Assessing Teacher Learning About Science Teaching

科学教师的专业发展与一个隐含的理论，在很大程度上是未经检验的。 该理论认为，专业发展带来了教师的科学内容和教学内容知识的变化，从而导致课堂实践的变化，最终提高学生的成绩。 测试这一理论需要一套连贯的工具，而目前还不存在。 如果没有这些工具，专业发展提供者（包括那些在MSP背景下工作的人）往往缺乏他们需要的数据，以告知他们的计划设计和实施的修订。 地平线研究公司(HRI)和美国科学促进会（AAAS）的2061项目联合提议在特定科学内容领域开发这些工具。 该项目将创建和传播评估教师学习机会的工具，并衡量教师科学内容知识、教师教学内容知识、课堂实践以及学生成绩变化的工具。 将开发三套工具，三个科学领域或基准各一套。 这些是力和运动，板块构造，以及物质和能量的流动。 教师工具将主要用于中学，但可能对低年级有影响。 该项目将完善、记录和传播用于创建工具的过程。 该项目与MSP的循证设计和成果以及教师数量、质量和多样性的关键特征有着密切的联系，将开发的工具以及用于创建这些工具的过程将提高该领域设计和实施专业发展经验的能力，并对以下方面产生有记录的影响：（1）教师的科学内容和教学内容知识;（2）他们的课堂实践;最重要的是，（3）学生成绩。 这些工具将使中等专业人员（以及广大专业发展提供者）能够监测其干预措施的有效性，并确定参与者群体之间可能存在的影响差异（例如，教师的专业发展应根据教师的背景和经验的不同而有所不同），从而促进最公平地实施专业发展。 专业发展的公平实施最终解决了学生学习机会的不平等。 通过完善和完整地记录用于创建工具的过程，该项目将其影响扩展到创建工具的领域之外。 该项目将通过以下方式传播其产品：（1）网上工具制作手册;（2）中小企业和其他人应邀参加的会议;（3）文化学习小组的博士生和博士后实习生;（4）专业组织年会上的介绍和讲习班;（5）期刊文章;（6）项目网站，包括一个讨论论坛。

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.