1 Science Literacy: Exploring Middle-Level Science Curriculum Structure and Student Achievement

Science is built up of facts as a house is of stones, but a collection of facts is no more a science than a pile of stones is a house.-- Henri Poincare, La Science et l’Hypothese (1908) Abstract: Although national and state science curriculum standards are based on an integrated model, there is little quantitative data supporting integration. This study explored and described the relationship between middle-level science curriculum structure and student science literacy. Specifically, it compared Connecticut science curriculum specialists ’ characterizations of the degree to which their school districts ’ middle-level science curriculum was integrated with their school districts ’ mean scale-scores on the standardized Middle School Science CMT. An Internet-based survey was developed specifically for use in this study. Overall, participants reported a moderate level of science curriculum integration, as well as significant inconsistencies in the planning, design, implementation, and assessment processes of their integrated science curriculums. No significant relationship was found between the characterization of degree o