Testing a Professional Development Model for High School Science Reform and the Relationship of Key Variables to Student Achievement

这项由生物科学课程研究(BSCS)进行的项目测试了一项为期三年的密集专业发展计划--BSCS国家课程领导学院(NACL)对华盛顿州学生科学成就的有效性。Nacl的目标是发展以地区为基础的中学科学领导小组的能力，以持续执行以研究为基础的科学教材，促进改进教和学。这项研究考察了在学校和学区有足够的时间让效果站稳脚跟后，该计划对学生成绩的影响。该项目使用了从华盛顿州全国学生联合会两个队列收集的现有数据和华盛顿州S公共教学总监办公室存档的学生成绩数据。通过调查和访谈收集了NACL参与的地区和人员的其他数据。该项目使用倾向评分方法，比较了参与NACL的27个学区和至少27个仔细匹配的非NACL学区的学生成绩。各个地区经历了不同剂量的NACL，该项目研究了随着时间的推移参与NACL的不同影响。这项研究为包括NSF在内的多个利益相关者、为NACL的开发和实施提供资金的其他公司基金会、BSC和参与的学区提供了一个机会，以确定专业发展在多大程度上促进了学生科学成就的提高。这项研究的更广泛影响是测试教师专业发展模式的基本要素与学生成绩的相关性程度，并以一种可以被类似情况下的其他人复制的方式做到这一点。这项拟议的工作将使教育工作者了解基于研究的专业发展方法，这些方法具有有效性的证据。此外，通过确定职业发展计划可能影响学生成绩的时间尺度，这些发现为政策制定者和研究人员提供了新的信息，即需要多长时间才能看到新的教育政策和计划的积极影响。

This project conducted by the Biological Sciences Curriculum Study(BSCS) tests the efficacy of an intensive, three year professional development program, the BSCS National Academy for Curriculum Leadership (NACL) on student science achievement in the state of Washington. The goal of the NACL is to develop the capacity of district-based secondary science leadership teams to sustain the implementation of research-based science instructional materials that promote improvement in teaching and learning. This study examines the influence of the program on student achievement after the schools and districts have had sufficient time for the effects to take hold. The project uses existing data gathered from two cohorts of Washington-based NACL teams and archived student achievement data from Washington State?s Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI). Additional data are collected NACL-participating districts and personnel through surveys and interviews. The project compares student achievement between the 27 districts that participated in the NACL, and a minimum of 27 carefully matched, non-NACL districts using propensity-scoring methodology. Districts have experienced different dosages of the NACL, and the project examines the differential effects of being involved in the NACL over time. This research study provides an opportunity for multiple stakeholders including NSF, other corporate foundations that have funded the development and implementation of the NACL, BSCS, and participating school districts to determine the extent to which professional development promotes the improvement student science achievement results. The broader impact of the research is testing the extent to which basic elements of teacher professional development models correlate with student achievement and to do so in a way that could be replicated by others in similar contexts. The proposed work would inform educators about the research-based approaches to professional development that has evidence of efficacy. Moreover, by determining the time-scales by which professional development programs might be shown to influence student achievement, the findings provide new information to policymakers and researchers regarding the amount of time that could be required to see a positive impact from new educational policies and programs.