Supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant No. DUE-0315060

The Impact of High Quality Professional Development in Science on the Learning

of Diverse Students

George D. Nelson, Director Science, Mathematics, & Technology

Education

2012 WABE Conference

True Confessions

• I am in no way an expert in bilingual education

• We have not used ELL research to inform our work—YET

• I am here to learn from you

What We Have Done• Improved teacher content

and pedagogical content knowledge

• Improved school cultures• Improved student

achievement, especially traditionally low achieving students

By joining forces, we could make even more progress

Challenges• In P-5, Reading, Writing, and Math

dominate the time—with support from principals and district leaders—leaving little room for science, social studies, PE, or the arts. WA ranks 46th among the states in the amount of science taught in elementary school

• High needs students (poor, underrepresented, and special education) achieve at lower levels at all grade levels, in all schools (even high achieving schools)

• New and compelling research on effective teaching and school leadership is not being put into practice in preservice programs or with practicing teachers

Supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant No. DUE-0315060

Higher Education CollaboratorsPhysics: Jim Stewart1, Andrew Boudreaux1, ,George Nelson1, Sara Julin2, Ann Zukoski3, Linda Zuvich4, Ted Williams5

Biology: Deb Donovan1, Carolyn Landel1, Alejandro Acevedo1, John Rousseau2, Val Mullen3, Rene Kratz4, Pam Pape-Lindstrom4, Adib Jamshedi5

Geology: Scott Linneman1, Sue DeBari1, Bob Mitchell1, Bernie Dugan2, Brad Smith3, Ben Fackler-Adams3, Steve Grupp4, Terri Plake5

Chemistry: Steve Gammon1, Emily Borda1, Paul Frazey2,3

Science Education: Chris Ohana1, Jacob Blickenstaff1(Physics), Liesl Hohenshell1(Biology), Don Burgess1(Biology), Molly Lawrence1

Evaluation:, Dan Hanley1, Jim Minstrell6, Ruth Anderson6, Phil Buly1, Many Graduate Students1

1 Western Washington U, 2 Whatcom CC, 3 Skagit Valley C, 4 Everett CC, 5 Northwest Indian College, 6 FacetInnovations Inc.

NCOSP Activities

• Three years of intensive summer PD and higher education staff development

• Two additional years supporting collaboration

• New content and methods courses for preservice teachers

• Engagement of building administrators

Teacher Leaders: Content Knowledge

37

6765

83 84 85

53

85 83

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

SA 2004 PhysicalScience N=123

SA 2005 LifeScience N=165

SA 2006 EarthScience N= 143

Mea

n %

Cor

rect

Pre

Post

One YearFollowup

Supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant No. DUE-0315060

Based on Science Scale Score controlled for Student Performance factors

0.02

0.19

0

0.1

0.2

0.3

Year (2007+2008)

1 TL 2 TL

5th Grade 8th Grade 10th Grade

0.12

0.19

0

0.1

0.2

0.3

Year (2007 + 2008)

1 TL 2 TL

Effe

ct S

ize

0.14

0.23

0

0.1

0.2

0.3

Year (2007+2008)

1 TL 2 TL

Creating Value Added

Supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant No. DUE-0315060

0.08

0.33

0.150.17

0.21

0.260.3

0.17

0.06

0.24

0.04

0.13

0.39

0.21

0.26

0

0.1

0.2

0.3

0.4

Effe

ct S

ize

FRL Non-white Hispanic Math non-prof Read non-prof

5th Grade 8th Grade 10 Grade

* * * * * * * * * * *

* Significant difference (t-test, p<.05)

Impact of Teacher Leaders on Students with the Greatest Needs

CRISP and SPECK-8• Partnerships between SMATE and 6

school districts– Led by Master Teacher with support from

WWU• Commitment to participate from principal

and team of teachers in each school • WWU supports professional learning

communities (PLCs) in the schools to collaborate to improve their science content knowledge and their instruction– Six-day summer academy, two one-day

workshops focused on developing shared beliefs, science content, research-based pedagogy, and collaboration

– Monthly PLC meetings to plan and reflect on changes to instruction, engage with relevant research

– Peer observations and support for instructional changes

• Research and evaluation of project and impact

33

53 5458

65 6873

95100

9093

100 10095

0

20

40

60

80

100

Develop a learning

progression

Use effective formative

assessment

Collaboratively examine student

work

Use research-based science

teaching

Use student work to improve

instruction

Identify the big ideas

Use revised State Standards

Before After

% w

ho R

ate

thei

r Abi

lity

as M

ed.,

High

, or V

ery

High

N=40

Changes in teachers’ knowledge and skills in Year 2.

56

40

7065

53

77

5649

67

0

20

40

60

80

100

All Students FRL students Non_FRL students

5th Grade State SPECK-8 Teachers (n=214) Non-SPECK-8 Teachers (n=327)%

Pro

ficie

nt

87

6

10

4

7

9

3

7

11

89

14

2

11

9 9

12

9

6

0

5

10

15

20

25

Males Females FRL Non-FRL

SPED NonSPED

White Hispanic AmIndian

ALL

Perc

enta

ge P

oint

Gai

n

State CRISP

CRISP% = 51% 49% 51% 49% 11% 89% 59% 30% 3%

State% = 51% 49% 35% 65% 11% 89% 67% 13% 2%

CRISP 10th Grade Science Score Improvement 2010

9

1

8

4

9

5 56

8

21

11

22

14

1718 18

16

4

0

5

10

15

20

25

Males Females FRL Non-FRL

SPED NonSPED

White Hispanic AmIndian

ALL

Perc

enta

ge P

oint

Gai

n

State SPECK-8

SPECK8 % = 52% 48% 49% 51% 13% 87% 77% 12% 8%State %= 49% 51% 41% 59% 11% 89% 65% 15% 2%

27

SPECK-8 8th Grade Science Score Improvement 2010

Year Neah Bay High School

Washington State

     

Reading2004-05 60.9% 72.9%2009-10 95.0% 78.8%

Math2004-05 4.3% 47.5%2009-10 47.6% 41.6%

Writing2004-05 21.7% 65.2%2009-10 100.0% 85.9%

  Science  2004-05 0.0% 35.8%2009-10 55.6% 44.7%

  Transitional Bilingual  2004-05 34.6 7.12009-10 0.0 8.7

Conclusions• Understanding Content

and PCK is critical to effective instruction

• Effective instruction helps all students learn and helps close traditional gaps

• Learning from each other will help us AND, most importantly, children do better

Supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant No. DUE-0315060

Thank you!

Questions?