System-wide Change: An Experimental Study of Teacher Development and Student Achievement in Elementary Science

“系统范围的变化：小学科学教师发展与学生成就的实验研究”测试了在一个大型城市学区的小学科学教师发展中，内容丰富的系统干预对学生成就的影响。“全系统变革”是一种基础广泛的科学教学方法，涉及大学科学家、科学教育者和从幼儿园到12年级的实践者之间的伙伴关系。它解决了职前和在职教师教育以及课程发展问题，并得到了一个名为SCALE（面向所有学习者和教育者的全系统变革）的全面的国家科学基金会数学和科学合作伙伴关系（MSP）的支持。这项研究将测试全系统变革小学科学部分的成就效益，该部分为四年级和五年级教师提供暑期学院的专业发展，并在使用详细的小学科学教学指南方面提供持续的指导和指导。教学指南包含概念课程和科学浸入式单元，使教师和学生通过科学调查核心问题的完整探究周期。这应该会加深对科学的理解，在科学成就测试中获得更高的分数，并减少科学成就的不平等。实验对比了(a)有领导教师参加暑期学院的学校，其所有四年级和五年级教师都接受了指导和指导，以实施教学指南；(b)有教师接受教学指南但没有相关专业发展的对照学校。本研究将揭示教师发展活动对学生标准科学学习的因果影响。它将在洛杉矶举行，这是SCALE伙伴关系中最大的地区，在此背景下，提高科学考试成绩是一项巨大的需求和高度优先事项。

"System-wide Change: An Experimental Study of Teacher Development and Student Achievement in Elementary Science" tests the impact on student achievement of a content-rich, systemic intervention in teacher development for elementary school science in a large, urban school district. "System-wide Change" is a broad-based approach to science teaching and learning that involves a partnership among university scientists, science educators, and K to 12 practitioners. It addresses preservice and in-service teacher education and curricular development and is supported by a comprehensive NSF Math and Science Partnership (MSP) known as SCALE (System-wide Change for All Learners and Educators). The study will test the achievement benefits of the System-wide Change elementary science component, which provides fourth- and fifth-grade teachers with professional development in summer institutes and ongoing coaching and mentoring in the use of detailed instructional guides for elementary science. The instructional guides contain conceptual lessons coupled with science immersion units that bring teachers and students through a full cycle of inquiry in core problems of scientific investigation. This should lead to deeper understanding of science, higher scores on science achievement tests, and reduced inequality of science achievement. The experiment contrasts (a) schools with lead teachers who attended a summer institute and all of whose fourth- and fifth-grade teachers receive coaching and mentoring to implement the instructional guides, with (b) control schools whose teachers received the instructional guides but not the associated professional development. This research will reveal the causal impact of the teacher development activities on student learning of standards-based science. It will take place in Los Angeles, the largest district in the SCALE partnership and a context in which raising test scores in science is a great need and high priority.