- Year 2022
- NSF Award #1660746
- Registration Teaching Fellow
- First Name Isabella
- Last Name Kitzis
- Discipline Biological Sciences
- Institution University of North Florida
Abstract
High school students are expected to pass state-administered exams to graduate. In a school that’s majority population is economically disadvantaged and minorities, the current path to success is not effective. This research fills the need to approach these paths in a different way, especially for students in a Title I school. Guiding inquiries for this work include questioning the current method of content coverage as provided by the school district and determining alternatives that improve both student self-efficacy and achievement.Following a self-efficacy survey, most students felt somewhat confident that they could pass the biology exam. Those that didn’t feel as they could pass the biology exam also answered that they enjoyed learning about biology. With formative assessments given by the district averaging 32%, we had to reflect on how we taught biology. Our current pacing guide did not include time to remediate and was not made for Hispanic and Black students that come from poverty and do not have access to additional supports and resources. So, we redesigned the pacing guide with those students in mind.We anticipate delivering this new pacing in the next academic year to determine if the change improves our achievement rates. We will be able to compare this year’s biology end-of-course exam scores with the next year’s scores to determine what, if any, impact the pacing change had – not only for our own school, but for other schools within the district.
