Projects & Research

The project studies the development of the science assessment practices of teachers in high-needs districts. It works with prior participants in Noyce-funded pre-service teacher education programs, as well as in-service teachers participating in an NSF-funded professional development program. It describes current assessment practices and how those have changed over time; the conceptual, pedagogical, cultural, and political challenges negotiated by teachers as they make changes in their practices in Boston Public Schools and other high needs districts; and how assessment practices are related to student performance in those districts.

TERC provides formative and “critical friend” feedback to the project, supporting the rigor of the project’s own research study by addressing issues of design, instrumentation, sampling, data collection, analysis, and interpretation.