Professional development for science teachers operates with an implicit
theory that is largely untested. The theory asserts that professional
development brings about changes in teachers' science content and pedagogical
content knowledge, which then leads to changes in classroom practice,
ultimately improving student achievement. Testing this theory requires
a coherent set of tools, which currently does not exist. Without these
tools, professional development providers (including those working in
the context of the MSPs) often lack data they need to inform revisions
to their program designs and implementations. Horizon Research, Inc.
(HRI) and Project 2061 of the American Association of the Advancement
of Science (AAAS) jointly propose to develop these tools in specific science
content areas. The project will create and disseminate instruments that
assess teacher opportunities to learn, and that measure changes in teacher
science content knowledge, teacher pedagogical content knowledge, classroom
practice, as well as changes in student achievement. Three sets of instruments
will be developed, one for each of three science areas or benchmarks.
These are force and motion, plate tectonics, and flow of matter and energy.
The teacher instruments will mainly be for middle school, but might have
implications for younger grades. The project will refine, document, and
disseminate the processes used to create the tools. The project has strong
connections to the MSP key features of Evidence-Based Design and Outcomes
and Teacher Quantity, Quality, and Diversity.
The tools that will be
developed, and the processes used to create them, will increase the capacity
of the field to design and implement professional development experiences
with documented impacts on: (1) teachers' science content and pedagogical
content knowledge; (2) their classroom practice; and most importantly;
and (3) student achievement.
The tools will enable MSPs (and professional
development providers at large) to monitor the effectiveness of their
interventions and identify differences in impacts that may exist between
groups of participants (e.g., differences by teacher background and years
of experience), thereby promoting the most equitable implementation of
professional development. Equitable implementation of professional development
ultimately addresses inequities in student opportunities to learn. By
refining and completely documenting the processes used to create the tools,
the project extends its impacts beyond the areas in which the tools are
created. The project will disseminate its products through: (1) a web-based
handbook for tool creation; (2) invited conferences for MSPs and others;
(3) internships for doctoral students and post-doctoral students from
CLTs; (4) presentations and workshops at annual meetings of professional
organizations; (5) journal articles; and (6) a project web-site, including
a discussion forum.
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