Collaborative Research: Building Capacity for Middle School Master Science Teacher Development

这个由罗伯特·诺伊斯教师奖学金项目支持的能力建设项目将制定并试行一个可行的定义，确定哪些实践、方法和知识基础构成了跨学科科学概念的硕士水平教学。这些跨领域的概念是目前试图提高美国K-12科学教学的连贯性所不可或缺的。国立路易斯大学（NLU）和伊利诺伊理工学院（IIT）将合作建立一个联合硕士教师奖学金计划，该计划将在芝加哥公立学校培养一批具有深厚教学内容知识和领导能力的中学科学教师骨干，以实施下一代科学标准（NGSS）的跨领域概念，这与各州采用并开始实施NGSS特别相关。为了实现这一目标，该项目的关键活动将是建立一个大学与博物馆的合作伙伴关系，包括阿德勒天文馆和科学与工业博物馆，这将整合专家的科学内容知识、深入的教学知识和正在进行的科学实践场所，并开发一个学习途径，大大增加教师的科学内容知识，将他们与正在进行的科学实践场所联系起来。并支持他们将这些知识和联系转化为学生学习经验的设计和评估。这一途径的两个关键组成部分将是在博物馆和印度理工学院举办的暑期学院，旨在加深教师对科学和现代科学的交叉概念的认识，以及使用基于网络的平台来协作改进教师实践，该平台将教师对形成性学生评估数据的一致检查纳入其中。一组试点教师将参加一个项目设计的暑期学院和整个学年的专业发展活动。需求评估的结果将为暑期学院的设计和专业发展提供信息。教师在实施特定内容的高杠杆教学策略方面的进展将通过教学自适应周期（ACT）来衡量。ACT是一种基于云的技术系统，使教师能够通过对学生学习的形成性评估、教师档案分析和教练/导师的反馈来改进具体的教学策略。ACT工具将被定制，以支持NGSS科学教学的实施。科学掌握教学的定义和发展对科学教育工作者和教师培养具有重要的指导意义。作为这个能力建设项目的一部分，他们将得到支持，向他们的学校报告，并在他们的学校和地区实施更强有力的科学教学方面发挥领导作用。每个伙伴机构将通过开发和测试教师需要的科学知识和技能模型来深化其知识基础和教师教育能力，以促进学生对科学核心概念的学习。这些模型将为每个机构的STEM教师准备和专业发展提供信息。在试点阶段结束时，这些教师将大大提高他们为学校实施NGSS提供信息的能力。

This Capacity Building project supported by the Robert Noyce Teacher Scholarship program will develop and pilot a working definition of what practices, approaches and knowledge base constitute Master Level teaching in cross- cutting concepts of science. These cross cutting concepts are integral to current attempts to bring increased coherency to the teaching of K-12 science in the United States. National Louis University (NLU) and the Illinois Institute of Technology (IIT) will collaboratively build a joint Master Teacher Fellowship Program that will develop a cadre of middle school science teachers in Chicago Public Schools with deep pedagogical content knowledge and leadership capacity in implementing the cross-cutting concepts of the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) of particular relevance as states adopt and begin to implement NGSS. To reach this goal, the key activities of this project will be the establishment of a University-Museum partnership involving Adler Planetarium and the Museum of Science and Industry that will integrate expert science content knowledge, deep pedagogical knowledge, and sites of ongoing science practice and the development of a learning pathway that substantially increases teachers' science content knowledge, connects them to ongoing sites of science practice, and supports them in translating that knowledge and connection into the design and assessment of learning experiences for their students. Two key components of that pathway will be a summer institute held at museum sites and IIT that is designed to deepen teachers' knowledge of cross-cutting concepts of science and current science, and the use of a web-based platform for collaborative improvement of teacher practice that incorporates teachers' consistent examination of formative student assessment data. A pilot group of teachers will take part in a project-designed summer institute and professional development activities throughout the school year. Results from a needs assessment will inform the design of the summer institute and professional development. Teachers' progress in implementing content-specific, high leverage teaching strategies will be measured using the Adaptive Cycles of Teaching (ACT), a cloud-based technology system that enables teachers to improve specific teaching strategies through formative assessments of student learning, teacher portfolio analysis and feedback from coaches/mentors. The ACT tool will be customized to support the implementation of NGSS science teaching. The definition and development of mastery teaching in science will inform science educators in the field and in teacher preparation. As part of this capacity building project, they will be supported in reporting to their school sites and in taking leadership roles in the implementation of stronger science teaching in their schools and districts. Each partner institution will deepen its knowledge base and capacity for teacher education by developing and testing models of the science knowledge and skills teachers need to advance student learning in central concepts of science. These models will inform STEM teacher preparation and professional development throughout each institution. By the close of the pilot phase, these teachers will have significantly developed their capacity to inform NGSS implementation at their school sites.