SHS Educator Appointed to National Science Panel

Sacred Heart Schools, Atherton (SHS) educator and current SHS Middle School Curriculum Director Sharon Sikora, Ph.D., was appointed to the steering panel for the National Assessment of Education Progress (NAEP) to update the science framework for the “Nation’s Report Card” in 2028.

 

The report card includes the results of a nationwide exam for science that is given every four years to a random sampling of students in the fourth, eighth, and 12th grades.

 

Dr. Sikora is one of 30 individuals on the steering panel made up of teachers, curriculum experts, school administrators, policymakers, and scientists making recommendations for the framework of the nationwide assessment. The group met in Washington, D.C. in October and will meet twice in the spring and summer to review working drafts.

 

The last update to the framework was made in 2005, for the 2009 assessment. “This work that we’re doing on the panel has the potential to impact the next 18 years of science education because the next review might not be until 2040. To me, that’s when it hit home how important this is,” said Sikora.

 

The framework determines the science areas and content that will be included in the nationwide assessment and also provides guidelines on the exam format, “i.e., is it going to be students graphing, is it going to be students writing a response, is it going to be multiple choice, or is it going to be a hands-on task they then have to translate?” explained Sikora.

 

The framework undergoes a comprehensive bias study, Sikora added. “So, if you ask a question about the marshland, and a student has never been to the marshland, can you ask that question?”

 

In addition to a bias study, the framework working draft is open to public review including national science and education organizations, the National Science Teachers Association, the National Science Education Leadership Association, and the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics; the public review is open to industry science leaders also.

 

“We want it to be able to capture potential future trends in science, which is why an industry input is key,” said Sikora. “We need to make sure it’s grounded in strong science concepts and at the same time be looking forward.”

 

The Nation’s Report Card is used in policymaking to determine education funding and legislation. Sikora, along with being a science educator for 35 years, brings experience in public policy to the steering panel. She was a Congressional Einstein Distinguished Educator Fellow from 2016-2017, which provided “the opportunity to look at the effectiveness of assessments on education.”

 

Leadership in science education as an Einstein Fellow and as a member of the NAEP steering panel has made Sikora a stronger educator, and only increased her desire to be in the classroom.

 

“There are not many people like me who go to work for a senator, then double back to work in the classroom and see what it’s actually like—can I really implement these standards in the classroom? I feel really blessed to be at Sacred Heart because the school supports me in developing into the best educator I can be.”

 

Not only is she shaping the minds of young students in the Bay Area as SHS Middle School curriculum director—a position she took on this year after five years as P-12 coordinator of science curriculum, learning and teaching—but she’s also supporting science education on a national level.

 

“This is an opportunity to share my expertise in science education for our country, and to make sure that the voice of the teacher in the classroom is heard,” said Sikora.