Testing the Efficacy of the Strategic Observation and Reflection (SOAR) for Math Professional Learning Program

专业发展是目前在课堂上的教师学习新的数学教与学的最佳实践和提高他们的实践的重要途径。对于哪种类型的专业发展（PD）和教师指导计划支持教师改进实践并最终导致学生学习的收益，人们知之甚少。这个项目的目的是开发、实施和测试一个专业发展项目——数学SOAR，以培养导师和教师提高英语学习者的学术语言发展和数学内容理解的能力。探索研究preK-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preK-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。本研究将检验策略观察与反思（SOAR）对数学专业发展计划的效果。混合方法研究旨在回答几个研究问题：(1)教师参与SOAR for Math对治疗学校当前和最近的3-6年级英语学习者的学生成绩结果有什么影响？(2)对于学校教师在对当前和近期的英语学习者进行学术语言和读写能力发展指导方面的知识和实践，特别是知识/使用量表的分数，数学SOAR的影响是什么？(3)“数学翱翔计划”对治疗导师在学术语言和数学教学方面的知识和实践有何影响？一项随机对照试验将在加州一个学区的80所小学进行。提供三至六年级通识教育学生的学校将有资格参加。研究小组将随机分配40所学校提供SOAR for Math培训，以指导教师，并将40所学校组成一个对照组，接受常规的专业发展。每所学校将有两名导师参与研究。措施将包括州数学成绩和各种观察和问卷调查，以评估实施的保真度。数据将使用分层线性建模来分析嵌套的数据结构。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

Professional development is an important way for teachers who are currently in classrooms to learn about new best practices in mathematics teaching and learning and improve their practice. Little is known about what types of professional development (PD) and teacher mentoring programs support teachers' improved practices and ultimately lead to gains in student learning. The purpose of this project is to develop, implement and test a professional development program, SOAR for Math, to build capacity for mentors and teachers to improve English learner's academic language development and mathematical content understanding. The Discovery Research preK-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 study will test the efficacy of the Strategic Observation and Reflection (SOAR) for Math professional development program. The mixed methods study is designed to answer several research questions: (1) What is the impact of teachers' participation in SOAR for Math on student achievement outcomes for current and recent grade 3-6 English learner students in treatment schools? (2) What is the impact of SOAR for Math on treatment school teachers' knowledge and practices related to their academic language and literacy development instruction for current and recent English learner students, specifically scores on the Knowledge/Use Scale? (3) What is the impact of SOAR for Math on treatment mentors' knowledge and practices related to their academic language and math instruction? A randomized controlled trial will be conducted in 80 elementary schools in one California school district. Schools serving third- through sixth-grade general education students will be eligible to participate. The research team will randomly assign 40 schools to provide SOAR for Math training to mentor teachers and 40 schools to comprise a control group receiving business-as-usual professional development. Two mentors per school will participate in the study. Measures will include state math scores and a variety of observations and questionnaires to assess fidelity of implementation. Data will be analyzed using hierarchical linear modeling to account for the nested data structure.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.