Savitha Moorthy

Preparing Teachers to Design Sequences of Instruction in Earth Systems Science A Comparison of Three Professional Development Programs

This research study examined whether and how professional development can help teachers design sequences of instruction that lead to improved science learning. The efficacy of three professional development programs and a control condition was compared in a cluster randomized trial involving 53 middle school science teachers from a single school district. The four conditions varied along two dimensions: (a) the extent to which the programs guided teachers’ selection of curriculum materials and (b) whether or not teachers received explicit instruction in models of teaching associated with particular methods for designing instruction. Results indicated that the two programs most effective at improving students’ science learning were the ones in which teachers received explicit instruction in models of teaching.

Dramatic change, persistent challenges: a five-year view of children’s educational media as resources for equity

Abstract During the 2010–2015 grant cycle for the US Department of Education’s Ready to Learn initiative, media and technology resources designed for young children and their caregivers changed dramatically. From an analysis of existing literature and interviews with 25 US researchers, producers, and thought leaders within the early childhood education and preschool media fields, researchers from the Education Development Center and SRI International identified themes that characterize the last five years’ changing media landscape: (1) the state of educational media, (2) considerations of developmental appropriateness, (3) public media’s support for children with limited financial and social resources, (4) out-of-school learning, and (5) in-school learning. The paper also presents innovations that interviewees believe will shape the media landscape in the next half decade, especially as the public media system continues to serve families living in communities with high concentrations of poverty.