Results
Title

Beyond the professional development academy: Teachers' retention of discipline‐specific science content knowledge throughout a 3‐year mathematics and science partnership.

Authors

Clary, Renee M.; Elder, Anastasia; Dunne, James; Saebo, Svein; Beard, Debbie; Wax, Charles; Tucker, Deborah L.

Abstract

Abstract: The Teacher Academy in the Natural Sciences (TANS) provided middle school (U.S. Grades 6–8) teachers (N = 81) with intensive professional development (PD) in chemistry, geosciences, and physics, with teachers enrolled in one scientific discipline per year. Because some teachers were retained and rotated into different disciplines, the TANS program investigated retention of science content 1–2 years beyond an instructional year. All teacher participants exhibited significant gains (p p < .001), although gains from teachers' incoming knowledge were still significant. When retention was measured beyond the instructional year, only the geosciences content was retained. Chemistry and physics gains were not retained, with no significant differences between incoming teachers' knowledge and content 1–2 years post instruction. Our research indicates that science content support is needed after PD programs, and importantly, that the support differs between scientific disciplines.

Subjects

CAREER development; TEACHER retention; SCIENCE education; EDUCATION of science teachers; MATHEMATICS education

Publication

School Science & Mathematics, 2018, Vol 118, Issue 3/4, p75

ISSN

0036-6803

Publication type

Academic Journal

DOI

10.1111/ssm.12267