AN ANALYSIS OF SCIENCE INSTRUCTIONAL BELIEFS AND ACT SCIENCE ACHIEVEMENT

Abstract

Preparing secondary students for the ACT Science assessment requires giving them a skill set of reasoning that can be developed over the course of several school years. Much of this development depends on the science instruction that takes place in classrooms. Because the ACT Science assessment is not based on any single discipline or course, it is up to school science teachers collectively to prepare students with the necessary skill sets. This study used the Teacher Beliefs about Effective Science Teaching (TBEST) questionnaire as a measurement of instruction taking place in science classrooms. The questionnaire served two purposes: to measure teacher beliefs in relation to science instructional Learning Theory and to measure alignment of beliefs among science teachers. The factors of beliefs corresponding to science instruction Learning Theory and the alignment of beliefs between science teachers were statistically compared to ACT Science achievement. Teachers from four schools in a southeastern United States school district participated in the study. Results of the study showed similar beliefs about science instruction among teachers in each school’s science department and between schools in the school district. The results also indicated that the school district experienced growth in ACT Science achievement over the course of three years. The sample size of the study, however, hindered identification of a correlation between teacher beliefs about science instruction and ACT Science achievement.