Inside the Black Box: Examining Mediators and Moderators of a Middle School Science Intervention

• In Event: 63.047 - District-Wide Studies of Teacher Development in Educational Reform

Abstract

In this study, data from a randomized controlled trial of a middle-school science intervention that provided teachers with professional development incorporating principles of cognitive science is used to explore the causal mechanisms by which the intervention produced student achievement gains. Using these data, we estimate structural equation models on 10,281 students and 124 teachers. Findings indicate that student achievement gains are attributable to teachers’ implementation of cognitive science principles of contrasting cases, spaced testing, and visualization. Interestingly, this effect was partially offset by a negative effect of the intervention on teachers’ content knowledge. Results also underscore the importance of classroom context, as teachers who had classes with lower prior achievement and higher proportions of English-language learners reported lower implementation fidelity.

Authors

• Kirsten Lee Hill, University of Pennsylvania

• Meredith Paige Richards, Southern Methodist University

• Laura M. Desimone, University of Pennsylvania