Professional Development Models and Outcomes for Science Teachers (PDMOST)

研究人员建议描述目前在K-12科学教师专业发展中采用的多种方法，并衡量这些方法在增加教师的科学知识方面的有效性。该项目将为K-12年级的理科教师研究150个专业发展计划。样本将涵盖K-4、5-8和9-12级频段。主题将包括生命科学(生物学)、物理科学(物理、化学)、地球和空间科学。这些项目通过竞争性的联邦拨款为地方实施提供资金(由大学、博物馆、学校和其他机构提供)，由州和地方政府、私人机构资助，并由许多联邦机构实施。到目前为止，还没有一个全国性的问卷调查和研究教师专业发展计划的有效性，在科学，使用共同的教师教学实践的结果衡量标准。如果成功，这项研究的发现将使专业发展提供者和政策制定者能够设计更有效的教师专业发展计划，并应该提供全国教师专业发展的科学景观。具体地说，研究人员将专注于评估教师在学科知识和学生误解知识方面的收获，并将这些与专业发展计划设计特征相关联。来自代表性不足群体的学生的教师将被过度抽样，以确保可以对这一群体进行特殊分析。在分析结果时将使用分层线性建模。该项目将产生一个网站、会议报告以及学术和专业出版物。

The investigators propose to characterize the multitude of approaches currently employed in the professional development of K-12 teachers of science, and to measure the effectiveness of such approaches in increasing teacher knowledge in the sciences. The project will study 150 professional development programs for teachers of science in grades K-12. The sample will cover grade bands K-4, 5-8, and 9-12. Subject matter will include life science (biology), physical science (physics, chemistry), earth and space science. Such programs are funded through competitive federal grants for local implementation (by universities, museums, schools, and others), by state and local governments, by private institutions, and conducted by many federal agencies. To date, there has not been a national inventory and study of the effectiveness of teacher professional development programs in science, using common outcome measures of teacher instructional practice. If successful, the findings from this research will allow professional development providers and policymakers to design more effective teacher professional development programs and should provide a national landscape of teacher professional development in science.In specific, the researchers will focus on assessing gains in teachers' subject matter knowledge and knowledge of student misconceptions, and will correlate these with professional development program design features. Teachers of students from underrepresented groups will be oversampled to ensure special analyses for this group are possible. Hierarchical linear modeling will be used in analyzing the results. The project will result in a website, conference presentations, and scholarly and professional publications.