Teacher participation in just 24 hours of MSS science content PD resulted in statistically- significant improvements in student learning outcomes. Additionally, analysis of classroom video showed statistically-significant differences in student cognitive engagement, student engagement in scientific sense-making practices, and teacher elicitation of and attention to student thinking.
This executive summary describes the analysis of 3 professional development models, resulting in shifts in classroom instructional practices observed in videos using a classroom observation rubric, and the resulting effects on student achievement on a test.
Data for the study of classroom practices came from 30 randomly selected focal teachers from the experimental and control groups originating from a 2012 nationwide randomized control trial involving, 8 sites, 280 elementary teachers, and ~7,000 4th grade students.
- Author: Judith Warren Little, Elena Durán López, Anna Weltman, Joan I. Heller, Nicole Wong, Selena Burns, James Owen Limbach, Luke Miratrix, Lo-Hua Yuan
- Type: Executive Summary — Institution of Education Sciences — Grant #R305A150341
- Pages: 13
- Publication Date: December 2019
- Topics: Elementary
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Differential Effects of Three Professional Development Models on Teacher Knowledge and Student Achievement in Elementary Science
Teacher participation in just 24 hours of MSS PD resulted in statistically significant gains in teacher and student content knowledge. Additionally, teacher content knowledge gains were maintained 1 year later as well as gains in that year’s student content knowledge. Student gains were consistent for ELLs and did not differ based on sex or race/ethnicity.