Research and Evaluation

The FunWorks is a digital library of career exploration resources for youth ages 11 to 15. The FunWorks provides “real world” experiences and uses children’s current interests and passions, such as music and sports, to help them explore exciting future careers in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM). The site was designed for and by children—over 300 young people have participated in the design and launch of this one-of-a-kind collection from the initial concept to design, usability testing, and launch.

This two-year project, funded by the Japan Foundation’s Center for Global Partnership (CGP), will develop and pilot test curriculum materials that use picture books to expose lower primary (grades 1–3) Japanese school children to present-day American culture and all of its diversity. EDC, in partnership with Iwate University’s Faculty of Education, will create teaching materials based on American picture books and design hands-on, highly experiential activities to complement the books.

This three-year research project, funded through the National Science Foundation’s Evaluation Capacity Building program, is developing and rigorously testing an observation protocol (Inquiry Science Instruction Observation Protocol—ISIOP) that assists evaluators in determining the nature of and extent to which elements of inquiry science instruction are present in middle school classroom teaching. The protocol relies on work from two other projects at CSE, Inquiry Synthesis, and the Middle-Grades Science Mentoring Program, in addition to existing instruments from other researchers.

The National Center Supported e-Text in Electronic Environments, in collaboration with research teams across the country, is conducting a systematic program of research over five years to investigate the following four research questions: (1) What characteristics of supported electronic text (e-text) facilitate or impede access to and learning of academic content for students with a range of disabilities? (2) Does supported e-text improve learning of academic content in actual educational settings with typical resources and levels of teacher support?

EDC works with staff from the Jacob Burns Film Center (JBFC) to conduct evaluation planning for the See Hear Feel Film curriculum, which is designed to provide third grade students with an understanding of film and of themselves as creative beings, and is implemented in both in-school and out-of-school settings. EDC’s work focuses on clarifying student and teacher outcomes and determining indicators to measure change.

CSE was funded by the National Science Foundation to convene this invitational conference, which has begun to build a foundation of knowledge about various models of support for science learning at the elementary level. From the conference findings, CSE is developing a research agenda that will lead to more informed decision making about how best to ensure adequate and appropriate elementary science instruction.

CLLC provides evaluation support to the University of Pittsburgh for their National Science Foundation (NSF)-funded GK—12 project, a collaboration among university graduate students and teachers in Pittsburgh Public Schools to improve science education. CLLC supports instrument and data collection design and analysis by project staff, and examines lessons learned by graduate students and teachers about developing effective partnerships to improve instruction.

This project addressed gaps in the current state assessment system and explored the following questions: Where are the gaps in the assessment system? Who are the students affected by these gaps? What are the appropriate assessment systems for students in the gaps? After answering these questions, the project developed and piloted an assessment prototype to address the problem and meet student needs. Completed research studies are available on the project Web site. TMAS is a cross center project with EEC and FSC within EDC.

The question about how (and what) teachers learn “on the job” lies at the crux of any effort to provide high-quality teachers for students. Focusing on mathematics teachers, this project will help shape the agenda for future research by identifying those aspects of teacher learning that have been firmly established, those aspects which bear further investigation, and those aspects about which little is currently known, but which are likely to be important for developing a full picture of teachers’ on-the-job learning.

CSE is partnering with EDC’s Center for Children and Technology (CCT) to conduct the evaluation of the American Museum of Natural History’s Science Research Mentoring Program. This three-year project offers training in biological science technologies and systematics to high school students from populations currently underrepresented in the STEM fields. The program includes preparatory courses, a summer institute, and year-long individual projects supervised by working scientists.