They were encouraged to develop cur

They were encouraged to develop curriculum that complements their selected magnet and met the innovation ideals of the collective school community. The theater and dance faculty valued membership in community theater, dance, and performance. The business and civics faculty valued the teaching of civics, government, and economics. The world culture and arts faculty valued and encouraged artistic endeavors and the celebration of cultures. The math and science faculty valued the spending of time to developing new science experiments, researching, and making sense of complex problem solving. Since three of the four magnets were non-science related; this contributed to a tenor of indifference in regards to science instruction and perhaps an overall silent pardon for the teaching of science. Several participants were open with their lack of science instruction although they praised the science that they did do. For these participants, this was an acceptable practice to ‘‘trade off’’ in-depth science work for more acceptable magnet goals.
Secondary Finding: Abundance of Materials and a Lab Space Unused Each magnet in the case school also possessed ‘‘lab’’ space for its own magnet uses.
The lab spaces hosted a variety of activity wheel specials during the week, community activities specific to the magnet, or were reserved by teachers for individual use. The school has its own bank, TV studio, black box theatre, assorted shops, post office, ticket booth, recycling center, and other unique areas that are used ‘‘lab space’’. Lab space, however, was not completely equal from magnet to magnet. One magnet has four distinctly different lab spaces, while others make use of approximately two, and one magnet has no additional lab space to specifically call its own.
As part of the case school’s lab space is the presence of a large science lab. The lab consists of a variety of materials and is an immaculately kept space. It is frequently photographed and has become the main area for faculty meetings and professional development sessions. The lab instructor works with the math and science magnet lead teacher to plan the curriculum for the classes and collaborate with teachers when desired. There are many cabinets, shelves, tabletops, and other areas housing manipulatives and materials. Materials range in content area as well.
A rock collection exists, a large collection of microscopes is kept, measurement tools are available, and collections of science trade books are within reach. There are numerous bins that contain thermometers, spring scales, rulers, and the like. The science lab is approximately equal to two classrooms and was only 2 years old at the time of the study. It stands in stark contrast to the age of the other buildings. In the space, there is adequate room for students to participate in lecture style lessons or in the adjacent area of lab tables. The lab also benefits from technology.
A technologically advanced Smart Board is a recent addition.
The science lab serves a variety of purposes. First, it serves as the primary lab space for the math and science magnet. Second, the lab serves as a weekly ‘‘special’’ that every class in the school visits for select nine-week periods (similar to physical education or art). Third, the lab serves as a storage space for materials that can be checked out by school staff for use in their own classrooms. Participants noted that teachers can choose to participate in the planning of their classes’ lessons that will be delivered within the science lab, but few do. Generally, teachers inquire only of the behavior of their students when picking their students up from their 40-min block. Both the instructional assistant and the science lead teacher offer themselves as help for the teachers in issues related to science. While an impressive science lab space existed, the space and its instruction were often seen as merely an activity stop on the students’ weekly wheel. For some teachers, this stop became the sole provider of science instruction for their students as suggested by one participant.
An abundance of science materials was available for checkout but played little role in contributing to effective science teaching since it was largely unused.
Teachers, aware of the location and availability but having other curricular goals and priorities, choose not to utilize the materials in their own classrooms. Two participants acknowledge the wealth of materials but spoke of their need for an inventory sheet because it was too much trouble to plan to use the materials without knowing ahead of time what was available. Another participant spoke to the issue of not knowing where to get materials from teachers who possibly had checked out something they wanted to use.