Teacher Professional Development During Nation-Wide Science Reforms (PD-RAP)
About the PD-RAP project
This project leverages the re-design of the Advanced Placement (AP) curricula currently under way to study the impact of teacher professional development on student achievement in a natural experiment at scale. Researchers from the University of Massachusetts Boston, Harvard University, the University of Michigan, and the Education Development Center, Inc are conducting a quasi-experimental research study to examine the professional development experienced by AP Biology, Chemistry and Physics teachers to determines (a) the relationship between teacher and school characteristics and the professional development patterns that teachers choose; (b) the relationship between the professional development patterns that various types of teachers choose and their students' outcomes; and (c) the challenges encountered in delivering various forms of professional development at this level of scale. In addition to supporting the improvement of professional development of AP teachers by the College Board, the findings contribute to a better understanding of the relationship between professional development and student achievement more generally.
More information: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1221861
Personnel and Collaborations @ Tübingen and Beyond
Tübingen: Christian Fischer, Nicolas Hübner, Tim Fütterer, Fitore Morina
National Collaborations: Eric Richter (University of Potsdam)
International Collaborations: Arthur Eisenkraft (University of Massachusetts Boston), Barry Fishman (University of Michigan), Christopher Dede (Harvard University), Kim Frumin (Harvard University), Frances Lawrenz (University of Minnesota), Abigail Jurist Levy (Education Development Center), Ayana McCoy (Wellesley College)
Funded Grants
Supporting Large Scale Change in Science Education: Understanding Professional Development and Adoption Variation Related to the Revised Advanced Placement Curriculum, National Science Foundation, DRK-12 [$3,000,000, Grant awarded to PI Arthur Eisenkraft and Co-PIs Abigail Jurist Levy, Christopher Dede, and Barry Fishman]
Selected Publications (as of October 22)
Richter, E., Fütterer, T., Meyer, A., Eisenkraft, A., & Fischer, C. (in press). Teacher Collaboration and Professional Learning: Examining how Teachers Select Professional Development Activities During a National Education Reform. Zeitschrift für Pädagogik.
Hübner, N., Fischer, C., Fishman, B., Lawrenz, F., & Eisenkraft, A. (2021). One Program Fits All? Patterns and Outcomes of Professional Development During A Large-Scale Reform in a High-Stakes Science Curriculum. AERA Open, 7(1), 1-18. https://doi.org/10.1177/23328584211028601
Fischer, C., Foster, B., McCoy, A., Lawrenz, F., Dede, C., Eisenkraft, A., Fishman, B., Frumin, K., & Levy, A. (2020). Identifying levers related to student performance on high-stakes science exams: Examining school, teaching, teacher, and professional development characteristics. Teachers College Record, 122(2), 1-64. https://doi.org/10.1177/016146812012200202
Fischer, C., Fishman, B., Levy, A., Eisenkraft, A., Dede, C., Lawrenz, F., Jia, Y., Kook, J., Frumin, K., & McCoy, A. (2020). When do students in low-SES schools perform better-than-expected on a high-stakes test? Analyzing school, teacher, teaching, and professional development characteristics. Urban Education, 55(8-9), 1280-1314. https://doi.org/10.1177/0042085916668953
McCoy, A., Levy, A., Frumin, K., Lawrenz, F., Dede, C., Eisenkraft, A., Fischer, C., Fishman, B., & Foster, B. (2020). From the inside out: Teacher responses to the AP curriculum redesign. Journal of Science Teacher Education, 31(2), 208-225. https://doi.org/10.1080/1046560X.2019.1685630
Fischer, C., McCoy, A., Foster, B., Eisenkraft, A., & Lawrenz, F. (2019). Use of the stages of concerns questionnaire in a national top-down reform effort. Teaching and Teacher Education, 80, 13-26. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tate.2018.12.019
Fischer, C., Eisenkraft, A., Fishman, B., Hübner, N., & Lawrenz, F. (2018). Adapting to the large-scale Advanced Placement chemistry reform: An examination of teachers’ challenges and instructional practices. Journal of Chemical Education, 95(10), 1701–1710. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.jchemed.8b00151
Fischer, C., Fishman, B., Dede, C., Eisenkraft, E., Foster, B., Frumin, K., Lawrenz, F., Levy, A., & McCoy, A. (2018). Investigating relationships between school context, teacher professional development, teaching practices, and student achievement in response to a nationwide science reform. Teaching and Teacher Education, 72, 107-121. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tate.2018.02.011
Frumin, K., Dede, C., Fischer, C., Fishman, B., Eisenkraft, A., Foster, B., Levy, A., Lawrenz, F., & McCoy, A. (2018). Adapting to large-scale changes in Advanced Placement biology, chemistry, and physics: The impact of online teacher communities. International Journal of Science Education, 40(4), 397-420. https:/doi.org/10.1080/09500693.2018.1424962