Rites Proposal

RITES: The Rhode Island Technology Enhanced Science Program

Excerpts from a proposal to the National Science Foundation

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Table of Contents

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RITES: The Rhode Island Technology Enhanced Science Program

Project Summary The Rhode Island Technology Enhanced Science (RITES) program is a targeted Math-Science Partnership designed to improve secondary science learning statewide. The core partners are the University of Rhode Island, Rhode Island College, Johnston (RI) Public Schools, and the Rhode Island Department of Education. Supporting Partners include Brown University, the Community College of Rhode Island, the Rhode Island Economic Development Corporation, and the Concord Consortium. The Education Alliance at Brown University will evaluate the project. As part of a comprehensive statewide effort to improve education in Rhode Island, RITES will transform the quality of science teaching and learning at all secondary schools with the goal of increasing the number and diversity of students who are proficient in science and pursue STEM careers. RITES will reach all 686 Rhode Island middle and high school teachers and all 83,339 of their students. Alignment of teacher preparation programs in the four Partner institutions of higher education will impact three-quarters of the secondary teachers produced in state. Features of the program include a flexible, school-based approach, a central role for learning through guided inquiry, extensive use of technology, a statewide approach that leverages a wide range of state resources, and research on the project features. Pairs of middle and high schools will develop a unified science improvement plan that will utilize project resources to solve their most pressing problems. In close collaboration with schools, the Partners will develop an extensive series of short courses for teachers with the goal of implementing effective teaching strategies and research-based content closely tied to the 64 state standards for secondary science and applied mathematics. The courses will feature computer-based materials that address specific standards through guided inquiry using probes as appropriate for laboratory investigations, computational models of virtual environments, and software tools that access science databases. The materials will include embedded assessments that will give students and teachers prompt and accurate data on student proficiency in each standard. Teachers will implement these materials, study their impact on students in their classrooms, customize the materials accordingly, and share their observations and adaptations in a RITES Online Community portal. Intellectual Merit. The RITES vision of high-quality science education for all using 21st century technology has mobilized outstanding resources across the state. A committed Leadership Team consisting of scientists and educators representing all schools, the leading colleges and universities, government, and business will be the intellectual and managerial center of the project. This team has developed an excellent plan that combines proven approaches widely used in science education reform enhanced by innovative applications of the technology based on current NSF funded research and development. A talented educational research team will undertake wide-ranging research on the impact of project programs, materials, and technologies on student achievement, professional development, and sustainability. The Partners are committed to continuing the project through institutional reforms. RITES will be supported in schools statewide through permanent STEM Center that features two new tenure-track positions. Broader Impacts. The RITES plan is unique and has important implications for equity, teaching, learning, and education reform in science. It combines world-class academic science and education resources with comprehensive statewide STEM education reform supported by all levels of government and education. The project makes innovative and pervasive use of technology for learning, assessment, community building, and research, which is unprecedented at a statewide scale. The experience of the project and its research findings

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will have broad implications of interest to educators and policy makers everywhere. The project will disseminate its research findings, evaluation reports, and technology widely through presentations, peerreviewed articles, magazines, and reports. Its materials, software, and reports will be freely available on the community portal. All software and materials will be free for nonprofit educational use.

Narrative Vision, Goals and Outcomes The Need and Vision A comprehensive and rigorous science curriculum that is accessible to all students is a high priority for Rhode Island. As our 21st century society is increasingly driven by science and technology advances, every citizen will need a solid foundation in relevant subject areas to make informed individual and community decisions. As our economy evolves toward a greater number of innovation-based jobs, students prepared for careers in science and engineering at all levels of the career ladder will enjoy greater opportunities for higher wages, professional growth and mobility. To support the development of this social and economic change, Rhode Island has made a strong commitment to significant improvements in science education for ALL students, statewide. Additionally, the state will ensure the sustainability of these improvements through structural changes in policy, resource alignment, and educational practices throughout our PK-16 education system. As detailed in the Supplementary Documentation, student performance in science is unacceptably low in Rhode Island and there is an intolerable gap between the achievement of poor, minority, and urban students and that of other students. Only approximately one-quarter of all students perform at or above the proficient level, with about three-quarters of minority students performing below the “basic” level compared to only one-third of white students—indicative of both unacceptably poor performance for all students and an inexcusable demographics gap. Early in his first term, Governor Carcieri commissioned a Blue Ribbon Panel on Science and Math education to recommend actionable improvements in the PK-16 system. The resulting report, Project Making the Grade - An Action Plan for Rhode Island, describes four key issues and related goals and strategies. The PK16 Council subsequently convened an Advisory Board on Science Education to assess and report recommendations for science education improvement. To support this effort, the Governor advocated, and the Rhode Island General Assembly approved, a $15M capital fund to upgrade the technology infrastructure for STEM teacher preparation programs at our public higher education institutions, and to create a Center for Excellence in STEM Education (STEM Center) serving the entire state. In concert with these initiatives of the PK-16 Council, the Board of Regents and Commissioner of Elementary and Secondary Education, in partnership with the Commissioner of Higher Education, led a sustained effort to implement statewide curriculum standards and assessments, aligned to new high school graduation requirements and college readiness requirements. These structural investments were essential to create the environment for coherent and sustainable improvement in Rhode Island’s education system and specifically in STEM education. Now, the state needs to build on this platform with enhancements to curriculum, classroom educational practices, and sustained

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collaboration between higher education and K-12 faculty that will leverage this investment to the benefit of every Rhode Island student. The proposed MSP project is designed to meet these needs.

Project Goals and Outcomes The response to these needs is RITES, the Rhode Island Technology Enhanced Science program, which is designed to have a major statewide impact on student science understanding. The primary measure of project impact will be student achievement on the NECAP (New England Common Assessments Program) science assessment, which will be administered for the first time in spring 2008. As there is no benchmark data in science, it is expected, based upon the results of the NECAP mathematics assessment, that the NECAP science will show that no more than one-quarter of all students and 5% or fewer of poor, minority, urban, ELL, and special needs students will achieve a proficient level of science achievement. RITES will aim for 50% of all students and student sub-groups achieving a proficient level in science across participating schools in five years. We expect these gains will cause a significant increase in the number and diversity of students who pursue STEM coursework and careers; the project is committed to tracking this trend throughout the project period. To achieve these ambitious goals, the RITES Partners are committed to a statewide, coordinated, researchbased, and sustained effort to substantially improve the quality of science teaching and learning at all middle and high schools. RITES will reach all 686 Rhode Island middle and high school teachers with a rich set of resources and services, directly serving 75% of schools with high-quality in-service programs. RITES will provide all 83,339 of Rhode Island middle and high school students with excellent, challenging, computerbased, standards-aligned science materials. A plan has been developed that incorporates the proven approaches widely used in science education reform , enhanced by novel uses of the cyberinfrastructure to increase the project’s impact. Features of the program include a flexible, school-based approach, an emphasis on guided inquiry, extensive use of technology, a statewide approach that leverages a wide range of state resources, and research on the unique project approaches. This is a major innovative project that could become a model for other states and large school systems. Partnership Driven RITES has been designed and will be administered by four Core Partners representing higher and pre-college education, assisted by five Supporting Partners. These nine Partners represent just the kind of collaboration envisioned by the MSP program that includes scientists with expertise in science education and science educators knowledgeable about the nature and content of science, supported by the latest educational technology and outstanding educational researchers. Rhode Island’s major public higher education institutions are represented in the Partnership by the University of Rhode Island (URI) and Rhode Island College (RIC). The lead partner is URI, under the direction of PI Dan Murray, Professor of Geosciences and educational innovator. The co-PI at RIC will be Glênisson de Oliveira, a computational chemist and director of the STEM Center, who served on the PK-16 Science Advisory Council. These two scientists will act as equal partners and will lead teams of faculty from the sciences and schools of education at their respective institutions. The higher education Partners are matched with two Core Partners representing schools. Kathy Crowley, Assistant Superintendent from Johnston Public Schools, will serve as co-PI representing a typical school district. The state’s middle and high schools will be represented by co-PI Peter McLaren who is Science and Technology Specialist at the Rhode Island Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (RIDE). He

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helped design and implement the Rhode Island Science, Engineering and Technology Grade Span Expectations, and the NECAP science assessment, and has co-chaired the PK-16 Science Advisory Council. Supporting Partners represent public and private higher education institutions (the Community College of Rhode Island and Brown University), business and economic interests (RIEDCthe Rhode Island Economic Development Corporation) and deep expertise in STEM educational technologies (CCthe Concord Consortium.) An experienced evaluation team from Brown University’s Education Alliance will provide extensive data on the progress and effectiveness of RITES activities. Teacher Quality, Quantity, and Diversity An important strategy of RITES is to improve the quality of science teacher preparation. RITES will have a major impact on teacher preparation because the institutions in the Partnership produce about three-quarters of newly licensed science teachers in RI. RITES will actively engage faculty in both science and education in project activities. Both URI and RIC will undertake reviews of their pre-service programs to align them with the approach and materials used in RITES. RITES does not need to focus on increasing the quantity of science teachers produced because there appears to be in-state capacity to produce a sufficient quantity and to expand production if needed. Emergency certifications — an indicator of unmet demand for teachers — are low; there were only 11 emergency permits in science in 2006-7. With 686 middle and high science teachers and a loss rate of 5% per year, there would be a need for 34 new teachers per year. University production in-state approximately matches this estimate, producing 37 science teachers in 2006 who earned RI teaching licenses. RITES does not need to launch special programs to increase the diversity of science teachers because the state already has two such programs. RITER is a statewide non-traditional certification program focused on improving the quality and diversity of teachers though preservice and in-service programs. In addition, URI has launched Project RECRUIT in collaboration with RIDE to create an alternative two-year certification program using school-based Teacher Academies to attract and prepare more diverse teachers in science and secondary special education (SPED). RITES will collaborate with these programs to ensure alignment with its inquiry-based, technology-enabled approach, materials, and strategies. Challenging Courses and Curricula RITES will develop an exciting collection of free, highly interactive online educational resources, assembled, developed, customized, and evaluated by teams of faculty, teachers, and educational experts. These will be suitable for use in computer labs or classrooms with from one computer per class to one per student. The materials will be organized into short activities, modules, and yearlong curricula. The content of these materials will be matched to the state science standards and their associated assessments (NECAP). Special curricular issues of concern to RI teachers in the following areas will be addressed: • Low student achievement in mathematics is a major obstacle to science achievement. The project will provide materials that address math applications, such as graphing and estimation, which are essential for science. • About 30% of the NECAP assessment will include content on earth and space sciences. Few high schools cover these topics and will need to adapt their core science courses to address this, and to

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train their teachers. RITES will fully support this with consultation on curriculum design and standards-based materials. • A significant number of schools are instituting a Physics First curriculum in direct response to the PK-16 Council recommendations. This requires new thinking about the entire middle and high school science curriculum and extensive PD, some of which is underway, funded by an ITEST grant to CC, but more is needed. RITES enthusiastically supports Physics First but will not require all participating schools to adopt it. Evidence-Based Design and Outcomes The RITES project is committed to continuously measuring its progress and impact against evidence gathered from a variety of sources and analyzed by a rigorous, independent evaluation group. Conclusions and recommendations generated by this group will be regularly considered by the Partnership Team and be used to guide project policy. RITES will be evaluated using a broad range of indicators described in the evaluation section. The same reliance on monitoring data and making corresponding changes will take place in the classroom. All project materials will be targeted at specific learning standards, and will include student assessments that measure achievement of these standards. Teachers will be shown how to analyze these assessments and results from NECAP to predict student performance on future science assessments and to adjust instruction to increase performance. Student materials will be easily customized to better address assessments, and teachers will learn how to make data-driven custom versions of project materials.

Broader Impacts The RITES plan is a mix of proven elements and important innovations in the scale and use of technology that will generate a transformative change. The plan is unique and has important implications for science teaching, learning, and education reform. The fact that it is part of comprehensive statewide STEM education reform with strong support from all levels of government and academia is unique and represents a valuable experiment in organization and structure. The innovative and pervasive use of technology for learning, assessment, community building, and research is unprecedented at this scale. The strategy of using researchbased educational technology that can provide rich, inquiry-based, scaffolded learning is being used at scale in a unique way. Research indicates that the RITES approach will work with all students, but it will carefully study and address project successes in reducing the gaps that are present in minority and special student achievement. The project will study these innovations to understand their contributions to the project, to teacher skills, and to student learning. The project will disseminate its research findings, evaluation reports, and technology widely through talks, peer-reviewed presentations and journals, magazines, and the project website. Its new resources will be freely available. All software will have a free, open source copyright; all project learning materials will be copyrighted by their author under a license that permits free nonprofit educational use.

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Research and Implementation Framework The Plan School-based Planning. Pairs of schools consisting of a high school and a feeder middle school will join the Partnership together by developing a unified, comprehensive middle and high school science action plan that will integrate RITES resources with school needs and ongoing school reform. Schools that fully participate in the project will be expected to have active engagement of school leadership and at least 75% of their science teachers. The plan will include annual reviews of NECAP science results disaggregated by race, gender, disabilities, and income. Schools will also collect disaggregated data on student matriculation and science teacher characteristics. The plan will include specific benchmarks for student achievement, teacher professional development, and workforce diversity. Each plan will address any specific curriculum concerns of the school. The Partnership will provide expert assistance to help schools develop their plans through consultation, group meetings, and online forums. RITES will provide a plan template, science NECAP data and analysis, and descriptions of available resources. It will also connect schools with other state programs such as RECRUIT, the RIDE’s alternative certification program, and state, private, and industry sources for technology funding. Each school plan will need to link its science needs to RITES resources for professional development, materials, and students: Professional development will focus on teacher beliefs, content, pedagogy, materials, and technology utilization. A central strategy of professional development will be instructional strategies that ensure all students achieve mastery of specific standards through inquiry-based activities that take full advantage of available technologies for learning and assessment. Materials. Teams of teachers, faculty from disciplines and schools of education, and educational experts will assemble a collection of excellent materials that can provide proven inquiry-based learning experiences that are linked to all the relevant standards. Student Opportunities. To support the goal of STEM career preparation and entry, the project will provide a range of optional resources for students demonstrating interest in STEM coursework and/or careers. This will include a range of apprenticeship and informal education programs. The plan for each school pair will include a budget for required supplies and services equivalent to $1,200 per participating teacher. Half will be available when the plan is accepted by RITES and the other half when it is completed, creating strong incentives to design and complete high-quality plans that include the maximum number of middle and high school science teachers. Supplies could include probes and interfaces purchased from vendors or in kit form, laboratory equipment, or related computer supplies. Services could include any reasonable activity that will support the school’s plans, such as enrollment in the Virtual High School to provide advanced math, science, and technology courses, creating science or technology clubs, or payments for access to Sakai. Professional Development. The project will engage participating schools for two years of intensive activities followed by optional support during the balance of the project. A minimum program for teachers will consist of six short courses and an accepted, peer-reviewed report on classroom implementation of RITES materials. This implementation report, which will be uploaded to the RITES Online Community and linked to the instructional materials, will include student achievement data, a description of data-driven customizations of

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the materials, and an analysis of strengths and weaknesses of the approach. Teachers completing their program will receive a RITES Certificate. The project will be designed so that participating teachers can take three short courses over a week-and-ahalf of face-to-face workshops in the first summer, one course during the academic year, and two additional courses in the second summer. The short courses are modular and designed to be given in different formats including as a half-week workshop or a five-week online course. Consequently, the timing and balance between summer and academic year activities can be flexible to meet the needs of teachers and their schools. Each course will carry one hour of graduate credit from URI or RIC. One stipend of $1,500 will be awarded on completion of the first three courses, and a second on completion of three more and acceptance of the implementation report. In addition, for each course completed, each teacher will receive an allowance of $133 for materials and supplies related to classroom implementation. This provides incentives to use RITES materials, to think through barriers to their use, and for teachers in a school to collaborate on shared resources. Most participants will take an introductory short course that orients them to the project, acquaints them with learning from guided inquiry with and without technology, reviews their school plan, and describes supporting resources that they can access. The core content will be addressed in two groups of seven short courses focused on pedagogical content knowledge in four different content areas (physical science, biology, earth and space, and applied mathematics) split between middle and high school (there will be no high school math course). Each of the first set of courses will be based on a small number of representative RITES activities in the appropriate content and grade range. These activities will be subjected to in-depth analysis of the educational design, particularly their approach to inquiry-based learning, technology, student conceptions, and the background content. The second collection of seven courses will each be a continuation of the first set, intended for enrollment after a teacher had implemented one of the RITES activities. Each will focus on student assessment data from the classroom trial, identifying why parts of the materials were educationally unsuccessful for some students. Participants will then customize the materials to address these problems for later use in their classrooms. An independent study course will be developed to support participants in analyzing and interpreting the data from their classroom trials, and then writing the implementation report according to specific criteria. Most participants will enroll in two versions of this course, one designed for the academic year when they first try RITES materials and a second that supports the analysis and reporting on their customized implementation. Thus, many participants will take the introductory course, two core content courses, and two independent study courses. To meet the minimal requirement of six short courses, they could take one in another content area or one of a range of optional courses. Optional short courses will be developed in collaboration with the participating schools in the first two cohorts to meet their specific needs. RITES will be prepared to develop and offer short courses on additional content areas, on special problems (i.e. integrating RITES with Physics First, injecting Earth and Space Science content into the curriculum), and on issues such as assessment, management of inquiry-based classrooms, educational technology, and educational research. Teachers desiring additional preparation beyond the minimum will be supported during the funding cycle. They will be able to enroll in additional short courses on a space-available basis for graduate credit, but without a stipend. Teachers will also be able to enroll in project-approved three-credit graduate courses at RIC and URI. These courses will be taught by faculty who have participated in the project and who have adapted the project approach and materials to their own teaching. These courses will be offered in locations and at times to accommodate teachers’ needs. The project will cover the tuition charges of one course per

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year, but not stipends. This flexible professional development design will allow teachers to design a PD experience that maximizes their knowledge and skills, while establishing a performance standard that ensures thoughtful experimentation with RITES by all participants. The design also ensures that schools can adapt RITES resources to their particular mix of resources, students, and challenges. RITES Materials. RITES will provide modular computer-based student materials in a common format for each of the science and applied mathematics (e.g., graph interpretation and elementary statistics) secondary Grade Span Expectations (GSEs) that are included in the NECAP examinations. Teachers in participating schools will be engaged in customizing these materials to fit the needs and interests of their students. RITES will collect, adapt, and develop learning materials with the following features: Standards-based. At least two modules will be provided for each of the 52 science and 12 applied mathematics GSEs. These modules will include two-part assessment items consisting of a multiplechoice part followed by an explanation part that is evaluated using a knowledge integration rubric. Assessments will be based on items similar to those used in the NECAP assessment, facilitating their use for predicting student performance on these tests. Open-ended and electronic portfolio assessments will also be supported. Learning through guided inquiry. The primary learning strategy used in the materials will engage students in investigating real or simulated systems that require and invite student investigation. Proven instructional patterns such as predict-observe-explain (POE) will be used to structure student inquiry. High quality. All material will satisfy the seven criteria for materials evaluation that the AAAS has developed . The criteria include attention to student preconceptions, promoting student thinking, and teacher supports. Instructional technology. Probeware will be used extensively to increase the responsiveness, range, and number of lab investigations. For systems that cannot be studied directly, powerful computational models with dynamic graphics will be utilized. Some materials will base explorations on online scientific data such as earthquake and protein databases. Free and available online. Only materials that can be made available online at no cost for any educational use will be utilized. This ensures that students, teachers, parents, informal educators, and volunteers can easily access, utilize, and improve the materials. Automatic progress monitoring. The materials will include automatic logging of student actions. When used by individuals or small groups, logging provides students, teachers, and researchers detailed data of where students are in an activity, their path through the material, help requested, time required for each task, and inquiry skills (i.e., control of variables, systematicity). Materials meeting all these requirements have only recently become available due to explosive interest in open source, the digital commons, digital libraries, and NSF research funding. Two resources that will be used extensively are the huge collection of curriculum resources at the Concord Consortium and the software platform developed by the CC and partners that simplifies authoring and delivery of highly interactive materials. Using templates that incorporate effective learning patterns such as POE and flexible modeling and probeware software, it will be feasible for the project staff to convert non-electronic materials to a common online format, add assessment and student logging, and, when necessary, author new materials. The Cyberinfrastructure. RITES materials will be integrated into Sakai, an open source collaboration and

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learning environment used by 25% of RI schools and supported by RINET, the nonprofit Internet service provider for RI schools. This integration will include sharing student registration and artifacts so that students will have only one ID and password and all student work will be accessible from one portal. Collaboration technologies will be important enablers for RITES that will contribute to its long-term sustainability. RITES will establish a RITES Online Community that will include a range of online resources efforts into a single site that includes the RITES materials. The RITES site will be open in perpetuity to all RI science middle and high teachers, higher education faculty, parents, and informal educators. The project will seed this resource with the materials supplied by the project and the implementation reports required of participating teachers. This could establish a pattern of contributing thoughtful, data-informed new versions of the materials and new content that could continue to grow post funding. RITES will include a grade 7-12 version of the existing URI research and outreach instrument, the Academic Roadmap: Pathways through Science that will specifically address, guide, and assist middle and high school students and their families on STEM careers and academic preparation for these careers. Once the portal and information are assembled, we will test the Roadmap with middle and high school students in various science classes to determine its efficacy and needed improvements. The important role of technology is a feature of the project that will create a challenge to all schools, particularly the less-resourced urban schools. RITES will have several strategies to address this problem. All RITES materials and approaches will be effective in one-computer classrooms, the minimum available in all schools. But additional features, such as student progress monitoring, will make the materials more effective in technology-rich environments. The combination of the obvious advantages of adding technology and the continued drop in its cost, should create a value proposition for increased investment that will be attractive to schools and external funders. RITES Partners will tap all possible private and public resources to ensure equitable and high level of technology access in participating schools. Schedule. Five school pairs selected to represent the demographics of the state will constitute the first cohort that will begin in the first year of the project. Four school pairs in addition to Johnston have expressed interest in joining this first cohort of schools, including urban schools serving low-income families in Central Falls, North Providence, and Providence. The project will develop its initial resources based on the needs of these schools. An additional 13 school pairs will be added in each of the subsequent three years for a total of 44 pairs. We estimate that this number of pairs, representing 75% of the total, will successfully generate and complete a RITES plan. Teachers and their students in remaining schools will be able to participate less formally in the project, using the student materials and participating in the RITES Online Community. RITES has developed a detailed plan for providing the short courses required in a way that ensures consistency and effectiveness. Over the five years of the project, a total of 392 teachers will take 116 sections of approximately 25 short courses. Each section will be co-led by an outstanding teacher and faculty member from higher education or an experienced trainer. Assuming that each leader co-teaches two short courses per year, by the fourth year, when the demand for short courses peaks, a total of 35 leaders will be required. If roughly 20% drop out each year, a peak of 19 new leaders will need to be recruited and oriented to the project in year three. This orientation will take place in a Leader Workshop offered once in years 1-4 where prospective short course leaders will be introduced to the project’s short course designs, pedagogical approach, materials, and technology. In the first two years of the project there will be a major effort to collect student learning materials that fit the project needs described above.

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Coordination with Other Programs. RITES will make a major effort to leverage its work and resources with the many other programs in the state. It will also seek out partners who can contribute to RITES or utilize RITES materials and technologies such as Bob Ballard’s Inner Space project housed at URI. Projects will be encouraged to use student learning materials in the RITES Online Community and to contribute new materials that can be freely used and shared. Formal and informal educators and volunteers from business and community programs will all be actively encouraged to use and improve the resources. The Roadmap career information at the site will be of interest to parents and guidance counselors. The primary mechanism for incorporating these other resources into RITES will be through school plans. The project will collect information about these resources and make them available online. These coordination functions will be provided by RIEDC which will donate 50% FTE to this each year.

Theoretical Framework Inquiry. The central role of inquiry in RITES is supported by the standards and a large body of research. The national science teaching standards are emphatic about the importance of inquiry to science learning. The AAAS Benchmarks place student inquiry front and center. The Rhode Island standards are based on AAAS Benchmarks and inherit their focus on inquiry. Similarly, the NRC standards emphasize inquiry and assert that “Science as inquiry is a basic and controlling principle in the ultimate organization of ... science education.” In other words, the entire curriculum should be organized around student inquiry, providing time for it and making sure that prerequisite skills, attitudes, and knowledge are treated to support this. Fully 30% of the NECAP science assessment measures inquiry skills by requiring students to undertake an experiment, analyze data, and write their conclusions. A large number of studies have looked at the educational value of inquiry-based instruction . A major review conducted at the Education Development Center looked at hundreds of studies of inquiry based teaching. A majority of the 138 studies that met their criteria showed content learning gains with inquiry based teaching, and 20 of 32 comparison studies showed more concept learning when inquiry was used [personal communication]. Instructional design. The RITES materials will use a “Knowledge Integration” framework, a fruitful synthesis of extensive research in technology-enhanced STEM learning . This framework emphasizes the central importance of engaging learners in guided inquiry through multiple experiences, which provide a range of experiences that use different learning modalities. This permits students to integrate their observations and link them with prior knowledge through various forms of reflection and communication guided by a mix of technology and teacher interventions. Assessments designed to measure knowledge integration can provide very accurate measures of student learning . With formative feedback on student performance automatically generated by computer-based materials and used effectively by teachers in the classroom, substantial student performance gains can be expected . Technology in support of inquiry. Research provides a strong justification for using technology to expand the range and impact of inquiry-based teaching. The central finding of 25 years of research on educational technology is that students can learn important concepts earlier and more deeply through guided interaction with computer-based models and tools, particularly in STEM areas . A distinguishing feature of this approach is its reliance upon student inquiry: students actively explore with tools and models by trying different parameters, arrangements, and initial conditions, and then run experiments and quickly see the results of their selections . Giving students controls can provide invaluable feedback, particularly if students systematically modify one variable at a time, allowing them to isolate the effect of each variable independently, and thereby

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to identify rules . A substantial body of research shows that probeware can facilitate student learning of these complex relationships . Similarly, computational models and simulations allow students to understand through exploration the behavior of systems that are difficult to understand by other means . The impact of these uses of information technologies can be seen in the 2000 National Assessment of Educational Progress , which found “Eighth-graders whose teachers had students use computers for simulations and models or for data analysis scored higher, on average, than eighth-graders whose teachers did not.” Similar results were seen in grade 12. Inquiry, technology, and equity. It is sometimes asserted that inquiry based instruction is not appropriate in urban and under-performing schools. A number of research studies have come to the opposite conclusion . It appears that well-designed inquiry is just as valuable in an under-resourced urban classroom as anywhere else, even in ELL classrooms . Similarly, it is also often assumed that technology is a barrier and a luxury in urban schools that need to concentrate on basics. Again research contradicts this; with support, technology can make significant contributions to student learning in urban settings . It has long been recognized that the “digital gap” in education is much less about the availability of technology than about how the technology is being used . High-quality materials supported with professional development, as proposed, are the best way to address these inequities. Professional Development. One of the most influential developments in teacher professional development has been the realization that pedagogy and content must be taught together, the premise behind the idea of “pedagogical content knowledge” or PCK . Teacher pedagogical content knowledge about inquiry science impacts student learning . A growing literature, especially in the math and science education suggests that teacher experience enacting inquiry curricula in the classroom is critically important to the development of teacher PCK . The RITES short courses are designed to provide PCK by focusing on deep analysis of discipline-specific student learning materials. The implementation reports engage teachers in thoughtful analysis of their enactments and data-driven customization of the materials.

RITES Research RITES has a unique blend of scale, program elements, broad support, and technologies that could result in transformative impact. It also will have access to a range of data and observations that will support evidencebased tests of key elements of its design. Because of this potential, RITES will support a range of exciting research initiatives designed to answer questions in the following four areas: Student Achievement. Can patterns be identified in student learning with these materials? How is learning influenced by student, teacher, and school variables? What was the impact of program elements that are designed to increase the achievement of underserved populations? Technology. Do the computer-based materials support student inquiry that leads to knowledge integration? Do teachers customize digital resources effectively to better meet their students’ needs? Do the assessments and feedback supported by project technologies enhance learning? What are teachers’ and students’ beliefs and experiences about using technology to learn science? Sustainability. Were there specific strategies that contributed to a sense of ownership by the schools? Were project strategies able to develop the capacity of teacher leaders to conduct and continue effective professional development? Is the RITES Online Community generative and sustainable?

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Professional development. How did participating teachers' and teacher leaders' understandings and beliefs about classroom inquiry change? Did these understandings help teachers frame problems and plan instruction? Was the project effective in creating communities of practice that supported teacher change? The project will have access to rich data sets that will be used to address these questions: Student achievement data will be available from multiple sources. The most comprehensive will be the NECAP science assessments, disaggregated by student sub-group and school. The computerbased materials will all have standards-based assessments that will be scored on a knowledge integration scale using Item Response Theory and the Rasch Partial Credit Model . Student exposure to inquiry-based learning can be inferred from the logs generated by student use of the materials . These logs will be processed to generate indicators of student systematicity, time using inquiry, total time on task, and graph analysis skill. Teacher variables will be obtained from data collected by the project evaluation effort, including reactions to project activities, exposure to scientists, demographics and educational attainment, RITES courses completed, and implementation reports. School environment indicators be collected from from teachers and students at all RI schools by the National Center on Public Education and Social Policy at URI using the Learning Support Indicators and the High Performance Learning Community (HiPlaces) Assessment . Student records. RITES data will be able to matched to individual students who are tracked over time because RI is implementing a single student identifier. With the cooperation of RIDE, we will be able to correlate project data on student performance with student grades and demographic data longitudinally. This unusually diverse collection of data will support a range of important and definitive studies designed to answer the questions listed above.

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Project Evaluation Plan The Education Alliance at Brown University will conduct an embedded external evaluation of the RITES MSP Program. The Alliance has a 30-year history of research, evaluation, development, technical assistance, and consultative services and has actively pursued development of its work in STEM. With seven active STEM evaluation projects and several completed and newly emerging projects, the Education Alliance has demonstrated its capability of integrating evaluation work into the implementation through creative technologies and program collaboration. The Alliance’s current STEM projects range from implementation to impact studies and from primary to secondary education settings. The evaluation plan for the RITES Program incorporates systematic evaluation inquiry so that data collection techniques are integrated into work processes and program feedback is ongoing . Within this overarching approach, the Alliance will engage a formative evaluation of program implementation and a summative evaluation of the intended impacts of the RITES program using both descriptive qualitative data as well as a meaningful sampling of quantitative data. Together, these evaluation strands will support program stakeholders in understanding how to enhance program implementation to meet MSP objectives, and how to leverage program activities to contribute to gains in student achievement. Evaluation data collection and measurements are described here and listed in the Supplementary Documentation. Key components to both the implementation and impact of RITES are assessing the quality of the professional development provided and understanding how teachers transfer knowledge gained from the opportunities to improve science instruction and student outcomes. Using a web-based teacher log modified from existing MSP professional development (PD) instruments , the Alliance will measure aspects of teachers’ PD opportunities as well as teachers’ perceptions of their pedagogical and content knowledge and attitudes toward inquiry-based instruction in their classroom. Research indicates that teachers’ self-efficacy in instruction and content interacts with their attitudes toward inquiry-based strategies, impacting classroom instruction . All participating teachers will be asked to complete the logs once monthly, recording the types, frequency, quality and content of RITES PD, for the entire duration of the grant period. Collecting these data continuously will allow evaluators to provide both formative and summative impact findings to key program staff.

Formative Evaluation Providing continuous feedback to key program staff and stakeholders, the formative evaluation will investigate the extent to which the RITES program is implemented as designed and will examine variations of implementation, as well as document barriers to and success in implementation across program participants. Data sources to examine implementation will include interviews, focus groups, observations and surveys. Key program staff (e.g., leadership and partner teams) and graduate students will be included in ongoing focus groups each year. Interview and focus group protocols will be developed to examine support for the RITES Program, including the level and quality of partnerships, barriers to and successes in implementation, and perceptions of the program’s ability to meet MSP objectives. These same factors will be assessed through a survey conducted with a random selection of participating teachers (20% of total number of teachers) upon completing RITES PD opportunities. Observations of a meaningful selection of the PD opportunities offered by partners and of a random sample of participating teacher classrooms (10% of total number of teachers participating) will be conducted. Narrative data from the PD opportunities will be postcoded for key implementation elements, while the classroom observations will be analyzed for inquiry-based

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instruction (using the Reformed Teaching Observation Protocol; Arizona State University, 2000) and RITES program themes. These evaluation activities will be supplemented by teachers’ participation in the monthly PD logs and ongoing document analysis. The PD logs will allow evaluators to describe the type, frequency, quality, and content of RITES’ PD opportunities. A document analysis will include a careful examination of the materials (e.g., materials, cyberinfrastructure, etc.) developed through RITES. Together these multiple data collection methods will afford analysis of the implementation of RITES activities at the higher education institutions and the public schools as well as the extent to which RITES partnerships are leveraged.

Summative Evaluation Building on findings from the implementation evaluation, the impact evaluation will include a summative examination of the RITES Program’s accomplishment of its objectives. First, the summative evaluation will assess the extent to which RITES has enhanced proficiency in science and math achievement for all students and demographically defined subgroups of students. Additionally, the Alliance will examine the extent to which the RITES program is impacting student intent to pursue STEM careers, in particular whether the program impacts minority students’ attitudes about pursuing STEM careers. Finally, the study will examine institutional change and sustainability at both the higher education and public school levels. The Education Alliance will employ a quasi-experimental design to examine the science and math achievement of students in Rhode Island, as compared to that for similar students in non-RI schools. Because RITES is a whole-state initiative, the summative student achievement analysis will include all targeted secondary grades in the state. New Hampshire, Vermont, and RI administer NECAP, providing two state student populations from which to select a matched-comparison sample of non-RITES students. Significant and recent changes to state achievement tests have not placed scores for all tests on a common scale. Therefore, a single level analysis of covariance will be used in which the student is the unit of analysis. A single-level ANCOVA, with carefully selected comparison students, will afford estimates of RITES Program effects on students’ science and math test scores. Moreover, the analysis will focus on subgroups of minority students in RITES and comparison non-RITES students. The Career Decision-Making System- Revised and the Students’ Motivation Toward Learning Scale will be integrated and adapted to examine students’ interest and motivation in STEM as well as STEM careers. A random sample of the RITES students will be selected to participate in the survey (10% of total student population). In Year 1, data will serve as baseline measures of students’ interest and motivation in STEM and STEM careers prior to RITES implementation, while data from Years 3 and 5 will allow researchers to investigate changes in student responses. This analysis will be supported by data on student enrollment in advanced science or applied math courses and their prerequisites to further understand benchmarks toward student achievement on the NECAP. Where possible, evaluators will examine program impacts by student subgroups, including ethnic minority and female students separately. Finally, the Education Alliance will interview administrative staff both at the higher education and public school levels (e.g., college deans, school principals, department chairs, etc.). These interviews will take place in Years 2 and 4 and provide researchers with an understanding of the institutional support for RITES, perceptions of RITES’ ability to meet program objectives, and the ability of RITES to generate institutional change and sustainability. Summative analysis of teacher logs and their participation in high-quality PD will also provide evidence for sustainability and partnership effectiveness.

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Feedback The benchmarks and outcomes included in the Supplementary Documentation display the evaluation activities for both the formative and summative studies as well as the years in which the data collection activities will take place. Feedback based on data inquiry and analysis will be ongoing between evaluators and program staff. The leadership and partner program meetings allow regular opportunities for the evaluation team to provide feedback. Evaluators will provide reports in alignment with MSP reporting requirements; however, two formal evaluation reports will be given to key program stakeholders in Years three and five, unless otherwise specified by funding agency or program needs. The Alliance also proposes to obtain professional feedback from TERC, an organization devoted to math and science teaching and learning. TERC augments Alliance staff by contributing content knowledge specific to math and science curriculum and materials development and this expertise will be utilized in consultation for instrument development and document analysis, specifically in the analysis of RITES materials.

Partnership Management/Governance Plan A Project Leadership Team will set the policy and control the budget for the RITES project. Its membership is shown in a table in the attached Supplementary Documentation. The team will be led by the PIs from URI and RIC and will meet monthly to review progress and determine future actions. Reports from each of the working groups, the evaluators and CC will summarize progress and major benchmarks achieved in the previous month as well as plans for the next month and next six months. Each quarter the Leadership team will review a written report from the evaluation team and consider their recommendations. Each year the Leadership Team will report to the project’s National Advisory Committee and to the NSF. The project tasks will be accomplished by the following working groups. Management Team. RITES will have an administrative office staffed by a full-time Project Director, assisted by a Project Assistant, and two staff members shared with the URI EPSCoR education office: its Academy Director and Project Director. (The EPSCoR education program at URI collaborates with many of the same schools and institutions as RITES will, so programmatic efficiencies are expected by sharing staff and space with this team.) PI Murray and co-PI de Oliveira will direct this team and meet with them weekly. The management team will be responsible for all aspects of project management, including scheduling and administering the short courses, liaison with the participating schools, technology, reviewing and approving school plans, managing the budget, scheduling meetings, preparing reports, managing project staff, maintaining a project schedule, and keeping project records. Design Team. To ensure fidelity to the project’s approach, a Design Team will design and offer the Leader Workshops and project orientation seminars. The team will also develop a set of readings relevant to the project. The Leader Workshop will be required of all short course leaders. The seminar and readings will be required of all faculty, teachers, and others participating in the project. The Design Team will also design several of the short courses: the introductory orientation course, the courses that support teachers as they enact RITES materials and study their implementations, and any special courses needed by participating schools. The Design Team will also be responsible for disseminating project information. Resource Teams. Materials collection and creation will be the responsibility of four Resource Teams, each consisting of a teacher, scientist, and educational researcher. The teams will each be responsible for one discipline, either biology, physical science, earth and space science, or applied mathematics. By the end of the second year, each team will each ensure that for each of the GSE standards in their discipline, there are at least two learning activities matching the project criteria listed above. Revision and refinement of these materials will continue in the third year. Each Resource Team will design three or four of the 14 short courses

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that focus on their disciplinary content at either the middle or high school level. Research Team. In the first year, the project Research Team will consist of Jay Fogleman (URI Education), Laura Creighton (RIC Education), Andy Zucker (CC), Anne Seitsinger (URI), Deborah Collins and Elise Arruda (Education Alliance), and two graduate assistants. In the second year, this team will be augmented by two tenure-track faculty who will be recruited by the project, one at URI and one at RIC. This group will be responsible for collecting data, defining specific questions, carrying out project research, and disseminating research results. The pairing of faculty and teachers in the short courses and Resource Teams is a deliberate strategy to fuse the classroom realities and teaching expertise of teachers with the content knowledge and college teaching experience of faculty. All aspects of the project, including stipends and responsibilities, are designed to honor the equal contributions of faculty and teachers to improving student achievement. As detailed in the Supplementary Documentation and attached CVs, 14 scientists, two mathematicians, and a technology educator from higher education have agreed to be involved in RITES project activities and working groups. This will give the project access to the research faculty in geosciences, chemistry, physics, biology, and mathematics. Additional research faculty are likely to join the project once underway. The following have agreed to serve on the National Advisory Committee: Frank Davis is the President of TERC and former Professor at Lesley University and head of its Doctoral Program in Education Studies. Chris Dede is the Timothy E. Wirth Professor of Learning Technologies at Harvard's Graduate School of Education. He studies and consults widely on topics related to educational technology. Marilyn Decker is the Senior Program Director in science at Boston Public Schools. She is nationally recognized for improving science education system-wide. Kathleen Fulton is Director for Reinventing Schools for the 21st Century at the National Commission on Teaching and America's Future. Her expertise is in PD, technology, and policy. Joe Francisco is the Moore Distinguished Professor of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences and Chemistry at Purdue. He is deeply committed to equity in science education and the elimination of student achievement gaps. Nancy Butler Songer is Professor of Science Education and Learning Technologies in the School of Education, University of Michigan, and an expert in inquiry-based learning in urban schools. Isa Kaftal Zimmerman is Senior Fellow and Director of The P-16 STEM Initiative in the Office of the President of the U Mass and at the Donahue Institute, where she coordinates STEM policy. The committee will meet annually to review the reports from the Leadership Team and the external evaluators. It will recommend policy changes and summarize its findings in a report to the NSF.

Institutional Change and Sustainability The RITES Core Partners are committed to changes that will help perpetuate the project as indicated by the attached letters. RIC and URI will fund two new permanent tenure-track positions in education, science, and technology to continue the project. The project will encourage both institutions to institute policies that encourage more faculty engagement in secondary education by considering educational research and service in promotion and tenure. RIC will undertake this review centrally; at URI it will be necessary to work with each department. Both institutions will review their preservice programs for alignment with the project and review their courses for inclusion of content, technology, and research from RITES. The STEM Center at RIC and a planned outreach center at Brown will provide sustained commitment to the project goals. The IHEs participating in RITES are likely to integrate project materials into undergraduate programs because of the large number of faculty from all four institutions who will become familiar with RITES resources

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through short course leadership training, co-leading short courses, and preparing teaching materials. Schools participating in RITES will integrate program materials and an inquiry-based approach into instruction and continue detailed analysis to link materials to student performance. They will also commit to increased use of technology in teaching and learning. RIDE will institute changes in its policies and programs to perpetuate the impact of RITES in all RI middle and high schools. One of the enduring legacies of RITES will be the RITES Online Community, a continuing online community of practice focused on the RITES standards-based science materials. This will provide a common ground for teachers, researchers, faculty, and preservice students to share ideas, data, and experiences around instructional materials. RITES will design this resource so that it can become self-generating, like Wikipedia, with volunteers who contribute, customize, evaluate, and discuss a growing and evolving body of materials. On a statewide level, Governor Carcieri recognizes RITES as a critical initiative that will promote and enhances partnership between our institutions of higher education and K-12 schools to deepen science content and inquiry learning for all Rhode Island students. The Governor solidly supports RITES as an innovative statewide initiative, led through the Rhode Island STEM Center, and he commits to ensure the coordination of other state-level projects with RITES to promote a unified and effective program that will improve science education for every child in Rhode Island.

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Results from Prior NSF Support Students as Researchers The National Aeolian Detritus Project (1/04 – 12/06; PI-Murray; $134,588; NSF 0331168). Using a cheap, simple, and effective procedure middle school through college students are collecting and analyzing airborne particulate (e.g., pollen, dust from Mongolian dust storms, soot from wildfires, micrometeorites, etc.). The NADP center assists collecting sites throughout the country via a website (www.skydust.org), by providing an online catalog of particulate images, arranging advanced identification techniques, and developing scientifically valid lines of inquiry. This project offers a highly motivating and easily adopted approach to best practices, strongly supports standards-based science curricula, and is accessible to urban and underrepresented student populations. Preliminary results were presented at annual meetings of the AGU and GSA, and the website is a resource on DLESE. We are currently laying the groundwork for the expansion of this project to other countries, through cooperative arrangements with the U.S. Geological Survey and other organizations. This activity will be available to RITES students and teachers. The MERCURY Consortium. (CHE-0116435. $780,220 and CHE-0521063. $100,000, co-PI: de Oliveira). This consortium is designed to increase the number of undergraduate and high school students participating in, and benefiting from, a stimulating and highly productive research environment. During the first three years the consortium trained 110 undergraduates to run quantum chemical and molecular dynamics simulations in biochemistry, environmental, inorganic, organic, and physical chemistry. We published 44 articles; 2.1 per faculty member per year. Our students won 16 National Awards (Rhodes, 6 Goldwaters, 3 Fulbrights, 4 ACS Scholars, Gates Millennium, UNCF Merck). At Rhode Island College, 20 college students (11 females and 4 minorities) and 9 high school students (2 females and 5 minorities) have been involved.

Educational Technologies The Educational Accelerator: Technology-Enhanced Learning in Science (9/03 - 8/08; $2,994,920; ESI0334199) Tinker is co-PI for this Center for Teaching and Learning and oversees its work at the Concord Consortium,. Known as the Center for Technology-Enhanced Learning of Science (TELS), it provides important theoretical and technical underpinning for the RITES project. TELS defines the state of the art for the effective use of information technologies in STEM learning. It has developed a theory-based approach that supports student learning through guided inquiry of dynamic visualizations. In support of this work, TELS has developed new resources for researchers, an improved approach to the design of materials based on design principles and patterns, a software platform for developing, deploying, and studying the materials, a targeted professional development program, a national testbed of diverse schools and teachers, effective research methods, and new assessments. TELS research has resulted in 40 new fellows, nine postdocs, 104 teachers in 42 diverse schools nationwide, and 106 published papers with 32 more in press. Online Inquiry Learning in Geology: Prototype Development of a Case-based Cyber Library (1/04 – 12/05; PI-Murray; $74,934; NSF 0340864). This project produces inquiry-based electronic field trip modules that present geologic principles and promote students to become self-sufficient critical thinkers and to assume ownership of their learning. The project completed the beta version of an earthquake and faulting module, and less fully developed modules that dealt with migrations of European or Asian tribes to North America during Paleolithic times and pollution of rivers. RITES will permit these to be developed and used

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throughout the state. Molecular Literacy for Biotechnology and Nanotechnology Careers (5/04 – 4/07; $899,857; DUE0402553). Molecular Logic: Bringing the Power of Molecular Models to High School Biology (2/03 – 6/06; $1,416,623; ESI-0242701). Molecular Workbench: Reasoning with Atomic-Scale Models (12/1/99 – 8/31/04; $1,364,944; REC-9980620. Supplemental $189,789; REC-0233649). The Molecular Rover project (10/05 – 9/07; REC-0537224; $299,815). These projects at CC developed the Molecular Workbench and its associated authoring and delivery system. This system allows students to experiment with atomic-scale systems to understand the physical origins of a very wide range of phenomena. Over 200 activities in a wide range of science and engineering subjects have been developed that can be accessed through a database.1 Many of the activities have been carefully tested, revised, and widely disseminated . Pathways to Careers in Science: Academic Roadmaps (2/05 – 1/08; $99,997; co-PI Murray; NSF 0442888. Additional funding from USDA CSREES, FIPSE, and the Davis Foundation.) The Academic Roadmap is a web-based tool that provides information on pertinent topics and careers in STEM-related disciplines. Concurrently, it illustrates the pathways through higher education that students could successfully follow to achieve professional status within a scientific field.

Professional Development Probes and Models Across the Curriculum (10/06 - 9/09; $1,256,303; ESI-0624718) This comprehensive ITEST project for middle and high school teachers prepares diverse students for careers in information technologies by engaging them in exciting, inquiry-based science projects that use computational models and real-time data acquisition. The project provides over 126 hours of lab-based, credit-bearing activities for 90 teachers and full support for classroom implementation. Participants meet for two weeks the summer of 2007, during the academic year, and again the following summer for one week. The same program will be offered at three sites that will each support 30 participants: Desert Sands, CA, Olathe, KS, and Boston, MA. Rhode Island Information Technology Experiences for Students and Teachers (11/07 - 10/10; $1,199,955; DRL-0737649) This ITEST project administered by CC supports 100 Rhode Island teachers as they make the transition to a “Physics First” curriculum by providing new content about atoms, molecules and their interactions. Students learn these concepts through explorations of Molecular Workbench models in all three courses, structured in four cross-disciplinary themes.

Program Evaluation Green Energy Technology in the City (GET City) is a youth based ITEST program implemented by Michigan State University's Colleges of Education and Engineering. A two year, year-round program, GET City supports youth in learning to use advanced Information Technology skills to identify, investigate, and model solutions to urban energy problems at the Lansing Boys and Girls Club. The Education Alliance is evaluating the project, examining implementation challenges and successes as an ongoing investigation of program activities. Through a quasi-experimental design, The Alliance is examining students' technology experience prior to and after participating in the program. The Education Alliance developed web-based tools that are integrated into the GET City curriculum to collect evaluation data ensuring that data collection does not detract from student learning opportunities. 1 See http://molo.concord.org

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The Education Alliance is conducting an evaluation of The Coaching Cycle: An Interactive Online Course for Mathematics Coaches, awarded to EDC through the NSF DRK12 program for the training and support of instructional coaching in K-8 mathematics. The goal of the project is to deepen coaches' understanding of selected mathematical topics that are frequently problematic in K-8 instruction, while providing participants an opportunity to learn and practice content-based coaching skills in a collegial online community.

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Supplementary Documents (partial) Baseline Data Student Data A number of measures indicate that student performance in science is unacceptably low in Rhode Island and that there is an intolerable gap between the performance of poor and minority students compared to other students. The NAEP 2005 grade eight science performance data show that only 26% of all students performed at or above the proficient level and 42% were below the basic level. Only 2% of all students scored at the advanced level. Only 5% of black and 4% of Hispanic students were proficient, compared to 33% of white students. 74% of black and 78% of Hispanic students performed below the basic level, compared to 31% of white. Effectively none of these minorities reached the advanced level. There has been no improvement in the NAEP science results since 1996. NAEP also shows that students from low-income families perform far below the statewide average. Twice as many students from poorer families, as indicated by eligibility for school lunch programs, scored below basic (66% compared to 32%), and only about a quarter as many scored in the proficient or above level (9% compared to 33%). Effectively none of the poorer students were at the advanced level. Twenty-five of 44 (57%) states (or other entities) had higher NAEP scores than Rhode Island and only 10 (23%) had worse. When urban, near-urban, and rural grade eight math NAEP scores are compared, there is a larger gap in the students below basic (58%, 27%, and 18% respectively) than New England (47%, 28%, 20%) or the Nation (40%, 28%, 29%). Careers in STEM fields are the lifeblood for economic revitalization and an attractive route to personal actualization, yet student interest is low and opportunities to excel are limited. PSAT data indicate that interest by Rhode Island juniors in STEM majors is lower than New England and the Nation and has declined between 2001 and 2007. The most dramatic drop was in computer science, which saw interest fall from 4.5% to 1.5%. AP course offering is an indicator of opportunities for advanced study (although flawed because AP courses are available from the Virtual High School and some schools eschew AP for good educational reasons.) Only 99 AP STEM courses are offered by the 65 RI high schools, mostly in calculus (33) and biology (20). Only two schools offer AP computer science and 11 offer physics. AP courses are concentrated outside the urban schools with the exception of Providence Classical (9 courses) and several cities offer none (Central Falls, Johnston, North Providence) or only one (schools in Cranston, Pawtucket, Providence, and Woonsocket). Matriculation data are not available. Student progress in reading, mathematics, and writing, as mandated through NCLB, is determined through the New England Common Assessment Program (NECAP) assessments in collaboration with Vermont and New Hampshire. The assessment is given in October to secondary students in grade 6, 7, 8 and 11 (the writing assessment is given to only grades 8 & 11). The first administration of the NECAP science assessment will be in May 2008. As a consequence, disaggregated science baseline data will be first available in fall 2008. The results of the science NECAP are likely to reflect the math results, which are reviewed here as a proxy for the expected science results.

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The 2007 mathematics NECAP results repeat the pattern of the NAEP data. Except for two elite schools, 13 other schools in Providence scored between 8.1% and 23% proficient, and eight did not meet AYP. Outside Providence, six other schools, mostly urban, had one-quarter of the students or less proficient or better. Overall, at the 11th grade 22% of Rhode Island students were proficient or better, only 1% were advanced, and 51% were below basic. This is far worse than students at grade 8, where 48% were proficient or better, 11% advanced, and 27% were below basic. At grade 11, 27% and 32% of white and Asian students were proficient compared to 6% of black and Hispanic, 14% Native American, 9% in poverty, and 3% IEP and ELL. Over half (34 of 58) of the schools have 25% or fewer proficient.

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Fall 2007 NECAP Grade 11 Mathematics Results for Johnston High School and All Rhode Island Schools

Level 4 = Proficient with Distinction; Level 3 = Proficient; Level 2 = Partially Proficient; Level 1 = Substantially Below Proficient

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Teacher Data The following two tables summarize teacher data for Johnston Middle and High Schools. Johnston is the only Core Partner school. RITES will serve all RI schools, however baseline data for teachers is not currently collected by the state. RITES will collect these data annually as part of its evaluation plan. The third table summarizes science teacher production statewide.

Number of Science teachers (6-12)

16

Number of Female and Minority Teachers

9

The Number of Science Teachers Teaching One or More Courses Out of Their Certification

1

The Number of Science Teachers With An Undergraduate Degree in Science

15

The Number of Science Teachers With a Graduate Degree in Science

2

The Number of Science Teachers With a Masters Degree in Science

1

The Number of Science teachers who Graduated From...

Rhode Island College

University of Rhode Island

Brown

Community College of RI

8

5

0

0

Program Completers Achieving Cut Score on Licensure Exam: Academic Year 2005-2006

Biology

Brown

Providence College

Roger Williams

4

9

1

Salve Regina University

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Rhode Island College

University of Rhode Island

Total

4

8

26

Physics

1

Mathematics

12

3

1

7

Chemistry

2

General Science

5

Technology Ed

6

Total

5

21

4

1

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24

2

3

10

33 2

1

6 6

21

76

Annual Benchmarks and Outcome Goals Benchmarks and Outcomes Measured

Participant Group

Middle & High School Teachers

Estimated Participants

Instrument

777

RITES PD Log

Teacher attributes, opportunities for high quality professional development, perceptions of pedagogical & content knowledge, attitudes toward inquiry-based instruction

Benchmarks and Outcomes Measured

Year 1

Year 2

X

X

Random Sample of School Teachers Participating in RITES

156 (20% of 777)

Survey

Support for RITES, level of partnerships, barriers & successes to RITES, perceptions of RITES’s ability to meet objectives

X

Random Sample of Classrooms Participating in RITES

77 (10% of 777)

RTOP

Inquiry-based instructional strategies in classroom

X

Random Sample of Students Participating in RTIES

2,331 (10% of 23,310)

Survey

Career Decision-Making System-Revised, Students’ Motivation Toward Science Learning

Administration from Schools & Higher Education (i.e., principal, department chairs, presidents)

57

Interview

Support for RITES, level of partnerships, barriers & successes to RITES, perceptions of RITES’s ability to meet objectives, perceptions of institutional change & sustainability of RITES

RITES Professional Development Opportunities

30

Observation

Observation of PD opportunities to describe how PD is implemented

Higher Education Partners (i.e., Faculty)

15

Survey

Support for RITES, level of partnerships, barriers & successes to RITES, perceptions of RITES’s ability to meet objectives

Key Program Staff (leadership & partner)

10

Focus group

Support for RITES, level of partnerships, barriers & successes to RITES, perceptions of RITES’s ability to meet objectives

Graduate Students Participating in RITES

5

Interview

Support for RITES, level of partnerships, barriers & successes to RITES, perceptions of RITES’s ability to meet objectives

Student Enrollment

Extant School Data

Student enrollment in advanced science courses

RITES Students

NECAP

Science and Math achievement

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X

Ye 3

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

Non-RITES Students

Program Documents

NECAP

Science and Math achievement

X

X

X

Document analysis of program related documents (e.g., material, cyberinfrastructure, resources, etc.)

X

X

X

Student Achievement RITES student achievement will be measured by the annual statewide NECAP science assessments conducted each year. The first administration of this test in fall 2008 will provide the baseline. The project will work with the RIDE to disaggregate the data by school and student characteristics—race, ethnicity, socio-economic status, gender and disability. RITES expects to see significant gains for all categories of students in participating schools in the year that each school completes its two-year plan and in subsequent years. By the end of the project, RITES expects that at least 50% of all categories of students will reach proficiency. Baseline data will become available after administration of the first NECAP science assessment in spring 2008. Annual benchmarks that can be used to measure progress toward the 50% goals will be established accordingly within the first year of RITES. Student pursuit of science careers will be measured by a number of indicators: enrollments in prerequisite and advanced STEM courses, surveys of career preferences, graduates entering STEM occupations, and matriculating students enrolling in undergraduate STEM courses. A baseline for these indicators will be established in the first year of the project. RITES expects to see significant gains in these indicators for all categories of students in participating schools in the year that each school completes its two-year plan and in subsequent years. By the end of the project, RITES expects that there will be a significant increase in these indicators aggregated statewide for all categories of students.

Program Benchmarks Year One. During the first year, five school pairs (the first cohort) broadly representative of the diversity of RI schools will have submitted RITES plans that were approved by the Leadership Team. These plans will involve at least 44 teachers who will have begun enrolling in RITES short courses. At least ten short courses will have been designed and offered by eight leaders selected by the Design Team. The four Resource Teams will have identified approximately 50 standards-based activities with embedded assessments and made them accessible through the RITES Online Community website. The technology to support this will have been available by the end of the first half-year. The Research Team will have identified an initial set of studies and will begin the process of collecting and analyzing data. Years 2-4 By the end of the second year, the first cohort of schools will complete their RITES plans, resulting in 44 implementation reports that will be available online. By the end of years 2-4 second year, 13 new school pairs be added. All anticipated short courses will have been designed and staffed. The four Resource Teams will complete their work in year three. Year Five. During the fifth year, the fourth and last cohort of schools will complete their RITES plans adding 115 more implementation reports that will be available online. The Research Team will submit papers addressing the project questions based on its completed analysis of project data.By the end of the project, a

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total of 44 middle schools and 44 high schools representing 75% of all 58 RI middle schools and 58 high schools, working in pairs, will have completed RITES plans. Each of these plans will have involved at least 75% of the science teachers in the paired schools, representing a statewide total of at least 390 teachers who earn RITES certification. Certification requires the completion of six RITES one-credit short courses and the successful completion of an implementation report. The project will have offered 117 sections of short courses each offered by a pair of leaders consisting of one teacher and one faculty member.

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References

RITES: The Rhode Island Technology Enhanced Science Project: Baseline Data page 2