An efficacy study of a comprehensive, middle school science curriculum that integrates disciplinary core ideas, science and engineering practices, and crosscutting concepts

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（rmt），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。SRI国际（SRI）将与劳伦斯科学馆（Lawrence Hall of Science）合作，对一门名为Amplify Science middle School （ASMS）的6-8年级新综合科学课程进行有效性研究。学校的科学课程集学科核心思想、科学与工程实践、横切概念于一体。这项研究的总体目标是了解课程对学生成绩、课堂实施和教师实践的影响，这些影响与“K-12科学教育框架”和“下一代科学标准”的建议有关。虽然完全采用NGSS的州的数量徘徊在20个左右，但另有近20个州将该框架或NGSS的大部分内容纳入其州框架。目前，为该框架设计的课程材料数量相对较少，因此ngss设计的课程的有效性证据基础有限。随着越来越多的课程材料可用于支持框架愿景，科学教育领域需要对课程的有效性和实施课程所需的条件进行严格的研究。asm是霍尔第一个全面的6-8年级课程，专门为满足框架和NGSS的愿景而设计。在包括城市、农村和郊区学校在内的各种环境中，超过475名教师和34,000名学生对asm进行了实地试验，结果显示对学生成绩有积极影响，这为目前进行大规模疗效试验提供了令人信服的理由。该研究将在实验设计中使用定量和定性方法，以检查环境因素与学生学习成果之间的关系，以帮助解释结果。因此，这项研究对于推动教育研究人员增进对如何在尝试实施下一代科学课程材料的地区进行有意义的研究和支持教与学的理解将是重要的。工作将在拥有大量来自STEM领域代表性不足群体的学生的地区进行，以便教育工作者能够更好地了解与ngss一致的课程在促进科学教育的可及性和公平性方面的前景。研究小组将从2018-19学年开始在七年级的课堂上进行随机作业效能研究，并在2019-20学年对这些学生进行八年级随访。这两种情况下的教师都将在NGSS上获得专业发展；在治疗条件下的教师也将在使用asm材料方面获得专业发展。招募目标是加利福尼亚州和/或华盛顿州6个大中型地区的48所中学。研究人员将尝试招募一个地区的所有中学和所有七年级的科学教师。预计，每所学校的7年级科学课将由平均2名教师负责3个学科，每个学科有30名学生，教师人数将达到96人，学生人数将达到8640人。所有的学生都应该有机会学习科学。本研究旨在得出关于课程对那些在STEM中历史代表性不足的学生高度集中的地区的影响的有效推论。这项工作还将通过帮助确定成功实施ngss设计的课程材料所需的条件，促进全国范围内支持基于标准的科学教学改革的更大努力。这些发现将为新课程材料的投资提供一个重要的基础，并将引起科学教育和学习科学工作者的强烈兴趣，也将引起关心扩大严格课程规模的地区领导人和决策者的强烈兴趣。

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 (RMTs). 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.SRI International (SRI) in partnership with Lawrence Hall of Science (the Hall) will conduct an efficacy study of a new comprehensive science curriculum for middle grades 6-8 called Amplify Science Middle School (ASMS). This school science curriculum integrates disciplinary core ideas, science and engineering practices, and crosscutting concepts. The overarching aim of the study will be to understand the impact of the curriculum on student achievement, classroom implementation, and teacher practice in relation to the recommendations of "A Framework for K-12 Science Education" and the Next Generation of Science Standards. While the number of states fully adopting NGSS hovers at around 20, nearly another 20 states have either incorporated the Framework or substantial portions of the NGSS into their state frameworks. Currently, the number of curriculum materials that have been designed for the Framework are relatively few, and thus the efficacy evidence basis for NGSS-designed curricula is limited. As more and more curriculum materials become available for supporting the Framework vision, the science education field needs rigorous research on the efficacy of curricula and the conditions required to implement them. ASMS is the Hall's first comprehensive 6-8 grade curriculum that has been designed specifically to meet the vision of the Framework and NGSS. Field trials of ASMS with more than 475 teachers and 34,000 students in a wide variety of settings, including urban, rural and suburban schools, have shown positive impact on student achievement, providing a compelling reason for a large-scale efficacy trial at this time.The study will involve both quantitative and qualitative methods within an experimental design that will allow the examination of relations between contextual factors and student learning gains to help explain the results. Thus, this study will be important for moving education researchers toward increased understanding of how to meaningfully study and support teaching and learning in districts that will be trying to implement the next generation of science curriculum materials. Work will be conducted in districts with large numbers of students from groups that are underrepresented in STEM fields so that educators can better understand the promise of NGSS-aligned curricula in promoting access and equity in science education. The research team will conduct a random assignment efficacy study in 7th grade classrooms beginning in academic year 2018-19 and following up with these students as 8th graders in academic year 2019-20. Teachers in both conditions will receive professional development on the NGSS; teachers in the treatment condition will also receive professional development in the use of the ASMS materials. The recruiting target is a sample of 48 middle schools within up to 6 medium to large districts in California and/or Washington. The researchers will attempt to recruit all middle schools and all 7th gradescience teachers in a district. It is anticipated that each school will have an average of two teachers teaching 3 sections of 7th grade science with 30 students per section for an approximate total of 96 teachers and 8,640 students. All students should have opportunities to learn science. This study will aim to draw valid inferences about the impact of curricula in districts with high concentrations of students who have been historically underrepresented in STEM. This work will also contribute to the larger, nationwide effort to support standards-based instructional reforms in science by helping to identify conditions needed for successful implementation of NGSS-designed curriculum materials. The findings will provide an important basis for investments in new curriculum materials and will be of strong interest to those in science education and the learning sciences, as well as to district leaders and policymakers concerned with scaling up of rigorous curriculum.