AstronomyTeacher

When every high school is sweating to the reading and math testing of No Child Left Behind, how does an astronomy class manage to exist? And what does the class look like compared to those of previous decades?



I am a Ph.D. student at the University of Georgia, and an astronomy educator. I've been a high school physics and astronomy teacher, both in and out of planetarium situations. If high school astronomy teaching interests you, then I would like to invite you to participate in a survey of high school astronomy courses.



The substance of my dissertation will be looking at the current status and makeup of these courses, how teachers express why the course should exist, and how No Child Left Behind has affected astronomy teaching. The field has not been surveyed since the early 1990's, since before NCLB and even before the full effect of national standards in science or standardized testing in general. The findings could help schools that want to have astronomy courses in the future, or maintain them in the present.



I need teachers who have taught or currently teach a bona fide course in astronomy at the high school level. It doesn't matter if you are a regular classroom teacher or a planetarium educator. Your name and school identification information will be removed from the dissertation and future published articles so you can be assured of anonymity. If you agree, all you will do is simply take a survey, which may take 30-45 minutes at most. A few teachers will be interviewed. Your voluntary participation in this project will take place at one of three times between January and September

of 2007.



If you would be interested in helping assess the national view of astronomy at the high school level, please contact me by email at lkrumena@uga.edu . A more formal invitation to participate will be emailed to you. You may also mail an inquiry to me at Larry Krumenaker, Dept of Math and Science Education, 212 Aderhold Hall, University of Georgia, Athens, GA 30306.