The Impact of Metro Denver Urban Advantage on Teachers and Students

• In Event: Roundtable Session 5
  In Roundtable Session: Professional Development in Math and Science

Abstract

Metro Denver Urban Advantage (UA) is a partnership between urban public school districts and informal science education institutions designed to improve middle school students’ science literacy by improving teachers’ inquiry-based instruction and providing opportunities in and out of school for students to explore and investigate in a scientific manner. Study results were encouraging, despite limited statistical power (N=53 teachers). In classroom observations, UA teachers engaged in a significantly greater proportion of student-directed investigation experiences (44% of class time) than did nonUA teachers (19%). The direction of change was positive for other measures of classroom practice, but not statistically significant. UA students were more likely to report they would engage in science-related activities during the summer than were nonUA students.

Authors

• Andrea Giron Mathern, Denver Museum of Nature & Science

• Erin Caldwell, National Research Center