R&D Centers
ED Program Office: OERI/Student Achievement Institute
Award Number: R305B60007
ED Agency Contact(s): Wanda Chambers
Telephone: (202) 219-2035
E-mail:Wanda.Chambers@ed.gov
Start Date: 3/1/96
End Date: 2/28/03
Expected Total Award: $17,596,870
Principal Investigators:
Thomas Romberg, Director
Paul Cobb, Associate Director
James Stewart, Associate Director
Susan Smetzer-Anderson, Communications Director
James Kaput
Linda Levi
Megan Loef Franke
Maria Lynn Blanton
Jan de Lange
Thomas A. Romberg
Koeno Gravemeijer
Kay McClain
Jennifer Cartier
Adam Gamoran
Walter Secada
David Webb
Affiliated Organizations
University of California - Los Angeles
Vanderbilt University/Peabody College
University of Massachusetts - Dartmouth
Freudenthal Institute, The Netherlands
Wisconsin Center for Education Research - University of
Wisconsin-Madison
Abstract: Researchers with the National Center for Improving Student Learning and Achievement in Mathematics and Science (NCISLA) have created a research program that carefully links studies of teacher professional development, instruction, and student achievement. This research is yielding not only sustainable teacher professional development, but also insights about K-12 students' capacities to learn more challenging mathematics and science content at younger ages than traditionally expected.
NCISLA research is directly related to current discussions about K-12 mathematics and science reform, addressing such questions as, what types of learning and achievement can students attain in mathematics and science? What does student learning and achievement entail? What does student learning and achievement entail? What types of professional development can better support teachers in advancing student learning - and also support teachers' growth in content knowledge?
Emerging research findings speak to the ways -
K-12 students can grow in both conceptual knowledge and basic skills, mathematical and scientific modeling can increase students' understanding, teachers can be will-positioned to design challenging instruction for their students, teacher professional development can be designed to deepen teachers' understanding of both student thinking and content knowledge, K-12 schools can better support teacher's professional development and students' learning.
(K-5) Algebraic Reasoning in the Elementary
Building on previous NCISLA research, two studies involving diverse student populations in California, Massachusetts, and Wisconsin are examining (a) children's mathematical and algebraic reasoning and (b) teachers' professional development. The complementary studies are yielding significant advances in students' mathematics content; teachers professional communities; teachers' understanding of students' mathematical thinking; and teacher's ability to leverage mathematics curricula and students' thinking to build elementary students' algebraic reasoning.
(Grades 5-8) Classroom Assessment as the Basis for Teacher Change (CATCH)
This project is based on previous NCISLA research, which showed that formative assessment can play a significant role in pedagogy that promotes learning with understanding. Although less common than traditional forms of assessment, such as grades and standardized tests, classroom formative assessment is used in supporting day-to-day instruction and the critical processes of instructional decision making and feedback. The current objectives is to develop and test a program of professional development that seeks to bring about fundamental changes in teachers' instruction by helping them expand and change their formative assessment practices. Research and professional development with staff developers and collaborating teachers is ongoing in Rhode Island, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin schools.
(Grade 6-8) Statistics in the Middle Grades
This project, sited in Arizona, Oregon, and Tennessee schools, build on five years of middle-school classroom design experiments, in which the collaborating researchers and teachers tested and revised instructional sequences and computer minitools for students to learn statistical data analysis. Using the instructional resources built to coincide with students' mathematical learning trajectories, the researchers are engaging teachers in investigations of students' learning of statistics and seeking to determine if the instructional resources and minitools can serve as a primary support for teachers' generative professional development. Research findings positively reflect students' capacities to engage in challenging statistical reasoning in the middle grades. (Grades 9-12) Modeling for Understanding in Science Education (MUSE)
This project, Modeling for Understanding in Science Education (MUSE), has been active for more than ten years in a Wisconsin high school and is now seeking to increase the reach of its teacher professional development efforts. The project is based on the premise that students' learning of science should include gaining a facility with conceptual knowledge, or "subject matter,' and understanding the ways that scientific knowledge is generated and justified. The NCISLA researchers have found that high school students can learn science with understanding through experiences in scientific inquiry, modeling, and reasoned argumentation. Extensive materials developed for instruction in genetics, evolutionary biology, and astronomy - using the model-based approach - are being posted on the new MUSE website (www.wcer.wisc.edu/ncisla/muse) as a resource for middle and high school science teachers nationwide.
(Grades K-12) Cross-Site Analysis of District and School Organizational Contexts
This research, building on five years of studies, cuts across all NCISLA project sites by studying and identifying the key challenges faced by K-12 schools (and districts) seeking to support teachers' growth in content knowledge, professional practice, and teaching for understanding. The present study seeks to confirm or modify hypotheses and generate recommendations. The objective is to inform practitioners and policymakers about what is necessary at the school and district level - in terms of support, resources, and restructuring - to adequately support teachers' professional development and students' learning of mathematics and science with understanding.
CREDE-NICSLA Task Forces Synthesizing Research in Mathematics, Science and Diversity
Together, the NCISLA and the Center for Research on Education, Diversity & Excellence (CREDE) are convening expert panels of Center researchers, and other education leaders, to synthesize the current status and findings of research in K-12 mathematics, science, and diverse students' learning. Research regarding diverse students (e.g., students who may be marginalized due to cultural, linguistic, and economic factors) and their mathematics and science learning has not been summarized in any meaningful way to date. The expert panels convened by the two-OERI-funded research centers are taking on this task and will publish two books discussing the "state of the research" for (1) diverse students learning science, and (2) diverse students learning mathematics - and outline next steps for policy, teacher training, professional development, classroom practice, and research.
Communication
The NCISLA is conducting a strategic communication program to provide audience members (policymakers, teachers, and education leaders) information about research findings and implications for K-12 policy and practice. The program is based on communication theory and initial audience research. Through print and multimedia products and researchers' networking, publications, and professional development activities, the Center aims to provide relevant information, examples, and insights to inform mathematics and science reform. Audience-targeted products illustrate (a) ways that student achievement can be influenced through innovative instruction, (b) mathematics and science content worth studying, (c) the utility of incorporating mathematical and scientific modeling in instruction, (d) useful assessment strategies, and (e) approaches to sustained teacher professional development.