HR: 0800h
AN: ED51A-0132    [Abstracts]
TI: Investigating the Role of the Teacher in Science Curriculum: New Evidence for an Old Debate
AU: * Penuel, W
EM: william.penuel@sri.com
AF: SRI International, 333 Ravenswood Avenue, Mailstop BN390, Menlo Park, CA 94025, United States
AU: McAuliffe, C
EM: Carla_McAuliffe@terc.edu
AF: TERC, 2067 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, MA 02140, United States
AU: McWilliams, H
EM: Harold_McWilliams@terc.edu
AF: TERC, 2067 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, MA 02140, United States
AB: It is widely believed that teachers need high-quality curriculum materials to improve teaching and learning. Professional development designs differ, however, in whether they emphasize preparing teachers to use expert- designed curricula or preparing teachers with the tools needed to design and implement high-quality science units themselves. Evidence exists for the effectiveness of providing teachers with training in how to implement expert-designed curricula (Bredderman, 1983; Shymansky, Hedges, & Woodworth, 1990; Weinstein, Boulanger, & Walberg, 1982) and for providing teachers with professional development aimed at preparing teachers to design instruction and assessments (Black & Harrison, 2001; Shepard, 1997; Sneider, Adams, Ibanez, Templeton, & Porter, 1996). However, no studies, however, have compared explicitly these different approaches to preparing teachers to plan and enact instruction in science. The Transforming Instruction by Design in Earth Science (TIDES) project is an experimental study comparing the efficacy of three different approaches to professional development. The approaches differ with respect to the role that teachers are expected to play in curriculum. In one condition (Earth Science by Design), teachers learn how to design curriculum units in Earth science. In a second condition (Investigating Earth Systems), teachers learn how to adopt and implement curriculum materials developed by experts. In the third condition (Hybrid), teachers learn a principled approach to adapt expert-developed curriculum materials. The TIDES study is examining the impacts of each of the approaches to professional development on instructional planning and on the quality of assignments and assessments they give to students. We measured impacts on instructional planning using an end-of-unit questionnaire that focused on changes to teachers" overall approach to planning units of instruction, their strategies for organizing assignment, and materials they use in class. We measured impacts on overall assignment quality using a combination of multi-faceted Rasch analysis and hierarchical linear modeling techniques, using scores from rubrics focused on the nature of scientific communication, construction of knowledge, quality of Earth science content, presentation of the nature of science, and opportunities for inquiry. Scores from a holistic rubric were used to rate performance assessment quality. In this presentation, we will describe results from the first year of the study, focusing on the impact of each condition on instructional practice and on student learning. We will conclude with some implications of the study findings for curriculum development and curriculum policy in school districts.
DE: 9800 GENERAL OR MISCELLANEOUS
SC: Education and Human Resources [ED]
MN: 2007 Fall Meeting