Science Education Instruction for Elementary Students with Learning Disabilities

科学素养对每个人都至关重要。不幸的是，许多有学习障碍（LD）的学生在科学方面表现不佳，反过来，在STEM领域（科学、技术、工程和数学）的就业机会有限。对于有学习障碍的学生来说，他们在科学方面的困难很早就开始了，在小学早期，有学习障碍的学生和典型的同龄人之间的成绩差距很大。更令人担忧的是，这种科学成就差异会随着时间的推移而扩大。虽然有充分的证据表明，学习障碍学生的科学成绩较低，但人们对这种差异存在的原因知之甚少。我们对弱智学生在小学高年级接受的科学教学质量知之甚少，而高年级应该教授基础的科学内容和实践。因此，本项目旨在开展一项大规模的调查和观察研究，使用具有全国代表性的美国小学来调查四年级和五年级的LD学生的科学教育。该项目将提供有关LD学生接受科学教学的质量和类型以及这种教学如何与有效实践相结合的基础知识。研究人员将采用众包的方式，与10所不同的大学合作，收集和分析来自美国所有9个人口普查区20所学校的数据。这项全国性的众包合作将为美国小学和在这些学校接受教育的LD学生提供一个可推广的样本。通过对教师的调查、访谈和对科学教学的直接观察，研究人员将确定该领域目前未知的无数关键信息。对全国小学4、5年级的科学授课时间和教师制定的授课时间进行调查。数据收集将考虑有学习障碍的学生参加科学教学的频率，以及所提供的科学内容和所使用的课程。此外，该团队将量化有意义的参与（即教师和学生之间发生的教学互动）的学生在科学教学。他们将确定有意义的参与水平是否因以下因素而异：(a)科学教学的类型（例如，教学式的，基于实践的），(b)科学教学的质量（例如，与新兴的有效实践相一致），以及(c)为有学习障碍的学生提供的教学支持（例如，支架材料）。此外，该团队将调查科学教学特征是否与患有自闭症的学生取得更高的成绩有关。该项目由美国国家科学基金会的电子健康档案核心研究（ECR）项目支持。ECR项目强调在该领域产生基础知识的基础STEM教育研究。投资在至关重要、广泛和持久的关键领域：STEM学习和STEM学习环境，扩大STEM参与，以及STEM劳动力发展。该项目支持积累有力的证据，为理解、构建理论进行解释提供信息，并提出干预和创新建议，以应对STEM兴趣、教育、学习和参与方面的持续挑战。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。

Scientific literacy is essential for everyone. Unfortunately, many students with learning disabilities (LD) do not do well in science and, in turn, have limited career opportunities in STEM fields (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics). For students’ with LD, difficulties in science start early, with a large achievement gap between students with LD and typically achieving peers evident by early elementary school. More concerning is that this science achievement discrepancy widens over time. While lower science achievement for students with LD is well documented, little is known about why this disparity exists. We know little about the quality of science instruction students with LD receive during the upper elementary school years when foundational scientific content and practices should be taught. Therefore, this project aims to conduct a large-scale survey and observational study using a nationally representative of U.S. elementary schools to investigate the science education of 4th and 5th graders with LD. The project will provide foundational knowledge on the quality and type of science instruction students with LD receive and how this instruction aligns with effective practices. Using a crowdsourcing approach, researchers will work with ten different universities to collect and analyze data from 20 schools located across all nine U.S. census districts. This nationwide crowdsourced collaboration will allow for a generalizable sample of U.S. elementary schools and the students with LD educated in these schools. Through teacher surveys, interviews, and direct observations of science instruction, researchers will ascertain a myriad of critical information currently unknown to the field. The will investigate the time allotted to science instruction in 4th and 5th-grade elementary classrooms across the country and the amount of the allotted time enacted by teachers. Data collection will consider how often students with LD are present for science instruction, and the science content delivered and curricula used. Further, the team will quantify meaningful engagement (i.e., instructional interactions occurring between teachers and students) of students with LD during science instruction. They will ascertain if meaningful engagement levels vary by (a) type of science instruction (e.g., didactic, practice-based), (b) quality of science instruction (e.g., alignment with emerging effective practices), and (c) instructional supports (e.g., scaffolded material) provided to students with LD. Further, the team will investigate whether science instructional features are associated with higher achievement for students with LD.This project is supported by NSF's EHR Core Research (ECR) program. The ECR program emphasizes fundamental STEM education research that generates foundational knowledge in the field. Investments are made in critical areas that are essential, broad and enduring: STEM learning and STEM learning environments, broadening participation in STEM, and STEM workforce development. The program supports the accumulation of robust evidence to inform efforts to understand, build theory to explain, and suggest intervention and innovations to address persistent challenges in STEM interest, education, learning and participation.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.