ESCAPE: Equitable Science Curriculum Integrating Arts in Public Education

《公共教育艺术整合公平科学课程》（ESCAPE）解决了一个深刻的问题：越来越多的非英语母语小学生的科学学习缺陷。ESCAPE专注于南加州六个高需求学区，目标是3-5年级的英语学习者（ELLs）发展理解科学概念所需的学术语言。为了解决困难的科学词汇带来的学习挑战，该项目整合了艺术的更具体的策略来说明科学的更抽象的概念，利用这些学科在模式、因果、规模、比例和数量等横切概念的共享基础之间的相似性。3-5年级的重点是至关重要的，因为这个水平的理解对未来的成就至关重要。在加州大学欧文分校STEM教师的领导下（在加州大学欧文分校CalTeach职前科学教师发展计划的支持下），该合作伙伴关系包括来自奥兰治县教育部和六个学区的教师和管理人员、west教育顾问和塞格斯特罗姆艺术中心。ESCAPE期望增加：1)教师在地球、物理和生命科学方面的内容和教学知识；2)整合艺术促进英语学习；3)学生在科学和语言发展测试中的成绩。在四年的时间里，150名教师中的每一位都接受了220小时的以团队为基础的专业发展，包括使用科学工具包和通过艺术说明科学概念。项目有效性采用随机分配设计来衡量。六个地区的校长自愿为该项目提供学校服务；在每个地区，学校被随机分配到治疗或控制条件。通过对学生和教师的前后测试来衡量项目对学生和教师的科学知识和成就的影响。本研究的目的是衡量干预对教师科学内容和教学知识的影响，以及对学生科学成绩的影响。研究了因果机制，包括学校和教师特征如何改变影响以及对英语母语者和英语母语者的差异影响，以及这些差异影响背后的机制。定量分析基于多层回归模型，学生嵌套在教室（教师）嵌套在学校，并考虑了一系列控制变量。这些方法提供了对项目效果的无偏估计。定性数据包括教师执行日志、反馈表格和焦点小组。ESCAPE旨在提供可持续的教师专业发展，增加教师的科学内容和教学知识，同时克服阻碍学生STEM学习的障碍。在项目的5年时间里，150名教师将教授约21,000名学生，约180名CalTeach职前教师将接受培训。该项目的产品包括3-5年级的地球、物理和生命科学课程，以及一个基于视频的教师培训在线系统（提供通过艺术教学科学的大学证书），该系统将由CalTeach的职前教师和南加州学区的教师进行部署和测试。这将有助于在全国推广这一模式，以提高教师和学生的成绩。

The Equitable Science Curriculum for integrating Arts in Public Education (ESCAPE) addresses a profound problem: science learning deficits among the growing population of elementary students who are non-native English speakers. Focusing on six high-need Southern California school districts, ESCAPE targets grade 3-5 English Language Learners (ELLs) in developing the academic language needed to understand scientific concepts. To address learning challenges posed by difficult scientific vocabulary, the project integrates the arts' more concrete strategies to illustrate the sciences' more abstract concepts, exploiting similarities between these disciplines' shared basis in crosscutting concepts like pattern, cause/effect, scale, proportion, and quantity. The grade 3-5 focus is crucial because comprehension at this level is pivotal to future achievement. Led by University of California-Irvine STEM faculty (with support from UCI's CalTeach preservice science teacher development program), the partnership includes teachers and administrators from the Orange County Department of Education and six school districts, WestEd educational consultants, and the Segerstrom Center for the Arts. ESCAPE expects to increase: 1) teacher content and pedagogical knowledge in Earth, Physical, and Life Science; 2) integration of arts to boost ELL learning; and 3) student achievement on science and language development tests.Over four years, each of 150 teachers receives 220 hours of team-based professional development in using science kits and illustrating science concepts through the arts. Program effectiveness is measured using a random assignment design. Principals in each of the six districts volunteer their schools for the project; within each district schools are randomly assigned to treatment or control conditions. Program effects on students' and teachers' science knowledge and achievement are measured by pre- and post-tests for students and teachers. The goal of the research is to measure the effect of the intervention on teachers' science content and pedagogical knowledge, as well as the effect on student science achievement. Causal mechanisms are investigated, including how school and teacher characteristics modify the effects as well as differential effects on ELLs and native English speakers, and the mechanisms underlying these differential effects. The quantitative analyses is based on multilevel regression models, with students nested in classrooms (teachers) that are nested in schools, and accounting for a host of control variables. These methods provide unbiased estimates of program effects. Qualitative data include teacher implementation logs, feedback forms, and focus groups.ESCAPE aims to provide sustainable teacher professional development that increases teachers' science content and pedagogical knowledge, while overcoming impediments to ELLs' STEM learning. Over the project's five years, 150 teachers will teach ~21,000 students, and ~180 CalTeach preservice teachers will be trained. Among the project's products is an ELL-accessible curriculum for Earth, Physical, and Life Science in grades 3-5 and a video-based online system for training teachers (providing a university Certificate in Teaching Science through the Arts), which will be deployed and tested with CalTeach pre-service teachers and teachers in Southern California school districts. This will assist in the national dissemination of this model for improving teacher and student achievement.