Making Classroom Learning Personalized

Publication

In this policy brief, Walkington and Bernacki discuss personalized learning (PL) and argue that if schools are to achieve the impact on learning outcomes they envision, they can draw upon what is known about students’ interests, values, self-regulation, and mastery, and how to leverage them for learning. The theory of change at the center of a PL design should answer: “What learning outcome do I intend to affect? What learning activities address this aim? What would I need to know about the learner to adapt the activity?” The authors provide advice to those who wish to fund, adopt, design, and

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Gender stereotypes about interests start early and cause gender disparities in computer science and engineering

Publication

Societal stereotypes depict girls as less interested than boys in computer science and engineering. We demonstrate the existence of these stereotypes among children and adolescents from first to 12th grade and their potential negative consequences for girls’ sub- sequent participation in these fields. Studies 1 and 2 (n = 2,277; one preregistered) reveal that children as young as age six (first grade) and adolescents across multiple racial/ethnic and gender intersec- tions (Black, Latinx, Asian, and White girls and boys) endorse ster- eotypes that girls are less interested than boys in

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Engaging Government-Industry-University Partnerships to Further Gender Equity in STEM Workforce Education Through Technology and Information System Learning Tools

Publication

This paper has two goals: First, to detail processes through which a project funded under a National Science Foundation workforce development program (Innovative Technology Experiences for Students and Teachers, ITEST) leveraged active partnerships among government agencies, industry firms, and universities to develop and study an innovative, out-of-school information system and technology workforce education program. The aim of the program was to improve equity of opportunity for high school girls. The program engaged young women from underrepresented subgroups in data science, analytics

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Launching a Discourse-Rich Mathematics Lesson

Publication

This article shares a mathematics discourse technique adapted from literacy instruction and designed to prepare students' engagement in a mathematics task by model mathematical thinking. The Math Think Aloud is used during the launch of a lesson to provide access to the mathematics and help students make sense of the task so they are able to work on the task and share their mathematical thinking. Successes, challenges, and tips for effective implementation are shared.

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Supporting Sense Making with Mathematical Bet Lines

Publication

This article presents a mathematics discourse technique adapted from literacy instruction to promote sense making when teachers are launching a lesson about story problems. Math Bet Lines helps all students engage with the meaning of the story problem and is particularly beneficial for emergent multilingual learners. In this article we discuss how teachers implemented the Math Bet Lines technique and share their successes, challenges, and tips for overcoming those challenges.

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Talk is the Ticket to Teaching Math to English Learners

Publication

This article describes a mathematics professional development program for elementary school teachers focused on improving mathematics discourse for all students, in particular emergent multilingual learners. Frameworks, such as the Math Discourse Matrix (Sztajn, Heck, & Malzahn, 2020) that characterizes four types of discourse (correcting, eliciting, probing, responsive) and other resources aimed at planning and implementing lessons that support emergent multilingual learners' engagement in productive mathematical discussions are shared.

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Decomposing Practice in Teacher Professional Development: Examining sequences of learning activities

Publication

In this paper, we engage in an analysis of professional development design, examining professional development activities and the sequencing of professional learning tasks. We use a theoretical framework typically used in pre-service teacher education to understand the design of one professional development program. Our overarching goal is to theorize about how to design professional development and sequence professional learning tasks for practicing teachers. Specifically, this study uses the concepts of decompositions of practice (Grossman et al., 2009), and levels of decomposition (Boerst

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Uncharted WATERS: Sustaining a Meaningful Student Teaching Experience Amidst a Global Pandemic via an Online STEM Curriculum

Publication

Field experience is the culminating experience for pre-service teacher training. As COVID-19 closed schools across the country, pre-service teachers’ field experiences were disrupted. This case study examines how a student teacher, a team of mentor teachers, and a university supervisor at a regional public university adapted to remote learning. The findings suggest that there were gains and losses in terms of the pre-service teachers’ ability to develop essential skills; classroom management skills suffered while formative assessment practices, innovative lesson delivery, and reflection on

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Scaling Professional Development: Preparing Professional Learning and Development Providers to Lead Power of Data Teacher Workshops.

Publication

This design-based research study examined the first two cycles of development, enactment, analysis, and redesign of the Power of Data (POD) Facilitation Academy. Professional Learning and Development (PLD) providers’ geospatial technology (GST) skills, understanding of programme principles, preparation, and stages of concern for implementing POD Teacher Workshops were investigated. The POD Team analysed previous POD PLD models. Using these results, the POD Academy and Guide were developed, enacted, and revised. Two cohorts ( n  = 28) participated in the POD FA designed to prepare PLD providers

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Integrating STEM Into Afterschool: Lessons Learned for Educators In and Out of School

Publication

In 2013 The Franklin Institute, a leading science museum in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, received a grant from the National Science Foundation (#1138911) to reach under-resourced urban communities by strengthening the capacity of afterschool centers to offer STEM programming. Integrating Science Into Afterschool: A Three-Dimensional Approach to Engaging Underserved Populations In Science, or “STEM 3D,” was a five-year project that aspired to integrate STEM learning across afterschool, home, and community as a strategy for building positive science identities and creating viable STEM pathways

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