Networking Urban Resources with Teachers and University to enRich Early Childhood Science (NURTURES) Phase II: Expansion and Evaluation

在之前成功工作的基础上，托莱多大学的这个项目“将城市资源与教师和大学联系起来，丰富幼儿科学（NURTURES）：研究教师专业发展和家庭参与对PreK-3成绩的影响”，同时针对幼儿教师和家庭/照顾者，努力建立双方的能力，以促进学生对科学、技术、工程和数学（STEM）学习的兴趣。教师参加为期两周的暑期专业发展项目，并在整个学年以个性化指导和专业学习社区参与的形式获得支持。家庭每年收到四次科学探究包（从学校寄回家），并全年参加社区STEM活动。探究包和社区活动鼓励科学探究、话语和对关键科学思想的进一步探索。项目参与者将包括俄亥俄州和密歇根州的120名教师、2400名PreK-3儿童和7200多名家庭成员。该项目由探索研究K-12计划（DRK-12）资助，该计划旨在通过研究和开发创新资源、模型和工具，显著提高pre -12学生和教师对STEM的学习和教学。该后续项目是在NSF数学与科学伙伴关系资助下开发的NURTURES项目的基础上扩展的，旨在：1)基于下一代科学标准（NGSS）转变幼儿科学教学，以显著提高学生的科学、读写能力和数学成绩；2)让pre -3学生的家庭参与科学探究实践，以显著提高学生的科学、读写能力和数学成绩。这个后续项目的一个特别重要的方面是分析和理解每个组成部分（教师专业发展与家庭参与）如何影响学生的学习。该项目将采用随机对照组研究设计（RCT）来比较三组学生的成绩结果：教师接受专业发展和家庭参与活动的儿童、教师只接受专业发展的儿童和对照组。该项目将使用标准化测试（TerraNova Complete Battery）来衡量对K- 3年级儿童在科学、数学、阅读和早期识字方面学习成果的影响。“科学之镜”评估将衡量学龄前儿童的科学学习情况。该项目将为教师和家庭提供一个基于ngss的计划，该计划已经过系统测试，最终可能扩大到广泛的影响研究和传播。

Building on successful prior work, this University of Toledo project, Networking Urban Resources with Teachers and University to enRich Early Childhood Science (NURTURES): Researching the impact of teacher professional development and family engagement on PreK-3 achievement, simultaneously targets young children's teachers and families/caregivers in an effort to build both parties' capacity to promote student interest in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) learning. Teachers participate in a two-week summer professional development program and receive support across the school year in the form of individualized coaching and participation in professional learning communities. Families receive science inquiry packets (sent home from school) four times a year and attend community STEM events throughout the year. Inquiry packets and community events encourage science inquiry, discourse, and further exploration of key science ideas. Project participants will include 120 teachers, 2,400 PreK-3 children and over 7,200 family members in Ohio and Michigan. The project is funded by the Discovery Research K-12 program (DRK-12), which seeks to significantly enhance the learning and teaching of STEM by preK-12 students and teachers, through research and development of innovative resources, models and tools. Extending the initial NURTURES project, developed with NSF Math and Science Partnership funding, this follow-up project aims to: 1) Transform early childhood science teaching based upon Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) to measurably increase student science, literacy, and math achievement, and 2) Engage families of PreK-3 students in science inquiry practices to measurably improve student science, literacy, and math achievement. A particularly important facet of this follow-up project is the research effort to parse and understand how each component (teacher professional development versus family engagement) impacts student learning. The project will use a randomized control group research design (RCT) to compare student achievement outcomes among three groups: Children whose teachers received professional development and family engagement activities, children whose teachers received only professional development, and a control group. The project will use standardized tests (the TerraNova Complete Battery) to measure impact on learning gains in science, mathematics, reading, and early literacy for children in grades K- 3. The Lens on Science assessment will measure science learning in preschool children. This project will result in an NGSS-based program for teachers and families that has been systematically tested and may ultimately be scaled up to an impact study and dissemination at a broad level.