Advancing Earth Science Instruction across High School Life and Physical Science

EarthX是一个以设计为基础的研究项目，支持将地球科学融入巴尔的摩市公立学校的高中生物、化学和物理课程，同时也支持学区过渡到符合下一代科学标准(NGSS)的三维(3D)、雄心勃勃和公平的科学教学。由于该学区目前没有独立的高中地球科学课程，该项目将支持将地球科学纳入其他学科科学课程，以满足国家科学学会对所有年级地球科学教学的期望。所有城市学校的高中生物、化学和物理教师(139名教师)将使用EarthX评估并参与EarthX专业发展(PD)。该项目将惠及所有在传统城市学校就读的高度多样化的学生。EarthX建立在整合化学与地球科学(ICE)DRK-12项目的成功基础上，该项目开发了创新的化学课程材料和PD战略，以支持地球科学融入生物和物理课程课程开发和3D教学。EarthX将为所有三门课程开发、测试和改进嵌入式和单元评估，并提供在线评估管理系统；向教师和学生提供实时报告；以及为PD领导人、管理人员和研究人员提供多种用途的数据。评估将是3D的，以地球科学和课程学科的核心概念为特色，结合科学或工程实践和交叉概念。评估将以巴尔的摩学生和教师既有吸引力又容易接触的方式支持局部到全球环境中现象的教和学。生物、化学和物理教师需要这些类型的教学支持，以及正在进行的跨学科和跨学科的学校间协作的PD，以成功地完成实现地球科学整合和3D、雄心勃勃和公平的教学的双重挑战。全国许多学区都面临着同样的双重挑战，将从EarthX的资源、战略、见解和研究成果中受益，所有这些都将被传播和广泛使用。EarthX将利用基于设计的研究方法来：1)建立和培育强大的研究-实践伙伴关系，采用合作伙伴参与和授权、协作、基于证据的改进和生产力的最佳实践。2)开发和测试学科和跨学科的PD策略，以支持高中生物、化学和物理课程中有效的地球科学教学。3)开发与学习进度一致的、嵌入的和终结性的学生表现3D评估，以支持在地球科学与生物、化学和物理之间的局部到全球环境中关于现象的雄心勃勃和公平的教学。4)将EarthX策略扩展，在整个学区实现变革性的、基于现象的3D教学。为了实现这些目标，该项目将解决以下研究问题：支持赋权和协作、反思性实践的多年专业学习经验如何有助于教师对基于现象的3D教学的日益理解和实施？学生成绩数据(包括近乎实时的自动化分析)的可用性和使用经验如何有助于教师提高实施雄心勃勃和公平的3D教学的能力？教师实施3D、雄心勃勃和公平教学的能力不断增强，如何影响学生在一年和三年课程序列中的学习收益(通过可信的3D表现衡量标准进行评估)？解决这些目标和研究问题的方法首先是与地区领导、科学家、科学教育专家和研究人员、教师领导和项目评估员组成的不同团队建立研究-实践伙伴关系，并与项目顾问委员会进行关键和持续的接触。开发和使用对教师实践和学生表现的评估是EarthX的一个主要特点。PD教师将通过视频和人工制品支持的教师反思在教师队列中强调反思性实践，这将包括学校内和跨学校实践社区。学习进度将被利用和修改，以框架分析学生的表现，向教师和学生提供反馈，并解决学生学习研究的问题。EarthX将为在整个地区范围内整合、采用、适应和支持地球科学和3D教学提供宝贵的见解。作为EarthX项目的结果，经过测试和改进的PD战略、终结性和嵌入式3D评估系统以及与教师和学生发展有关的研究成果将有助于科学教育界越来越多地理解和支持地区一级采用与NGSS一致的教学、学习和改革。探索研究PREK-12计划(DRK-12)旨在通过研究和开发创新资源、模型和工具，显著提高Pre-K-12学生和教师在科学、技术、工程和数学(STEM)方面的学习和教学。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经验上的证明。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

EarthX is a design-based research project that supports the integration of Earth science into high school Biology, Chemistry, and Physics courses in Baltimore City Public Schools, while also supporting the District’s transition to three-dimensional (3D), ambitious and equitable science teaching aligned with the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS). As the district does not have a current standalone Earth science course at the high school level, the project will support the integration of Earth sciences into other disciplinary science classes to meet the NGSS expectations for Earth science instruction in all grade levels. All high school Biology, Chemistry, and Physics teachers in City Schools (139 teachers) will use EarthX assessments and participate in EarthX professional development (PD). The project will reach the entire, highly diverse student population attending traditional City Schools. EarthX builds on the success of the Integrating Chemistry and Earth Science (ICE) DRK-12 project - which developed innovative Chemistry course curriculum materials and PD strategies - to support Earth science integration into Biology and Physics course curriculum development and 3D teaching. EarthX will develop, test, and refine embedded and unit assessments for all three courses, along with providing an online system for assessment administration; real-time reporting to teachers and students; and provision of data to PD leaders, administrators, and researchers for multiple purposes. Assessments will be 3D, featuring core concepts from both Earth science and the course discipline combined with a science or engineering practice and a crosscutting concept. Assessments will support teaching and learning of phenomena in the local-to-global environment in ways that are both engaging and accessible to Baltimore students and teachers. Biology, Chemistry, and Physics teachers require these types of instructional supports, along with ongoing PD that is collaborative both within schools across disciplines and across schools within disciplines to succeed in the dual challenge of achieving Earth science integration and 3D, ambitious and equitable teaching. Many school districts around the nation are facing this same dual challenge and will benefit from EarthX resources, strategies, insights, and research findings, all of which will be disseminated and made widely available.EarthX will utilize a design-based research approach to: 1) Build and nurture a strong Research-Practice Partnership, employing best practices of partner engagement and empowerment, collaboration, evidence-based improvement, and productivity. 2) Develop and test disciplinary and cross-disciplinary PD strategies for supporting effective Earth science teaching in high school Biology, Chemistry, and Physics courses. 3) Develop learning progression-aligned, embedded, and summative 3D assessments of student performances that can support ambitious and equitable teaching about phenomena in the local-to-global environment at the interfaces between Earth science and Biology, Chemistry, and Physics. 4) Bring EarthX strategies to scale, resulting in transformative, phenomena-based 3D instruction across the District. In meeting these goals, the project will address the following research questions: How do multi-year professional learning experiences that support empowerment and collaborative, reflective practice contribute to teachers’ growing understanding and implementation of phenomena-based, 3D instruction? How does availability of and experience with using student performance data (including near real-time automated analyses) contribute to teachers’ growing capacity to implement ambitious and equitable 3D instruction? How do teachers’ growing capacities to enact 3D, ambitious, and equitable instruction impact student learning gains (assessed with credible measures of 3D performances) over the course of a year and over the three-year course sequence? Methods for addressing these goals and research questions start with a Research-Practice Partnership with a diverse team of district leaders, scientists, science education specialists and researchers, teacher leaders, and the project evaluator, with critical and ongoing engagement with the project advisory board. Development and use of assessments of both teachers' practices and students’ performances are a central feature of EarthX. Teacher PD will emphasize reflective practices through video- and artifact-supported teacher reflection among cohorts of teachers that will include both within-school and across-school communities of practice. Learning progressions will be utilized and revised to frame analyses of student performances to provide feedback to teachers and students, and to address the student learning research question. EarthX will provide invaluable insights into the integration, adoption, adaptation, and support of Earth science and 3D pedagogy at the whole district scale. As a result of the EarthX project, tested and refined PD strategies, summative and embedded 3D assessment systems, and research findings related to teacher and student development will contribute to the science education community’s growing understanding and support of district-level adoption of NGSS-aligned teaching, learning, and reform. The Discovery Research preK-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. 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 award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.