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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 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.
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.
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.
Discovery Inquiry Test
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 Discovery’s
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.
Attitudes towards inquiry-based teaching
0.6
0.4
0.2
0
-0.2
Science
-0.4
Mathematics
-0.6
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.
The Landscape Study
Pre-professional
development
One year later
Student achievement in science and mathematics
Three years later
75
Discovery Science
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)
Six academic year professional development seminars were
conducted following the summer institutes.
Percent
Comparison of Responses about What Changes Will Most Improve
Mathematics and Science Classes
50
45
40
35
30
25
20
15
10
5
0
Urban School Districts
Urban University Faculty
Curriculum
Instructional Strategies
Professional
Development
Technology
Assessment
Other
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.
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
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.
• 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 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 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.
Practice (in sd)
0.6
Principles of institutes
0.4
0.2
0
-0.2
Science
-0.4
Mathematics
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).
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.
Non-Discovery
Math
60
Pre-professional
development
One year later
Three years later
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)
Impact on students
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.
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.
1998-1999
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)
Comparison of Discovery and Non-Discovery AfricanAmerican Students in Mathematics
-0.6
85
80
75
70
65
60
55
50
45
40
Discovery
Non-Discovery
1995
1996
1997
Years
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)
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)
Literature Cited
Changes in teaching behavior and strategies were expected
to result in improved student performance.
As part of Discovery’s 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.
65
1995-1996
Each teacher received 120-160 contact hours of training.
In Ohio Discovery’s 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.
Non-Discovery
Science
Discovery Math
55
Inquiry-based teaching practice
Discovery mission
70
Percent correct
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.
“I don’t 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
Percent correct
The Discovery goal
Attitudes (in sd)
Introduction
Fig. 7. Differences in perceptions of classroom
practices. (Discovery Brochure, 1996)
Fig. 5. Student demographics of schools participating
in the Landscape Study compared to all Ohio schools.
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.
Acknowledgements
“Last year we had to memorize everything; this
year we do it, and we have to know what we are
doing. It’s harder this year, but we learn more.”
– Discovery student
1.
Fig. 8. Differences in the attitudes of students towards
science and mathematics. (Discovery Brochure, 1995)
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.