Reclaiming Access to Inquiry-based Science Education (RAISE) for Incarcerated Students

这个项目的独特之处在于，它针对的对象可以说是美国教育系统中最脆弱的学习者：被关在少年教养设施中的青少年。在这种背景下，科学教育面临的三个主要问题是：(1)课程和资源不足；(2)教师准备和支持不足；(3)不同类型的学习者群体，其中许多人有残疾，不投入，和/或缺乏阅读和数学技能。如果不能解决这些挑战和监禁青少年更广泛的教育需求，将对社会产生广泛影响，因此该项目是及时的，具有广泛影响的巨大潜力。为了解决这些问题，项目人员将采用迭代开发过程来开发课程，旨在增加对科学内容、概念和探究技能的获取和掌握，这些对21世纪STEM劳动力的职业至关重要。然后，他们将为教师做好准备，让他们在马萨诸塞州的青少年教养设施进行试点测试。具体来说，研究人员将：(1)使用共同核心州标准和通用学习设计原则来调整和调整现有的生物学课程；(2)为一个课程单元开发所有材料、数字支持和支架、虚拟学习环境和实验室、评估和教师专业发展材料；(3)对所有材料进行可用性评估，并根据评估结果，完善并最终确定两个课程单元；(4)培养教师在青少年矫正教育环境中实施生物学课程的能力；(5)开展准实验研究，考察生物课程对学生的内容、知识和探究技能、兴趣和参与水平的影响；(6)将调查结果传播给不同的选民群体。最终产品将是一个学习通用设计，基于项目的探究科学计划，包括虚拟学习环境、虚拟实验室、数字支架和支持，以促进监禁青少年的科学学习。

This project is unique in targeting arguably the most vulnerable learners in the American education system: youth confined in juvenile corrections facilities. Three primary problems confronting science education in these settings are: (1) inadequate curriculum and resources; (2) inadequately prepared and supported teachers; and (3) a heterogeneous group of learners, many of whom have disabilities, are disengaged, and/or lack reading and mathematics skills. Failure to address these challenges and the broader educational needs of incarcerated juveniles has broad implications for society, so this project is timely and has high potential for broad impacts. To address these problems project personnel will employ an iterative development process to develop a curriculum designed to increase access to and mastery of science content, concepts, and inquiry skills critical for careers in the 21st Century STEM workforce. They will then prepare teachers to implement the program in pilot testing in juvenile corrections facilities in Massachusetts. Specifically, the investigators will: (1) align and adapt an existing biology curriculum using Common Core State Standards and Universal Design for Learning principles; (2) develop all materials, digital supports and scaffolds, virtual learning environments and labs, assessments, and teacher professional development materials for one curriculum unit; (3) conduct usability evaluation of all materials and use the results to refine and finalize two curriculum units; (4) prepare teachers to implement the biology program in juvenile corrections education settings; (5) conduct a quasi-experimental study to examine the impacts of the biology program on the content knowledge and inquiry skills of students, their interests, and their levels of engagement; and, (6) disseminate the findings to various constituency groups. The final product will be a Universal Design for Learning, project-based inquiry science program that includes virtual learning environments, virtual laboratories, and digital scaffolds and supports that promote scientific learning for incarcerated youth.