Facilitating Teachers' and Young Children's Science Learning through Iterative Cycles of Teacher Professional Development

专业发展对于支持幼儿教师设计和实施新一代科学标准（NGSS）所设想的促进幼儿科学素养的课程的能力至关重要。然而，很少有研究考察了专业发展对幼儿教师科学知识和技能的影响，以及教师知识和技能的变化与学生学习的关系。这个专业发展项目以纽约市公立学校的一个多元化地区为背景，在一系列周六的研讨会上，以幼儿园和一年级教师为样本。在研讨会期间，教师们单独或共同设计和测试新的课程计划，以提高教师帮助幼儿像科学家一样思考和行动的能力。此外，教师单独或共同构建课程，将科学内容与年轻学习者的文化背景、兴趣和先前知识联系起来。这个项目在智力上很重要，因为它增加了如何让幼儿参与科学探究的知识库。在实践方面，该项目为教师提供了一系列经过实地测试的成果和产品，展示了如何将科学学习经验有效地融入幼儿课程、教学和评估中。探索研究K-12项目（DRK-12）旨在通过研究和开发创新资源、模型和工具，显著提高pre -12学生和教师对科学、技术、工程和数学（STEM）的学习和教学。DRK-12计划中的项目建立在STEM教育的基础研究和先前的研究和开发工作的基础上，为拟议的项目提供了理论和实证依据。该项目采用迭代过程，教师在专业学习社区（PLC）中独立和协作工作。在2年的时间里，这些plc:(1)在课堂上实施之前，协同设计，现场测试和完善科学综合课程；(2)与其他参与的教师和研究项目人员进行面对面和虚拟会议；(3)接受指导和支持，进一步加强NGSS教学的学习。项目前后的措施将评估专业发展项目对10名幼儿园和10名一年级教师的影响，这些教师在全国最大的公立学校系统之一为200名不同的学生提供服务。具体而言，该计划将审查：(a)教师的教案；(b)在课堂上实施他们的课程；(c)学生作业样本；(d)学生的学习行为。将采用定性和定量措施来确定项目的预期成果，包括：幼儿教师有效专业发展的特点；提高幼儿园和一年级教师基于NGSS的知识、技能和性格；提高了学生的科学学习。通过这种方式，该项目有可能促进在幼儿阶段采用新的STEM学习、教学和评估方法。

Professional development is crucial to supporting early childhood teachers' ability to design and implement lessons that promote young children's science literacy as envisioned by the new Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS). Yet few studies have examined the impact of professional development on early childhood teachers' science knowledge and skills and in turn, how changes in teachers' knowledge and skills relate to student learning. Set within the context of a diverse district in the New York City Public Schools, this professional development project engages a sample of kindergarten and 1st-grade teachers in a series of Saturday workshops. During the workshops teachers work individually and together to design and test new lesson plans that enhance teachers' abilities to help young children think and act like a scientist. Moreover, teachers work individually and together to construct lessons that connect science content to young learners' cultural backgrounds, interests and prior knowledge. This project is important intellectually because it adds to the knowledge base of how to engage young children in scientific inquiry. In practical terms, the project offers teachers a set of field-tested outcomes and products demonstrating how to effectively embed science-learning experiences into early childhood curriculum, instruction and assessment. The Discovery Research K-12 program (DRK-12) seeks to significantly enhance the learning and teaching of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) by preK-12 students and teachers, through research and development of innovative resources, models and tools. Projects in the DRK-12 program build on fundamental research in STEM education and prior research and development efforts that provide theoretical and empirical justification for proposed projects. This project uses an iterative process where teachers work on their own and collaboratively in Professional Learning Communities (PLC). Over the course of 2 years, these PLCs: (1) collaboratively design, field test and refine science-integrated lessons before implementing them in their classrooms; (2) participate in face-to-face and virtual meetings with other participating teachers and research project staff; and (3) receive mentoring and support to further reinforce their learning for NGSS teaching. Pre- and post-project measures will assess the professional development program's impact on 10 kindergarten and 10 first-grade teachers who serve a diverse array of 200 students in one of the nation's largest public school systems. Specifically, the project will examine: (a) teachers' lesson plans; (b) implementation of their lessons in the classroom; (c) samples of student work; and (d) students' learning behaviors. Qualitative and quantitative measures will be used to determine the project's anticipated outcomes which include: the characteristics of effective professional development for early childhood teachers; improved NGSS- based knowledge, skills and dispositions of kindergarten and first-grade teachers; and improved student science learning. In this way the project has the potential to catalyze new approaches to STEM learning, teaching and assessment at the early childhood level.