The impact of curriculum-based professional development on science instruction: Results from a cluster-randomized trial.
Taylor, J., Kowalski, S., Getty, S., Wilson, C., & Carlson, J. (2011, March). Paper presented at the spring meeting of the Society for Research on Educational Effectiveness, Washington, DC. . Retrieved from: https://eric.ed.gov/?id=ED528838
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examining18Schools, grade9
Grant Competition
Review Details
Reviewed: January 2023
- Grant Competition (findings for Curriculum-based professional development—Taylor et al. (2011))
- Randomized Controlled Trial
- Meets WWC standards without reservations because it is a randomized controlled trial with low attrition.
This review may not reflect the full body of research evidence for this intervention.
Evidence Tier rating based solely on this study. This intervention may achieve a higher tier when combined with the full body of evidence.
Findings
|
Outcome measure |
Comparison | Period | Sample |
Intervention mean |
Comparison mean |
Significant? |
Improvement index |
Evidence tier |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Reformed Teaching Observation Protocol (RTOP) |
Curriculum-based professional development—Taylor et al. (2011) vs. Business as usual |
0 Months |
Full sample;
|
72.00 |
53.90 |
Yes |
|
|
Evidence Tier rating based solely on this study. This intervention may achieve a higher tier when combined with the full body of evidence.
Sample Characteristics
Characteristics of study sample as reported by study author.
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Rural, Suburban
Study Details
Setting
Nine schools were located in suburban settings, and nine in rural settings.
Study sample
Study participants are ninth-grade science teachers.
Intervention Group
The intervention provided 7 days of instruction to teachers at four events over the course of the year. Teachers attended a 4-day summer institute and three follow-up events staggered through the year.
Comparison Group
Control teachers conducted their business-as-usual.
Support for implementation
During professional development, teachers were introduced to the physical and philosophical components of the instructional materials. The training covered key instructional strategies, emphasized high-fidelity use of materials, and aimed to strengthen content background.
An indicator of the effect of the intervention, the improvement index can be interpreted as the expected change in percentile rank for an average comparison group student if that student had received the intervention.
For more, please see the WWC Glossary entry for improvement index.
An outcome is the knowledge, skills, and attitudes that are attained as a result of an activity. An outcome measures is an instrument, device, or method that provides data on the outcome.
A finding that is included in the effectiveness rating. Excluded findings may include subgroups and subscales.
The sample on which the analysis was conducted.
The group to which the intervention group is compared, which may include a different intervention, business as usual, or no services.
The timing of the post-intervention outcome measure.
The number of students included in the analysis.
The mean score of students in the intervention group.
The mean score of students in the comparison group.
The WWC considers a finding to be statistically significant if the likelihood that the finding is due to chance alone, rather than a real difference, is less than five percent.
The WWC reviews studies for WWC products, Department of Education grant competitions, and IES performance measures.
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The result of the WWC assessment of the study. The rating is based on the strength of evidence of the effectiveness of the intervention. Studies are given a rating of Meets WWC Design Standards without Reservations, Meets WWC Design Standards with Reservations, or >Does Not Meet WWC Design Standards.
A related publication that was reviewed alongside the main study of interest.
Study findings for this report.
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Tier 1 Strong indicates strong evidence of effectiveness,
Tier 2 Moderate indicates moderate evidence of effectiveness, and
Tier 3 Promising indicates promising evidence of effectiveness,
as defined in the
non-regulatory guidance for ESSA
and the regulations for ED discretionary grants (EDGAR Part 77).