English Language Arts | Fine Arts | Foreign Language | Health | Math | Phys Ed | Science | Social Studies | Technology | Advanced Learner

New York State Compact for Learning

The goal of the Byram Hills Elementary Science Program is to foster a spirit of inquisitiveness and guided inquiry in the science classroom, through a flexible, interdisciplinary curriculum focusing on student understanding. As a result, science classrooms and extensions of the classroom will resemble laboratories, field research sites, science museums, or workshops where all students ...

• are given the time and support to acquire an understanding of basic, developmentally appropriate science concepts in physical, life, earth and environmental sciences incorporating technology and mathematics where appropriate.
• take part in a variety of motivating, hands-on, student-centered learning experiences that engage them intellectually and that are relevant to their present and future lives.
• develop higher order thinking skills and apply these skills in making decisions and solving problems.
• access, evaluate, process and communicate scientific data and information from a variety of sources.
• learn to ask questions and to answer them using scientific methods of inquiry, both independently and in cooperative groups, while appreciating the fact that multiple pathways and answers are acceptable.
• develop a respect for the role one can play in maintaining and/or improving the quality of their immediate environment.
• are assessed using a variety of strategies including portfolios, process assessment, pencil-and-paper tests, projects, exhibitions, journals, class work, and homework.

New York State Compact for Learning

The mission of the Byram Hills Elementary School District is to embrace those strategies that will make the vision of the elementary science program a reality. The basic strategies for support can be divided into four major areas: science curriculum development; staff development and empowerment; assessment development; and materials and resource management and coordination.

Science Curriculum Development

In the area of science curriculum, the district is committed to developing a realistic science curriculum that...

• clearly articulates the content and skills that will be taught in a spiraled fashion from kindergarten through fourth grade ensuring that all students will be prepared to meet the demands of science in middle school and high school.
• emphasizes depth over breadth of content coverage, enabling students to understand new fundamental concepts each year.
• ensures that knowledge is acquired through an inquiry-based approach where students learn to construct their own understanding through developmentally appropriate experiences.
• ensures that students learn to select and use scientific tools and equipment properly.
• ensures that science is integrated with language arts, social studies, math, art, music and technology where and when appropriate.
• affords flexibility in the ways in which the specified curriculum can be implemented at each grade.

Meaningful reform efforts require a major investment of time and energy in order to increase teacher confidence and understanding as well as to ensure teacher ownership of the reform efforts. Therefore the district is committed to ...

• ensuring that the nature of the professional development is sufficient to transform both the spirit and practice of science instruction.
• strengthening and increasing teachers' scientific knowledge base.
• extending and enhancing teachers' repertoire of teaching methodologies, curriculum development skills, assessment development skills, and classroom management techniques.
• providing opportunities for teachers to work collaboratively to create and perfect science learning experiences consistent with the vision of the science program.
• providing staff development in a variety of ways including team teaching, modeling in and out of classrooms, and mentoring.

The district is committed to ensuring that assessment of student performance...

• is as authentic as possible, representing real-world tasks and situations requiring creative and critical thinking skills.
• provides multiple ways for students to demonstrate their skills and understandings such as portfolios, process assessment, pencil-and-paper tests, projects, exhibitions, journals, class work, and homework.
• provides opportunities for students to reflect on their own work, as well as the work of their peers.
• enables teachers to assess the effectiveness of the science program, as well as student growth in a cumulative, longitudinal fashion using many kinds of evidence

In order to provide for the types of learning experiences described in the vision statement, the district is committed to ...

• designing or adopting instructional materials that create the desired environment for inquiry-based learning.
• ensuring that appropriate equipment and materials are accessible to teachers in the form of science kits for each grade and an open stock room for easy access to materials needed on a spontaneous basis.
• ensuring that ancillary materials such as trade books, magazines, computer software, multimedia products and field trips are correlated with the new science curriculum and made available.
• looking to older students, community members, businesses and governmental agencies as valuable resources for enhancing the science learning experiences of students.
• developing an ongoing program for materials management in the district.