Effective Change at School and District Levels

At the moment I do not have my own classroom and have been substituting for the last year and half at the elementary school on base. I have had to borrow classes to teach the variety of lessons that were required. All in all the teachers were appreciative when I came in to teach. Some of the teachers are not strong in science and I have offered to assist them when they are unsure of how to teach something. Listening to some teachers they struggle to find the time to teach science to their classes. I have tried to point out the importance of making sure science finds its way into the curriculum. One good thing is that the science standards for DoDDs seem to spiral and that the students are not constantly learning the same things, at the same time there are certain topics that are explored in more complexity each year. Another issue is that the schools goals focus on Writing and Math, so there is more focus on those subjects and they tend to be highlighted during trainings. The school has recently received new reading, social studies and math materials, while the science materials are over 8 years old. The downside it is DoDDs that decides on the curriculum and makes the initiative to get new materials. Hopefully since the other programs have been updated science will be close behind. The best thing I can do is encourage the teachers at the schools to make sure they are teaching science, even if it is not every day, but to find the time to make it a part of their curriculum and assist when needed. We have a diverse population and I want all the students to be confident in their science abilities and see the possibilities that await them.