Persistence of Teacher Change in Rural Schools: Assessing the Short- and Long-term Impact of Professional Development on K-2 Science Instruction

本研究旨在考察由加州州资助的K-2农村教师和小地区科学技术援助项目（K-2 STARTS）期间教师技能提高的持续性。K-2 STARTS为加州16个农村学区的教师提供了四年的专业发展，这些学区的学生传统上缺乏服务。39名教师每人接受了110小时的专业发展。项目数据表明，该项目通过增加教师内容知识、教学内容知识、科学与扫盲相结合的能力以及使用基于研究的教学战略实现了其目标。K-2 STARTS还提高了教师使用科学资源以及与本地区和其他农村地区教师建立网络的能力。本研究以35位教师为研究对象，进行为期两年的追踪研究。它使用的措施，从原来的评估，其中包括教师调查和访谈，课堂观察，调查学校管理人员，教师开发的单位文物，学生科学笔记本，并增加了两个措施，行政访谈和学校/地区的文件。在最后一年，该项目正在进行数据分析和传播。该项目正在探索教师的知识和技能随着时间的推移而持续存在，以及他们继续使用科学教学实践。它还将研究学校/地区对科学教育的持续支持。外部评估由凯利、彼得森和联合公司的洛蕾塔·凯利博士进行。它通过形成性和总结性组成部分侧重于项目进展。对教师专业发展影响的纵向研究很少。通过K-2 STARTS专业发展获得的新知识和技能的持续性，以及它们随着时间的推移而衰减的原因和程度，这是一个重要的目标。

This research study is examining the persistence of improved teacher skills achieved during the K-2 Science & Technology Assistance for Rural Teachers and Small Districts project (K-2 STARTS) funded by the State of California. K-2 STARTS provided four years of professional development to teachers in 16 rural school districts in California with high populations of traditionally underserved students. 39 teachers each received 110 hours of professional development. Project data indicate that the project met its goals by increasing teacher content knowledge, pedagogical content knowledge, abilities to integrate science and literacy and to use research-based instructional strategies. K-2 STARTS also improved the capacity of teachers to use science resources and to network with teachers from their own and other rural districts. This project is doing a longitudinal research study by extending data collection for 35 teachers for two years after the end of K-2 STARTS. It is using the measures from the original evaluation, which include teacher surveys and interviews, classroom observations, surveys for school administrators, teacher-developed unit artifacts, and student science notebooks, and adding two more measures, administrative interviews and school/district documents. In the final year, the project is doing data analysis and dissemination. The project is exploring the persistence of the knowledge and skills of the teachers over time, as well as their continued use of science instructional practices. It will also study the persistence of school/district support for science education.External evaluation is being conducted by Dr. Loretta Kelley of Kelley, Peterson, and Associates, Inc. It focuses on project progress through formative and summative components. Longitudinal studies of the effects of teacher professional development are rare. The increased knowledge concerning the persistence of the new knowledge and skills obtained through K-2 STARTS professional development, and why and to what extent they decay over time, is a significant goal.