Co-Principal Investigator(s): Gropen, Jess

Purpose: In this project, the researchers proposed to develop and pilot test a credit-bearing professional development program, Foundations of Science Literacy (FSL), on head start teachers and children. Historically, English language learners and students from low-income homes perform lower in science on average than their peers. At the end of this intended project, researchers aimed to have developed and tested potential promise of FLS in the Boston area of Massachusetts.

Structured Abstract

THE FOLLOWING CONTENT DESCRIBES THE PROJECT AT THE TIME OF FUNDING

Setting: Four stable Head Start programs in the Boston, Massachusetts area that share a strong commitment to improving outcomes for young children have been selected to participate in this project.

Population: All programs have student populations that are almost entirely (90-100 percent) low income and heavily (22-50 percent) English language learners (ELLs).

Intervention: The FLS program has two main components that will be given over a 6-month period: (a) 8 face-to-face instructional sessions that build teachers' pedagogical content knowledge in the physical and life sciences, and (b) one 1/2-hour mentoring sessions that will support teachers as they master science content and inquiry-based methods. The mentoring will include coaching, reflective documentation (videotaping teacher instruction), and collaborative inquiry (teacher study groups).

Research Design and Methods: The sample will consist of 1 cohort of 72 Head Start teachers. The teachers will be randomly assigned to intervention and control groups. Child data will also be collected on the preschool children in the classes of 42 of the teachers. Approximately 420 students will participate in the study stratified by whether or not they are ELLs and distributed between the intervention and control groups. The study will use a pre-post experimental design. Fidelity of implementation will be monitored. In-depth case studies of teachers and ELL students in five classrooms will be conducted in phase 2 to examine the effects of the intervention on student engagement and classroom participation. Classroom observations and teacher interviews will be included.

Control Condition: The control group will get whatever professional development they would normally receive.

Key Measures: Child and classroom data will be collected using a set of rigorous standardized measures. Because there are no existing assessments of science teaching and learning at the preschool level, the study will develop direct assessments for this purpose.

Data Analytic Strategy: Linear regression, hierarchical linear modeling (HLM), and qualitative measures will be employed.

Related IES Projects: Assessing the Efficacy of a Comprehensive Intervention in Physical Science on Head Start Teachers and Children (R305A090114), Cultivating Young Scientists: Expanding Foundations of Science Literacy (R305A120193)

Products and Publications

ERIC Citations: Find available citations in ERIC for this award here.

** This project was submitted to and funded under Teacher Quality: Mathematics and Science Education in FY 2005.