The general purpose of the Institute's Teacher Quality — Mathematics and Science (Teacher Quality — Math/Science) research program is to identify effective strategies for improving the performance of current classroom teachers in ways that increase student learning and school achievement in mathematics and science. The Institute intends for the Teacher Quality — Math/Science research program to fulfill five goals: (1) exploring the relations between malleable factors (e.g., practices of teachers and other instructional personnel; professional development programs) and student outcomes in mathematics or science, as well as mediators and moderators of the relations between student outcomes and these malleable factors, for the purpose of identifying potential targets of intervention; (2) developing innovative programs and practices for teacher professional development that are intended to improve teacher practices and through them student learning and achievement; (3) evaluating the efficacy of teacher professional development programs and practices that are intended to improve teacher practices and through them student learning and achievement; (4) evaluating the effectiveness of teacher professional development programs that are implemented at scale and intended to improve teacher practices and through them student learning and achievement; and (5) developing and validating new assessments or validating existing assessments of teachers of mathematics or science against measures of student achievement.
Under these goals, the Institute supports research on teacher professional development interventions and teacher assessments relevant to (a) teaching mathematics or science from kindergarten through high school and (b) teaching basic skills in mathematics to adults. By "professional development" the Institute refers to in-service training of or tools for current instructional personnel. Long term outcomes of the Teacher Quality — Math/Science program will be an array of tools and strategies (e.g., in-service programs, assessments) that have been demonstrated to be effective for improving and assessing teacher performance in ways that are linked to increases in student achievement.
Amount: $100,000 - $1.2m (3 years)
Date due: June 24, 2010
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