Standards

Refinement of an Instrument Measuring Science Teachers’ Knowledge of Language Through Mixed Method

Teachers must know how to use language to support students in knowledge generation environments that align to the Next Generation Science Standards. To measure this knowledge, this study refines a survey on teachers’ knowledge of language as an epistemic tool. Rasch modelling was used to examine 15 items’ fit statistics and the functioning of a previously-designed questionnaire’s response categories. Cronbach’s alpha reliability was also examined. Additionally, interviews were used to investigate teachers’ interpretations of each item to identify ambiguous items.

Author/Presenter

Chenchen Ding

Catherine Lammert

Gavin W. Fulmer

Brian Hand

Jee K. Suh

Lead Organization(s)
Year
2023
Short Description

Teachers must know how to use language to support students in knowledge generation environments that align to the Next Generation Science Standards. To measure this knowledge, this study refines a survey on teachers’ knowledge of language as an epistemic tool.

Design Considerations for a Middle School Computer Science Pedagogical Content Knowledge Instrument

K- 12 Computer Science (CS) education is developing rapidly but still lacks a comprehensive measure for CS teachers’ pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) . We respond to this need by describing the design of a CS-PCK instrument for ‘Algorithms and Programming’ that measures three broad constructs: (a) teachers’ understanding of standards and standards-alignment, (b) teachers’ formative assessment practices, and (c) teachers’ self-efficacy for teaching and assessing CS.

Author/Presenter

Satabdi Basu

Daisy Rutstein

Carol Tate

Arif Rachmatullah

Hui Yang

Lead Organization(s)
Year
2022
Short Description

K- 12 Computer Science (CS) education is developing rapidly but still lacks a comprehensive measure for CS teachers’ pedagogical content knowledge (PCK). We respond to this need by describing the design of a CS-PCK instrument for ‘Algorithms and Programming’ that measures three broad constructs: (a) teachers’ understanding of standards and standards-alignment, (b) teachers’ formative assessment practices, and (c) teachers’ self-efficacy for teaching and assessing CS.

Standards-Aligned Instructional Supports to Promote Computer Science Teachers' Pedagogical Content Knowledge

The rapid expansion of K-12 CS education has made it critical to support CS teachers, many of whom are new to teaching CS, with the necessary resources and training to strengthen their understanding of CS concepts and how to effectively teach CS. CS teachers are often tasked with teaching different curricula using different programming languages in different grades or during different school years, and tend to receive different professional development (PD) for each curriculum they are required to teach.

Author/Presenter
Satabdi Basu

Daisy Rutstein

Carol Tate

Arif Rachmatullah

Hui Yang

Lead Organization(s)
Year
2022
Short Description

This position paper advocates supporting CS teacher professional learning by supplementing existing curriculum-specific teacher PD with standards-aligned PD that focuses on teachers' conceptual understanding of CS standards and ability to adapt instruction based on student understanding of concepts underlying the CS standards.

Identifying the Roles of Science Teacher Leaders in Practice

Science teacher leaders have been identified as an important lever for the implementation of science education reform. However, science reform implementation is locally controlled and not uniform across districts; therefore, the work of STLs within a reform context can vary. In this descriptive case study, we explore the work of 11 science teacher leaders who support science education reform in a variety of organizational contexts.

Author/Presenter

Sara C. Heredia

Michelle Phillips

Sarah Stallings

Ti’Era Worsley

Julie H. Yu

Carrie D. Allen

Year
2023
Short Description

Science teacher leaders have been identified as an important lever for the implementation of science education reform. However, science reform implementation is locally controlled and not uniform across districts; therefore, the work of STLs within a reform context can vary. In this descriptive case study, we explore the work of 11 science teacher leaders who support science education reform in a variety of organizational contexts. Through the analysis of multiple data sources, we describe the roles that these science teacher leaders take up in their work and identified how variation in these roles related to localized contexts and priorities for science education.

Training a New Generation of Problem Solvers: How Can Education Programs Develop the Problem-Solving Skills of Today's Schoolchildren and Tomorrow's STEM Workforce?

Songer, N.B. (2022 April) Training a new generation of problem solvers: How can education programs develop the problem-solving skills of today's schoolchildren and tomorrow's STEM workforce? Open Access Government.

Author/Presenter

Nancy Butler Songer

Lead Organization(s)
Year
2022
Short Description

This article addresses the need and potential for students to develop problem-solving skills as part of STEM learning.

Curriculum Materials Designed for the Next Generation Science Standards Show Promise

This report describes initial findings from a study of middle school science curriculum materials that were designed to promote learning as called for by the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS).

WestEd led an independent randomized controlled trial to evaluate the efficacy of the NGSS-designed Amplify Science Middle School (ASMS) curriculum. This study examined the impact of the materials in 7th grade classrooms across three school districts in two states.

Author/Presenter

Christopher J. Harris

Mingyu Feng

Robert Murphy

Daisy W. Rutstein

Lead Organization(s)
Year
2022
Short Description

This report describes initial findings from a study of middle school science curriculum materials that were designed to promote learning as called for by the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS).

Modeling in Science Education: A Synthesis of Recent Discovery Research PreK-12 Projects

This review synthesizes findings from 18 NSF-funded projects, totaling nearly $22 million, that studied scientific modeling in science education from prekindergarten to Grade 12. The projects typically used descriptive designs to understand digital and nondigital modeling resources that help students explore scientific phenomena. Further, the projects provide initial evidence that resources supporting student modeling, such as modeling platforms and computer simulations, can promote science learning.

Key Findings

Author/Presenter

Jonathan Margolin

Isabella Pinerua

Dean Gerdeman

Year
2022
Short Description

This review synthesizes findings from 18 NSF-funded projects, totaling nearly $22 million, that studied scientific modeling in science education from prekindergarten to Grade 12. The projects typically used descriptive designs to understand digital and nondigital modeling resources that help students explore scientific phenomena. Further, the projects provide initial evidence that resources supporting student modeling, such as modeling platforms and computer simulations, can promote science learning.

Influence of Features of Curriculum Materials on the Planned Curriculum

The study explored the verb clauses and thematic development evident in curriculum materials and in transcripts of teachers planning lessons using the materials. A central argument is that though teacher characteristics influence the ways they plan lessons with curriculum materials, the materials themselves influence teachers’ planned lessons via the ways mathematics is construed in the materials. We used verb clause and thematic analysis to analyze the features of curriculum materials and teachers’ lesson planning using those materials.

Author/Presenter

Jeffrey Choppin

Jon Davis

Amy Roth McDuffie

Corey Drake

Lead Organization(s)
Year
2021
Short Description

This study explored the verb clauses and thematic development evident in curriculum materials and in transcripts of teachers planning lessons using the materials.

NGSS-Aligned Assessment Tasks for Grades 3–5

This web-based portal offers free, technology-enhanced science assessment tasks for Grades 3-5. Designed for use by educators, researchers, and the public, the tasks are aligned to the NGSS performance expectations and have been developed with elementary teachers.

Development of these tasks and associated resources will be ongoing, throughout the duration of the project period. These updates may include new and revised tasks, tasks for additional performance expectations, task rubrics, and other teacher materials and guides to support classroom assessment.

Author/Presenter

Improving Multi-Dimensional Assessment and Instruction Project Team

Year
2021
Short Description

This web-based portal offers free, technology-enhanced science assessment tasks for Grades 3-5. Designed for use by educators, researchers, and the public, the tasks are aligned to the NGSS performance expectations and have been developed with elementary teachers.

NGSS-Aligned Assessment Tasks for Grades 3–5

This web-based portal offers free, technology-enhanced science assessment tasks for Grades 3-5. Designed for use by educators, researchers, and the public, the tasks are aligned to the NGSS performance expectations and have been developed with elementary teachers.

Development of these tasks and associated resources will be ongoing, throughout the duration of the project period. These updates may include new and revised tasks, tasks for additional performance expectations, task rubrics, and other teacher materials and guides to support classroom assessment.

Author/Presenter

Improving Multi-Dimensional Assessment and Instruction Project Team

Year
2021
Short Description

This web-based portal offers free, technology-enhanced science assessment tasks for Grades 3-5. Designed for use by educators, researchers, and the public, the tasks are aligned to the NGSS performance expectations and have been developed with elementary teachers.