an MSU alumna.
"By identifying characteristics of top minority elementary science teachers and by incorporating these characteristics into mentoring beginning elementary science teachers, this research will open a new avenue of theoretical investigation," Coats explained. "We feel, and the NSF agrees, that it can provide new and valuable insights about how best to articulate science disciplines and students' cultural diversity in the schooling.
"It also will promote additional research about how to address the science gap in high-stakes science achievement tests, as well as how to mentor, support and retain beginning teachers in critical shortage areas such as science," she added.
Specifically, Coats said she, Xu and Davidson will be:
--Learning from teachers identified as "exemplary" how to better articulate students' cultural knowledge with science disciplines;
--Expanding the knowledge baseline about the sociocultural context of science learning and culturally relevant science content and teaching skills, as well as the conditions for promoting teaching and learning, particularly for elementary African-American students; and
--Developing a knowledge base about mentoring and supporting beginning science teachers.
Even though the research specifically will deal with Mississippi teachers, a fourth goal will be "to advance an informed national discussion about how to address the science gaps in science achievement tests," said Coats.
"The time for such a discussion is long overdue," she observed.
NEWS EDITORS/DIRECTORS: For more information about the project, contact Dr. Coats at 662-325-2416 or ltc1@ra.msstate.edu.
For more information about Mississippi State University, see http://www.msstate.edu/.