Project Results

A total of 98 teachers, from two elementary schools, participated in the project: 82 participants attended at least one professional development workshop, and 55 teachers received on-site coaching. Surveys were completed by participants as follows:  41 completed a pre-survey at the beginning of the project; 58 completed the mid-year feedback survey; and 72 completed the post-survey at the end of the project.  End-of-year project feedback was provided by 52 participants.

Professional Development & Project Model

Professional development feedback: Professional development feedback was collected for the first summer camp 2007 (n = 50), a winter camp (n = 29), videoconferencing sessions (n = 27), and a second summer camp 2008 (n = 56). Analysis of participants’ feedback indicates that greater than 75% of participants felt that all of the professional development activities were time well spent. The presenters were knowledgeable and actively engaged participants. Participants were presented with material that had relevance to their classrooms and were provided with opportunities to share ideas with each other and with presenters and to consider how to apply the ideas to their individual situations. Summer and winter camps provided access to enhanced instructional resources and time to use resources to improve science lessons.

Mid-year project feedback: Mid-year feedback was collected from 58 participants. At mid-year, 84% were satisfied or very satisfied with the professional development received from the project. Of those who attended workshops, most claimed the workshops had a significant influence on their teaching and they were implementing things learned in their classrooms. Of those who worked with a science coach, 90% were satisfied with the quality and amount of time spent working with that person and nearly all of them regularly used things they learned from their coach. Overall participants felt that participating in the project had moderate to great value, particularly with respect to the workshops and opportunities to share ideas with other participants. 

End-of-year project feedback: A total of 52 participants completed the end-of-year feedback. Nearly all reported incorporating what they had learned in their science teaching and felt that their time had been well-spent and that working with coaches had been a very valuable experience. They also greatly valued opportunities to share ideas with other participants in the project.

Coaching logs: Coaches spent some time attending project meetings, completing tasks, and pursuing personal professional development. Time spent working with participants in schools included attention to organization and procedures, support for curriculum and planning, coaching for instructional improvement, providing professional development and general support, and to a lesser extent, administrative support. The majority of time spent supporting teachers took place during school hours, most often during teachers’ planning periods. One coach focused on individual teachers and their personal professional development goals, while the other worked with teachers in groups.

Teacher Attitudes & Beliefs

Teacher attitude survey: Participants took an attitude survey at the beginning and again at the end of the project. The 41 participants who took the pre-survey generally agreed on the importance of reformed teaching styles including active, hands-on learning, cooperative groups, teaching for conceptual understanding, alternative assessments, integrating science with reading and other topics in everyday life. Because participants were already in agreement with many indicators of a reform-oriented teaching style, the responses of the 69 teachers who took the post survey were very similar. A paired-samples t-test analysis of the 29 participants who took both the pre and post surveys indicated a significant change in attitude on three items: (1) cooperative learning enhances student learning (p = .0322), (2) reading achievement correlates with science learning (p = .0265), and (3) inquiry activities precede teaching content (p = .0202). 

Participant survey: Participant surveys were designed to gather information on teachers’ attitudes, perceptions, and practices relative to teaching science at the start and again at the end of the project period. At the start of the project period, a total of 41 teachers completed the science teacher questionnaire. The majority (greater than 75%) of participants recognized the importance of many aspects related to effective science teaching with the exception that many did not place as much importance on integrating mathematics, reading, and writing or the use of technology. In keeping with this, many participants did not feel prepared to teach those aspects; nor did they feel prepared to use an inquiry-based approach to their teaching. In addition, many participants did not feel adequately prepared in science content with the exception of how living things interact with their environment. However, participants felt that they had general pedagogical skills, such as classroom management and pacing, to be effective teachers. When asked about their current teaching practices, many participants used some teaching practices consistent with inquiry-based teaching. Regarding attitudes specific to the use of an inquiry approach to teaching, most participants were concerned with time, both for preparation and implementation, and classroom management even though most reported that they felt it is an effective approach to teaching and would have the support of their school administrators.

A total of 72 participants took the survey again at the end of the project period. Significant improvements were made with respect to teachers’ attitudes and feelings of preparedness for integrating science with other topics such as mathematics, reading, and writing.  Teachers generally felt better prepared with their content knowledge. This was particularly true regarding the nature of science. Teachers also reported doing more inquiry activities with their students and were more comfortable spending instructional time doing so.   

Teacher Knowledge

Teachers’ science content knowledge: A total of 61 participants completed a 91 item pretest of their science content knowledge in physics, chemistry, earth, space, and life/environmental sciences with a mean percent correct of 49.761%. The post test was completed at the end of the project by 58 participants, with a mean percent correct of 53.55%.  The pre/post content assessment results indicated that participants’ gain in content knowledge was significant (p = .0008). This finding is consistent with the pre/post teacher survey in that teachers felt they gained an increased understanding of science concepts targeted by the project. 

High-quality, standards-based instruction: Pre/post teacher surveys, mid-year feedback, and end-of-year feedback were examined to determine to what extent participants have the pedagogical understanding and skills needed for effective classroom implementation. Each of these assessments showed an increased understanding of the skills needed to be effective classroom teachers. This was particularly evident in the increased importance that participants placed on inquiry-based instruction and on integrating reading in science. This was further supported by classroom observations of 15 participants randomly chosen by the evaluation team. It was noted that participants did use instructional strategies consistent with inquiry-oriented science teaching.

Teacher Practice

Classroom observations: A total of 47 elementary teachers were observed teaching a science lesson during fall semester 2007, and a total of 57 were observed during spring semester 2008. Of these, pre and post observations were completed for 35 participants. Noticeable improvements in science instruction included an increased focus on metacognition, student discourse and collaboration, addressing students’ preconceptions or misconceptions, incorporating interdisciplinary connections, supporting divergent thinking, and soliciting multiple representations of concepts.  The percentage of observed teachers demonstrating proficient or accomplished implementation of an inquiry-based approach increased from 45% to 63%.

Student Outcomes

Early student achievement results: While it is not possible to post measurable changes in 5th grade science achievement within one year on a measure of six years of elementary science instruction, both of the participating schools observed improvements in student performance.  The percentage of 5th grade students scoring Level 3 (grade level) and above on FCAT science increased from 29% in 2006 to 35% in 2008 in Union County, and from 42% to 52% at P.K. Yonge.

ANALYSIS