Modest Supports for Sustaining Professional Development Outcomes over the Long-Term

为长期维持专业发展成果提供适度支持

• 批准号: 1620979
• 负责人: Cathy Ringstaff
• 金额: $ 138.43万
• 依托单位: WestEd
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2016
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2016-09-15 至 2021-08-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1620979&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Modest; Supports; Sustaining; Professional; Development

The Discovery Research K-12 program (DRK-12) seeks to significantly enhance the learning and teaching of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) by preK-12 students and teachers, through research and development of innovative resources, models and tools (RMTs). Projects in the DRK-12 program build on fundamental research in STEM education and prior research and development efforts that provide theoretical and empirical justification for proposed projects. This study will investigate factors influencing the persistence of teacher change after professional development (PD) experiences, and will examine the extent to which modest supports for science teaching in grades K-5 sustain PD outcomes over the long term. Fifty K-12 teachers who completed one of four PD programs situated in small, rural school districts will be recruited for the study, and they will participate in summer refresher sessions for two days, cluster meetings at local schools twice during the academic year, and optional Webinar sessions two times per year. Electronic supports for participants will include a dedicated email address, a project Facebook page, a biweekly newsletter, and access to archived Webinars on a range of topics related to teaching elementary school science. Modest support for replacement of consumable supplies needed for hands-on classroom activities will also be provided. The project will examine the extent to which these modest supports individually and collectively foster the sustainability of PD outcomes in terms of the instructional time devoted to science, teacher self-efficacy in science, and teacher use of inquiry-based instructional strategies. The effects of contextual factors on sustainability of PD outcomes will also be examined.This longitudinal study will seek answers to three research questions: 1) To what extent do modest supports foster the sustainability of professional development outcomes in: a) instructional time in science; b) teachers' self-efficacy in science; and c) teachers' use of inquiry-based instructional strategies? 2) Which supports are: a) the most critical for sustainability of outcomes; and b) the most cost-effective; and 3) What contextual factors support or impede the sustainability of professional development outcomes? The project will employ a mixed-methods research design to examine the effects of PD in science among elementary schoolteachers over a 10 to 12 year period that includes a 3-year PD program, a 4-6 year span after the initial PD program, and a 3-year intervention of modest supports. Quantitative and qualitative data will be collected from multiple sources, including: a general survey of participating teachers regarding their beliefs about science, their instructional practices, and their instructional time in science; a teacher self-efficacy measure; intervention feedback surveys; electronic data sources associated with Webinars; teacher interviews; school administrator interviews; and receipts for purchases of classroom supplies. Quantitative data from the teacher survey and self-efficacy measure will be analyzed using hierarchical modeling to examine growth rates after the original PD and the change in growth after the provision of modest supports. Data gathered from other sources will be tracked, coded, and analyzed for each teacher, and linked to the survey and self-efficacy data for analysis by individual teacher, by grade level, by school, by district, and by original PD experience. Together, these data will enable the project team to address the project's research questions, with particular emphasis on determining the extent to which teachers make use of the various supports offered, and identifying the most cost-effective and critical supports.

探索研究K-12项目（DRK-12）旨在通过研究和开发创新资源、模型和工具（rmt），显著提高pre -12学生和教师对科学、技术、工程和数学（STEM）的学习和教学。DRK-12计划中的项目建立在STEM教育的基础研究和先前的研究和开发工作的基础上，为拟议的项目提供了理论和实证依据。本研究将探讨专业发展（PD）经历后影响教师更换持久性的因素，并将检验K-5年级科学教学的适度支持在多大程度上长期维持PD结果。该研究将招募50名K-12教师，他们完成了位于小型农村学区的四个PD课程中的一个，他们将参加为期两天的夏季复习课程，每学年两次在当地学校举行的小组会议，以及每年两次可选的网络研讨会。为参与者提供的电子支持将包括一个专用的电子邮件地址、一个项目Facebook页面、两周一次的时事通讯，以及访问与小学科学教学相关的一系列主题的存档网络研讨会。还将提供适当支助，以更换动手课堂活动所需的消耗品。该项目将考察这些适度的支持在多大程度上单独和集体地促进PD结果的可持续性，包括用于科学的教学时间、教师在科学方面的自我效能和教师对基于探究的教学策略的使用。背景因素对PD结果可持续性的影响也将被检查。这项纵向研究将寻求三个研究问题的答案：1)适度支持在多大程度上促进专业发展成果的可持续性：a)科学教学时间；B)教师科学自我效能感；c)教师对探究性教学策略的使用？2)哪些支持是：a)对结果的可持续性最关键的；b)最具成本效益；3)哪些背景因素支持或阻碍了专业发展成果的可持续性？该项目将采用混合方法研究设计，在10到12年的时间里，检验小学教师在科学方面的PD影响，包括3年的PD计划，最初的PD计划之后的4-6年，以及3年的适度支持干预。定量和定性数据将从多个来源收集，包括：对参与的教师进行关于他们对科学的信念、他们的教学实践和他们的科学教学时间的一般调查；教师自我效能感量表；干预反馈调查；与网络研讨会有关的电子数据源；教师访谈;学校管理人员面试；还有购买教学用品的收据。教师调查和自我效能测量的定量数据将使用分层模型进行分析，以检查原始PD后的增长率以及提供适度支持后的增长变化。从其他来源收集的数据将被跟踪、编码和分析，并与调查和自我效能数据相关联，以便按教师个人、年级、学校、地区和原始PD经验进行分析。总之，这些数据将使项目团队能够解决项目的研究问题，特别强调确定教师利用所提供的各种支持的程度，并确定最具成本效益和关键的支持。