Progress 08/01/18 to 07/31/19
Outputs
Target Audience:Our initial target market will be K-5 schools in states that have adopted the NGSS because they are expected to be actively looking for implementation assistance at the administrative level. As of October 201920states have adopted the NGSS; however, this does not limit our market. Teachers in non-adopting states are still using the NGSS standards, and strong demand exists for new science materials in non-adopting states. The framework for science instructional coaching developed for this project will have universal applications regardless of the status of a state's NGSS adoption (Cavanagh, 2016; Heitin, 2015). Purchasing decisions in the education market are typically made by a team of decision-makers, including the purchaser and end-users. The purchaser of our product will be a curriculum director at the district level or a principal at the building level. The end-users will be classroom teachers. School administrators who must defend their curriculum purchases to stakeholders want to see validated research results. This Phase I and Phase II SBIR research will provide data to show that SNGS can more effectively support all elementary teachers in creating high-quality NGSS aligned lessons and in teaching STEM subjects. The primary drivers in the target market are the need modify curricular materials and to improve teacher pedagogy to meet the NGSS standards. Secondary drivers include the proliferation of devices in the classroom and the increasing demand for digital content as an instructional tool. Public schools in the United States now provide at least one computer for every five students, and that ratio will be decreasing (Herold, 2015). In 2016, 87% of districts planned to purchase tablets, 86% of districts planned to purchase laptops, and 83% of districts expected to purchase desktop computers (Catalano et al., 2015). As the number of devices in schools increase, the already significant demand for digital instructional content will also increase. Digital instructional content is currently the largest slice of the (non-hardware) K-12 educational technology market, with annual sales of more than $3 billion, and digital content and curriculum was the second K-2 IT priority on the 2015 Center for Digital Education survey (Dunlap-Kahren, 2015). Our initial target market will be K-5 schools in states that have adopted the NGSS because they are expected to be actively looking for implementation assistance at the administrative level. As of May 2016, 18 states have adopted the NGSS; however, this does not limit our market. Teachers in non-adopting states are still using the NGSS standards, and strong demand exists for new science materials in non-adopting states. The framework for science instructional coaching developed for this project will have universal applications regardless of the status of a state's NGSS adoption (Cavanagh, 2016; Heitin, 2015). Purchasing decisions in the education market are typically made by a team of decision-makers, including the purchaser and end-users. The purchaser of our product will be a curriculum director at the district level or a principal at the building level. The end-users will be classroom teachers. School administrators who must defend their curriculum purchases to stakeholders want to see validated research results. This Phase I and Phase II SBIR research will provide data to show that SNGS can more effectively support all elementary teachers in creating high-quality NGSS aligned lessons and in teaching STEM subjects. The primary drivers in the target market are the need modify curricular materials and to improve teacher pedagogy to meet the NGSS standards. Secondary drivers include the proliferation of devices in the classroom and the increasing demand for digital content as an instructional tool. Public schools in the United States now provide at least one computer for every five students, and that ratio will be decreasing (Herold, 2015). In 2016, 87% of districts planned to purchase tablets, 86% of districts planned to purchase laptops, and 83% of districts expected to purchase desktop computers (Catalano et al., 2015). As the number of devices in schools increase, the already significant demand for digital instructional content will also increase. Digital instructional content is currently the largest slice of the (non-hardware) K-12 educational technology market, with annual sales of more than $3 billion, and digital content and curriculum was the second K-2 IT priority on the 2015 Center for Digital Education survey (Dunlap-Kahren, 2015). Changes/Problems:
Nothing Reported
What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?For the project's feasibility study, the teachers were given one hour of professional development on the prototype. Additional professional development was embedded in the prototype in the form of videos and documents that taught educators about the Next Generation Science Standards and the 5Es. Each of the eight teachers was observed using the prototype with their students for one lesson. After the lesson, the teachers completed a questionnaire and participated in an interview. The professional development and subsequent use of StarrMatica Next Generation Science helped teachers to think of ways they could improve their Next Generation Science Standards instruction.This was evidenced by qualitative data from teacher questionnaires and interviews. Sample quotes include: "I love the platform. I currently use a science curriculum that is at least 15 years old. This was current, colorful, vibrant and made learning fun. I do not see anything that needs improvement. I think it is user friendly and awesome." "I loved the flow of the platform. I also lovedthe different offerings under the 5E's. It makes meeting the NGSS standards so much more attainable and sensible. When I first read the NGSS standard, I rememberthinking, "Wow, this is really powerful! If I only had the time to build lessons that could effectively meet these standards!" Thanks to the SNGS platform-- it is possible!" "I loved the StarrMatica resources! These resources are perfect for differentiation of instruction and finding ways to reach all learners. The visuals and videos really aided my ELLs, students with IEPs, and my struggling readers. The texts that supported the lessons encouraged higher order thinking for my higher level students. The vocabulary integrated within the texts while being supported by the visuals and pictures was so meaningful to my students. I loved the step-by-step guides and the options you can click to create the lessons--this really tailored the lessons to the variety of learners in my classroom. I loved the student on-line component of the program and my students loved it, too!" How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?
Nothing Reported
What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?
Nothing Reported
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
High-quality schools positively influence the economic development prospects in rural areas by attracting business and industry to the area and producing the educated labor force that is needed to sustain economic growth (Barkley and Henry, 2004). The greatest source of a highly educated population in rural areas is native individuals who attended college locally or who return home after completing their education elsewhere (Gibbs, 2005). To guarantee that students have opportunities to enter STEM careers in rural communities, their schools must provide a high-quality education that includes foundational STEM concepts. An effective teacher is the most important factor in a student's academic success, yet issues including teacher shortages and high turnover rates affect teacher quality in rural areas (Chetty, Friedman, & Rockoff, 2011; Hanushek, Kain, O'Brien, & Rivkin, 2005; Rivkin, Hanushek, & Kain, 2005). Sparking interest in science in elementary school is more effective in creating the motivation to enter STEM career paths than are later efforts to encourage high school students to take more-advanced courses (Maltese & Tai, 2016). Improving science education from the outset by more effectively supporting elementary teachers in STEM instruction can have lasting effects on the preparedness of rural workforces to meet the employment demands of technology firms that rural communities are seeking to attract. The release of the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) in 2013 compounded the already numerous issues that elementary teachers have with teaching science effectively. Teachers can't simply align their current curriculum materials to the NGSS and continue teaching as they have in the past. According to the 2012 National Survey of Science and Mathematics Education, 58% of elementary science classes use textbooks that are seven years old or older (Interactive Educational Systems Design, Inc., 2015). One solution is to purchase an entirely new science core curriculum--a solution that is flawed for several reasons: 1) Science concepts change quickly, so this means that it does not take long for textbooks to lose relevance (Economist, 2012); 2) schools have limited science curriculum budgets (Appleton, 2007); 3) fewer than 10% of U.S. schools plan to purchase new science core curriculum (Interactive Educational Systems Design, Inc., 2015); and 4) rural schools have even less funding for curriculum than their urban counterparts (Center for American Progress, 2011; DeNisco, 2015). This means that 90% of teachers must, by default, supplement their current (and aging) core curriculum to meet the NGSS. This is an enormous task with the complexities of the NGSS, and it is unrealistic given the lack of tools currently available. The purpose of the STEM lesson creation coaching framework (SNGS) is to help teachers meet the NGSS by a) addressing the significant problems elementary teachers face with science instruction; b) overcoming the professional development geographic limitations of rural schools; c) providing a consistency of curricular materials in high-turnover rural schools from year to year and teacher to teacher; d) facilitating the instructional shift teachers must make to meet the NGSS; e) providing a comprehensive lesson-creation framework that coaches teachers through each portion of the lesson planning process in a way that improves teacher pedagogy; and f) being comprised of components that are designed based on research. Our research showed that SNGS is easy to use for both novice and experienced teachers and assists them to effectively develop high-quality science lessons. The overall goal of the Phase I project was to demonstrate the feasibility of a virtual coaching framework to significantly improve the quality of elementary science education in rural school districts. This was to be accomplished by supporting teachers' capabilities to efficiently and effectively create high-quality supplemental science lessons even when they do not have experience with STEM concepts. Our Phase I project focused on three technical objectives. We met each one within the budget and timeline of the research period, as follows: Objective 1: Our goal was to show that we could develop a platform that would integrate a content examples library, 5E's instructional model, NGSS coaching tools, and professional development materials for K-5 elementary teachers. This platform would enable teachers of all experience levels to develop high quality NGSS - aligned lessons with reduced planning time. Results Summary: The framework was successfully created and testing confirmed the platform is functioning 100% of the time on all operating systems and devices. Qualitative survey data showed that SNGS was user friendly, supported teachers' efforts to create high quality NGSS-aligned lessons regardless of previous NGSS or curriculum development training and experience, supported teachers' efforts to create high quality NGSS-aligned lessons compared to their normal methods and materials, and supported teachers' efforts to learn more about the NGSS and the 5Es. Quantitative survey data showed that SNGS helped teachers become significantly more comfortable creating an NGSS-aligned science lesson. Teachers' self-reported comfort level with creating an NGSS-aligned lesson increased to 6.4 (on a 10-point scale, SD = 1.96); up from 4.91 on the pre-survey. Furthermore, SNGS helped teachers spend less time developing their science lessons, and the lessons they developed were better-aligned with the NGSS. Teachers reported a decrease from almost 5 hours to an average of 3 hours spent developing their science lessons. Objective 2: Our goal was to show that teachers are able to create a high-quality NGSS-aligned lesson with supplementary materials more effectively than their current lesson preparation methods. Results Summary: Data from the STIR and NGSS Lesson Screener showed the teachers were able to create a high-quality NGSS-aligned lesson with supplementary materials more effectively than their current lesson preparation methods. Teachers had an average positive change of 2.86 points on the STIR from pre-lesson to post lesson. On the NGSS lesson screener, teachers had an average positive change of 9.25 points from pre-lesson to post lesson. Every post lesson reviewed with the lesson screener received a score of 18, the highest possible score, which indicates the lessons have extensive evidence of being fully aligned with the NGSS. This is of particular note since several teachers had pre-lessons with no or inadequate NGSS alignment. Objective 3: Our goal was to show that SNGS helps to reduce the STEM educational opportunity inequities between rural and urban school districts by investigating the economic impacts accruing to students beyond the project period due to improved academic outcomes and income potential, and to teachers due to improved STEM strategies and science content knowledge. Results Summary: The rural socio-economic impacts study showed that student improvements in the development trial classrooms could range between approximately $217,800 to $399,300 in current value of lifetime expected earnings increases. Additionally, teacher turnover savings could range between $524 to $2,145 per elementary building per year for K-5 elementary schools with two classes per grade.
Publications
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