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Published Jun 30, 2021

Beverly J. Irby

Fuhui Tong  

Rafael Lara-Alecio

Shifang Tang

Cindy Guerrero

Zhuoying Wang

Fubiao Zhen

Abstract

In this empirical study we examined the effect of a literacy-infused science intervention on fifth grade economically challenged students’ science achievement in the curriculum-based and standardized assessments. A total of 27 treatment students and 20 comparison students from two intermediate schools in a rural district in South Texas in the United States participated in the present study. The intervention consisted of ongoing, structured, bi-weekly virtual professional development (VPD) with virtual mentoring and coaching (VMC) at the teacher level and literacy-infused science lessons with inquiry-based learning delivered at the student level. Results revealed a significant and positive intervention effect in favor of treatment students as reflected in higher normal curve equivalent scores in the standardized science assessment and higher scores in curriculum-based assessment. We conclude that the literacy-infused science intervention, inclusive of evidence-based curriculum, VPD, and VMC, is particularly beneficial for promoting science learning for the students in rural areas with educational and economical challenges due to geographic isolation.

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Keywords

Literacy-infused Science Intervention, Economically-Challenged Students, Rural Schools, Virtual Professional Development, Virtual Mentoring and Coaching

Supporting Agencies

This work was supported by the U.S. Department of Education (LISTO, #U411B16001).

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How to Cite
Irby, B. J. ., Tong, F., Lara-Alecio, R., Tang, S., Guerrero, C., Wang, Z., & Zhen, F. (2021). Investigating the Impact of A Literacy-infused Science Intervention on Economically Challenged Students’ Science Achievement: A Case Study from A Rural District in Texas. Science Insights Education Frontiers, 9(1), 1123–1141. https://doi.org/10.15354/sief.21.or033
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Original Article