Programs such as SCIS and SAPA and ESS and COPES marked an historical first in science curriculum design for elementary schools. For the first time the development of what we have come to call scientific literacy beginning with the youngest pupils was the focus of national attention. For the first time the nation backed up its interest with national funding. For the first time the very best scientific minds in our top universities began to ask how our children could be prepared for a world that needs not only scientists but citizens capable of dealing with the political, social and economic impact of ongoing scientific progress. For the first time public funds were made available for nationwide curriculum development, testing, revision, retesting and revision with concomitant ongoing teacher training and support of the teacher in the classroom. For the first time teachers were given science lessons that were good science involving hands-on science learning, based on solid psychological principles, and thoroughly tested in diverse classrooms. The major portion of this unique educational experiment took place from about 1965 to 1975.

Science--A Process Approach is an experimental program in elementary school science, Kindergarten through grade six, sponsored by the American Association for the Advancement of Science. The AAAS Commission on Science Education began its work in 1962 with funding from the National Science Foundation. The program was developed by teams consisting of scientists and educators. The Commission’s experiment in science education emphasizes carefully stated and tested behavioral objectives for each lesson and identifies a hierarchy of tasks for achievement of competence in each of eight process skills. This program is highly organized and tightly sequenced. Each exercise was revised until testing showed that 90 percent of the children could acquire a mean of 90 percent of the specified behaviors of each exercise across the entire spectrum of test classrooms.

Basic Ideas:

There are several basic assumptions underlying the SAPA program as well as the other programs found on this CD-ROM. The first is that science can be taught to young children in a way that is faithful to science as an intellectual approach to the world. For the SAPA program, the primary implication of this is that children should learn, not so much the facts which are the outcome of scientific investigation, as the processes used by scientists. There are eight basic processes and five integrated processes taught in the program. The second assumption is that science is best learned by doing science. Hands-on learning is the way to go. The third assumption is that the lessons must take into account the empirical findings of developmental psychology. In the SAPA approach this assumption is treated in a pragmatic way. If a particular lesson cannot meet the 90-90 standard, analysis of the lesson may indicate that the cause may lie in a developmental problem. Revision and rewriting and retesting fixed the deficiency. The SAPA program used the insights of the psychologist Robert Gagne as a guide in the program design. When you use this CD-ROM to examine the SAPA lessons you will notice that each lesson specifies the particular behavioral objectives of that lesson. Each lesson also specifies the competency measures for that lesson. This represents a very scientific way of teaching science. It represents a unique contribution to the teaching of science.

Method of Curriculum Development:

The type of curriculum development initiated by the AAAS Commission on Science Education and other prominent program development teams was without precedent. The scientists who provided leadership were at the top levels in their respective fields and were able to recruit equally knowledgeable experts in developmental psychology, educational testing. and teacher training as well as to involve experienced classroom teachers at every grade level. The funding levels were high enough to guarantee an ongoing cycle of writing, classroom testing, rewriting, retesting, rewriting and finally, widespread implementation. When the first SAPA summer writing session was held at Stamford University in 1963 more than one hundred scientists and educators were involved in the development work for grades K-3. In the school year following the first writing sessions the program was tested in 12 school districts geographically spread across the United States. The following summer the writing teams met again at Stamford University to analyze the results of testing, to rewrite and to produce additional units. This cycle of writing, testing, analysis and rewriting continued through 1968 and involved 22 selected school districts in 14 states.

Materials:

The curriculum development process for SAPA also involved the Xerox Corporation acting as a commercial publishing house helping with the development, packaging and distribution of classroom kits of materials. The logistics of supplying every teacher with all of the items necessary for each lesson proved to be a major challenge. The crucial problem turned out to be the replenishment of consumable items and the ongoing maintenance of the other items in the kits. Ultimately, school districts were successful in long term implementation of the program if they faced this logistics problem by hiring a materials specialist. Another key to successful implementation was a team approach within each school, which involved teachers and administrators.

Long Term Outcomes:

SAPA and other federally funded curriculum projects have continued to influence elementary school science instruction in a variety of ways. Commercial publishers have adapted large portions of the programs into their current curriculum materials. Teachers today use many of the approaches pioneered in the NSF curricula. Many of the science educators preparing teachers in colleges and universities began their own careers teaching these programs in trial schools or working under educators who helped to develop or test the original programs. Before the curriculum leaders produced the science programs you see on this CD-ROM science in the typical elementary school was a textbook subject and the content was a holdover from the nineteenth century. Since curriculum renewal is a recurring necessity, we present you here with a complete copy, 154 resources, of Science --A Process Approach.

/Francis X. Lawlor, Ed.D