Beth A. Covitt

Addressing Challenges in Developing Learning Progressions For Environmental Science Literacy

In a world where human actions increasingly affect the natural systems on which all life depends, we need educated citizens who can participate in personal and public decisions about environmental issues. The effects of global warming have widereaching ramifications. No longer can policy decisions be made by a select few. For example, decisions about how to distribute water so that urban, agricultural, and natural ecosystems have adequate water supplies or about whether to tax carbon emissions require that citizens understand scientific arguments about the effects of their actions.

Insights From an Evaluability Assessment of the U.S. Forest Service More Kids in the Woods Initiative

We conducted an evaluability assessment of the U.S. Forest Services “More Kids in the Woods” internal grant initiative based on a review of 26 funded proposals, the creation of logic models, and a survey of project leaders. Evaluations of the initative are warranted because it has clear outcome objectives, is implemented as intended, and results suggest plausible benefits associated with providing underserved youth with outdoor experiences. Findings also point to the types of evaluations that will be useful and add to the limited literature on environmental grant programs as well as environmental educators’ evaluation interests, practices and perceived competencies.

Teachers’ use of learning progression-based formative assessment in water instruction

ABSTRACT While learning progressions (LPs) hold promise as instructional tools, researchers are still in the early stages of understanding how teachers use LPs in formative assessment practices. We report on a study that assessed teachers’ proficiency in using a LP for student ideas about hydrologic systems. Research questions were: (a) what were teachers’ levels of proficiency for using LP-based formative assessment practices and (b) how were teachers’ proficiencies evident in the use of these practices in their classrooms? Drawing on written assessments, item response theory was employed to assess proficiency in the practices of setting learning goals, interpreting student ideas, and responding to ideas with instruction. In addition, two case studies provided examples of how teachers used the practices. Most teachers adopted a didactic approach, emphasizing interpreting ideas as right or wrong and identifying goals and responses focused on transmission of factual science ideas. This study provides insights concerning how science teachers adopt LP-based formative assessment practices and can inform the design of professional development and curriculum materials to support teachers in enacting LP-based instruction.

Sustancias en el agua: progresiones de aprendizaje para diseñar intervenciones curriculares

Abstract In this article, we present a learning progression framework for connecting chemistry curriculum to student reasoning about substances mixing in water and moving through environmental systems. We argue that model-based understanding of solutions and suspensions is necessary for informed engagement in public debate about environmental issues. Curriculum and instruction that supports students in developing this model-based reasoning must be responsive to student ways of viewing the world and support students in developing more model-based perspectives. We present an evidence-based learning progression for substances in water and propose principles for curriculum design and teaching of general chemistry topics based on this learning progression that attends to student thinking. We contend that a focus on students’ meaning-making processes can inform the development and influence of chemistry knowledge in the public debate about water resources and environmental issues about water.