Powerpoint template for scientific posters (Swarthmore College)

1
A successful model of intensive professional
development in science and mathematics
education Constance K. Barsky Learning by
Redesign, Department of Physics, The Ohio State
University, Columbus, OH 43210 USA



The Discovery goal
Introduction The Ohio Mathematics and Science
Initiative, Project Discovery (1991-1996), was
part of the US National Science Foundation
Statewide Systemic Initiatives (SSI) program for
improving the teaching and learning of science
and mathematics. (Fig. 1) In addition to federal
funding, Ohio received matching funds from the
state legislature.
Discovery Inquiry Test
The Landscape Study
I dont think you can do Project Discovery
without becoming changed. If you believe in
Project Discovery, there is no way you can go
back to the way you were teaching before.

Discovery teacher
The goal of Discovery was to improve student
learning of science and mathematics by providing
teachers with the knowledge, skills, and
information needed to change their individual
teaching practices. All of the program
components were directed toward providing an
effective and replicable professional development
experience. These components were modeled on the
experiences with the implementation of Physics by
Inquiry by the Physics Education Group of the
University of Washington. (1) A trainer of
trainers model for scale up was based upon
Reading Recovery leadership training in the US.
By 1997 over 2000 teachers (Fig 6) had
participated in Discovery institutes, probably
reaching over 45,000 students. In 1995-1996, as
part of the Discoverys evaluation, teachers and
students in over 100 randomly selected urban and
rural schools across Ohio responded to
questionnaires. In addition, science and
mathematics classes were observed and student
learning was assessed.
To assess student learning, Discovery Inquiry
Tests were developed from the National Assessment
of Education Progress (NAEP) public release items
for eighth grade science. The test questions,
selected by Discovery faculty, stressed
conceptual understanding and problem-solving. By
the final year of SSI Discovery in 1996 over
5000 students had been tested using these
materials. Additional tests were administered
under the auspices of the Landscape Study through
1999, reaching 2000 more students. The test
results demonstrated that the professional
development offered by Discovery was correlated
with a positive impact on student achievement,
including minority students as represented by
African-American students especially in urban
settings.
Program components
Summer institutes (6-weeks long) in mathematics,
biology, and physical science were initially
taught on two host site campuses, The Ohio State
University and Miami University. Leadership
Teams, consisting of one faculty member from
other universities and two K-12 teachers, were
trained at the host sites to deliver duplicate
institutes in each of eight regions. Six academic
year professional development seminars were
conducted following the summer institutes. Each
teacher received 120-160 contact hours of
training.
Fig. 3. A positive and significant improvement
in attitudes towards inquiry-based science
teaching was observed for teachers participating
in Discovery. The data was collected from before
attending the Discovery institutes (Year 0) to
one to three years following their training. Note
that the changes were sustained over time. (2,3)
Fig. 1. Twenty five states and Puerto Rico were
funded by the SSI of the National Science
Foundation. Most received sustained funding for
five years.
Fig. 9. Students in classrooms taught by
Discovery teachers, on average, demonstrated
improved performance on the Discovery Inquiry
Test developed from the public release items of
the National Assessment of Education Progress
(Discovery Brochure, 2000)
Discovery mission
Fig. 6. Locations of teachers who participated
in Discovery institutes from 1992-1996. Heavier
densities of dots represent counties of greater
population (major cities in Ohio).
In Ohio Discoverys mission was to increase the
quality of teaching and learning of science and
mathematics through professional development of
teachers in the context of overall systemic
change (Fig. 2). The initial focus was on
teachers of middle school grades (5-9) when all
students are still enrolled in mathematics and
science.
Principles of institutes

• Develop a sound understanding of basic
  biological, mathematical and physical science
• Develop a firm understanding of inquiry learning
  and teaching and cooperative learning
• Explore pedagogical implications of inquiry
  methods and cooperative learning at the middle
  school level

The questionnaires assessed attitudes about
science and mathematics. Each Discovery teacher
was paired with a non-Discovery teacher in the
same school whose individual characteristics and
classroom characteristics matched those of the
Discovery teacher as closely as possible. The
questionnaire responses of Discovery and
non-Discovery participants were compared. In
Fig. 7 the teachers responses are supported by
those of their students. And in open-ended
questions about classroom experiences, the
students were able to articulate differences in
classroom practice that reflected teaching
methods related to increased understanding. In
Fig. 8 student views about science and
mathematics being more for boys than girls was
observed to be significantly different for
students of Discovery teachers as compared to
students who were in classrooms without Discovery
trained teachers.
Fig. 4. A positive and significant increase in
inquiry based teaching practices was observed for
teachers participating in Discovery institutes.
These changes were sustained over time, for both
mathematics and science teachers. (2)
The physical science institute utilized Physics
by Inquiry materials on properties of matter,
heat and temperature, electrical energy and
power, and light and optics. The mathematics
institute topics were selected from those
emphasized by the National Council of Teachers of
Mathematics. The life science institute was
developed by faculty from colleges and
universities in Ohio and covered a variety of
topics.
Impact on students
Fig. 10. African-American students of Discovery
trained teachers demonstrated improved
performance on the Discovery Inquiry Test
developed from the public release items of the
National Assessment of Education Progress.
(Discovery Brochure, 2000)
Evaluation and assessment were critical
components of the Discovery model. Several means
of obtaining information from students were
developed to assess classroom practices,
attitudes towards science, and amount of science
learning. The Landscape Study incorporated a
multi-level design to combine a variety of
qualitative and quantitative data. It utilized
data sources such as questionnaires, tests,
direct field-based observations, interviews, and
artifacts collected during site visits (e.g.,
official school documents and brochures, books,
handouts, program sheets, tests). Fig. 5 shows
the demographics of the students that
participated in the Landscape Study.
Fig. 2. A comparison of responses from subject
specialists in urban school districts and urban
university faculty about what would most improve
mathematics and science classes clearly revealed
that professional development and instructional
strategies were most important for teachers.
Lessons learned

• Improved student achievement is linked to changes
  in teaching practices. Both majority and minority
  students benefit from changes in classroom
  attitudes and strategies. (3,5)
• Intensive professional development produces
  changes in classroom teaching attitudes and
  strategies that are sustained over time. (2,4)
• Research validated materials and strategies are
  replicable across sites and facilitators and the
  results are similar. (2,5)

Impact on teachers
The expected outcomes of improved professional
development included the transformation of
behavior in the classroom that would be sustained
over time, transferable to different contexts,
and predictable in a wide variety of settings. It
was also expected that the teachers would develop
the ability to conduct action research in their
classrooms and redesign curricula as
appropriate. Changes in teaching behavior and
strategies were expected to result in improved
student performance. As part of Discoverys
independent evaluation, the attitudes toward
inquiry, preparation to use inquiry and use of
inquiry-based instructional practices by teachers
was investigated over a four-year period using
hierarchical linear modeling. By year four, data
had been collected on 701 science teachers. These
data included individual teacher characteristics
such as involvement in reform activities, years
of experience, gender, ethnicity, and grade
level and school characteristics such as climate
for reform, percentage of minority students,
public or private funding. After controlling
for differences in initial status, teachers
attitudes (Fig. 3), preparation, and practices
(Fig. 4) strongly increased after involvement
with Discovery with the gains sustained over
time.
Context for Ohio
Total Population 11,000,000 74 Urban
12 Appalachian 11 African American
1 Latino K-12 Population 1,700,000 17 Ethnic
minorities Middle school population
550,000 School districts 612
Literature Cited

1. McDermott, L.C., P.S. Schaffer and M.L.
   Rosenquist and the Physics Education Group at the
   University of Washington (1996). Physics by
   Inquiry, Volumes I II (John Wiley and Sons, New
   York).
2. Supovitz, J.A., D.P. Mayer and J. B.Kahle
   (2000). Promoting inquiry-based instructional
   practice the longitudinal impact of professional
   development in the context of reform, Education
   Policy 14 (3) 331-356.
3. Damnjanovic, A. (1999). Attitudes toward
   inquiry-based teaching Difference between
   pre-service and in-service teachers, School
   Science and Mathematics 99 (2) 71-76.
4. Kahle, J.B. and W. Boone (2000). Strategies to
   improve student science learning implications
   for science teacher education, Journal of Science
   Teacher Education 11 (2) 9-107.
5. Kahle, J.B., J. Meece and K. Scantlebury (2000).
   Urban African-American middle school science
   students Does standard-based teaching make a
   difference? Journal of Research In Science
   Teaching 37 (9) 1019-1041.

Fig. 7. Differences in perceptions of classroom
practices. (Discovery Brochure, 1996)
The Discovery model

• The Discovery model was based on two premises
• that classroom teachers, particularly elementary
  and middle school teachers, were underprepared to
  teach science and mathematics successfully and
• that the needs of an increasingly diverse
  student population would require changes in
  teaching strategies to teach these students
  effectively.
• The focus of the model was on sustained
  professional development, inquiry-based
  instruction, and inservice and pre-service
  education.

Fig. 5. Student demographics of schools
participating in the Landscape Study compared to
all Ohio schools.
Acknowledgements
Last year we had to memorize everything this
year we do it, and we have to know what we are
doing. Its harder this year, but we learn more.

Discovery student
Jane Butler Kahle, Lillian McDermott and the
Physics Education Group of the University of
Washington, Jan Upton, John Supovitz, Iris Weiss,
Ken Wilson, Steven Katz, Discovery colleagues,
Discovery teachers. Funded by NSF Grants
OSR-91599969 (J.B. Kahle and K.G. Wilson,
Co-PI), REC 9602137 (J.B. Kahle, PI), and the
State of Ohio.
Fig. 8. Differences in the attitudes of students
towards science and mathematics. (Discovery
Brochure, 1995)