Successful research-based strategies for closing student achievement gaps exist not only in science, but also in literacy and mathematics. Dr. Michael Klentschy speaks to the advantages of hands-on inquiry supported by literacy strategies versus a text-only approach to science instruction. He specifically emphasizes strategies related to the science-literacy connection—the use and application of writing in science through science notebooks, language-acquisition strategies for English
Learners and diverse populations, and the importance of class discussions.

He currently conducts educational research studying the longitudinal effects of inquiry-based science education on language-minority populations and with the science-literacy connection, working directly with school districts in North Carolina, Idaho, and Colorado. Mike provides professional development and consultation services to school districts, regional consortia, math-science partnerships (MSP), and science organizations throughout the United States. He served as Superintendent of Schools of the El Centro School District in El Centro, California, from February 1994 to June 2007. He has also held teaching and research roles at San Diego State University and at the University of California–Los Angeles. He received his doctorate degree in educational research and evaluation from the University of California–Los Angeles.

Mike was named Southern California Superintendent of the Year by the Association of California School Administrators in 2001. In November 2004, an international jury in Saint Etienne, France, containing five Nobel laureates, named Klentschy a co-laureate for the inaugural Prix Purkwa (international prize for the scientific literacy of the children of the planet). The National Science Education Leadership Association named him Administrator of the Year for 2005. The California Science Teachers Association granted him the Margaret Nicholson Award for lifetime service to science education in 2007. He is the author of Using Science Notebooks in Elementary Classroom sand a contributing editor of Linking Science and Literacy in K–8 Classrooms; he also contributed to Assessing Science Learning: Perspectives from Research and Practice and Scaffolding Science Inquiry Through Lesson Design. His latest book, Using Science Notebooks in Middle School Classrooms, will be released by NSTA Press in Spring 2010.

Contact Miguel Gil and Mike to find out about him speaking. Miguel Gil: [email protected] Michael Klentschy: [email protected]

Michael Starbird
Professor of Mathematics and a University Distinguished Teaching Professor at The University of Texas at Austin

Michael Starbird is a Distinguished Teaching Professor at The University of Texas at Austin. Since receiving his Ph.D. in mathematics, he has been in the Department of Mathematics of UT except for leaves including ones to the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena. He has received more than a dozen teaching awards including the Mathematical Association of America’s 2007 national teaching award and one of the 2009 inaugural UT Regents Outstanding Teaching Awards. His books, Teaching Company DVD courses in the Great Courses Series, and invited lectures reach tens of thousands of people each year.

Kenneth Wesson
Educational Consultant, Neuroscience, and Vice President, International and Western Divisions, Delta Education/School Specialty Science: San Jose, CA

Kenneth Wesson works as an educational consultant for preschool through university institutions and organizations. An expert on the neuroscience of learning and methods for creating classrooms and learning environments that are “brain-considerate,” Wesson regularly addresses psychological, medical, and educational associations, as well as parenting organizations, on establishing “brain-considerate” learning environments. In addition to his seminars on learning, Wesson also speaks on the topics of brain development, diversity in learning, the neuropsychology of prejudice, curriculum development, and how children learn. He is also frequently asked to serve as an expert witness in court cases involving brain trauma and memory.

How Children Learn: Brain Research and Inquiry-based Science
If it’s your job to develop the mind, shouldn’t you know how the brain works? While there is no profession more noble than educating young minds to their fullest developmental potential, preschool to university-level faculty members seldom receive any professional preparation on “how the brain works.” Today, we describe the human mind as the brain at work and we are finally acknowledging the role of the brain in the process of learning. Moreover, cognitive neuroscience is being recognized for its foundational role in effective instruction. Just as modern medicine produced more successful outcomes once it became more grounded in biological science, a scientifically supported framework that integrates brain science in instructional procedures will increasingly influence successful educational practices. It has been said that knowledge and information will double every 73 days by the year 2020. Factual information increases rapidly and is quickly outdated. However, the reliable principles of neuroscience will survive all tests of time. This presentation will highlight those principles in the contemporary context of education.