WestEd News
WestEd STEM Researchers Study Early Elementary Science Instruction Post Professional Development
Article: Coping with Constraints: Longitudinal Case Studies of Early Elementary Science Instruction After Professional Development
Publication: Journal of Educational Change, Volume 20, Issue 2
Publisher: Springer
Publication Date: May 2019
Authors: Judith Haymore Sandholtz, Cathy Ringstaff, and Bryan Matlen
Related WestEd Program: Science, Technology, Engineering, & Mathematics
Can schools sustain meaningful instructional changes after teachers receive three years of professional development?
Judith Haymore Sandholtz with the University of California, Irvine, and WestEd researchers Cathy Ringstaff and Bryan Matlen publish longitudinal case studies, supported by the National Science Foundation, that demonstrate how teacher professional development can hold promise in promoting effective early elementary science instruction, and offer guidance on how to cope with school-level factors that change over time. The study was informed primarily by teacher surveys, self-efficacy assessments, and interviews.
Excerpt from the Abstract:
Professional development holds significant potential in promoting science education, but that potential is undermined if instructional changes are not sustained. For professional development, sustainability refers to the continuation of outcomes over an extended period of time after the program ends and is an issue across international contexts.
This longitudinal research investigated sustainability of early elementary science instruction after teacher participation in a three-year professional development program. The research used a case-study approach to obtain an in-depth understanding of why instructional shifts occurred over a period of seven years.
The findings highlight how school-level factors changed over time and affected teachers’ science instruction in both positive and negative ways. The research illustrates the connection between contextual constraints and science instruction and holds implications for sustaining meaningful instructional changes after professional development ends.
Posted on May 15, 2019