This full research and development project is to design, develop, and test a cutting-edge online collaborative learning environment where students and teachers solve mathematical problems and communicate their thinking with others. The major focus is to increase the quality and quantity of significant math discourse among mathematics teachers and their students by using this online collaborative learning environment. This online collaborative learning environment is based on PIs' prior work called Virtual Math Teams that integrates synchronous and asynchronous media with the first multi-user dynamic-math-visualization application. The researchers will test the usability of the online ollaborative learning environment for engaging students in high quality discourse. The researchers will also examine the impact of the online ollaborative learning environment on students' significant mathematical discourse and achievement.

The project uses a design research method as well as summative evaluations to achieve research and development goals. Discourse analysis and regression models will be used to examine the impact of the online collaborative learning environment on student significant mathematical discourse and achievement.

The findings of the project contribute to the field in three ways: (1) The online collanorative learning environment can be both an effective pedagogical tool and a research tool in mathematics education; (2) It will contribute to our understanding about the nature of mathematical discourse online as well as about ways to foster the quality and quantity of significant math discourse among teachers and their students; and (3) This project can provide insights into effective online deliveries of courses.

The Science and Mathematics Simulated Interaction Model (SIM) will design and clinically test simulations for mathematics and science teachers. The main hypothesis is that mathematics and science simulations will identify strengths and misconceptions in teachers' understanding of content and pedagogy, increase teachers¡ instructional capacity, and advance student achievement. The SIM will be designed for both preservice (in training) and induction-stage (early career) mathematics and science teachers. The eight different SIM simulations will focus on common problems of practice, challenges, dilemmas, issues that mathematics and science teachers encounter at the secondary level (grades 9-12). The Syracuse University School of Education and SUNY Upstate Medical University's Clinical Skills Center have partnered together in past simulation design and research endeavors. Through their SIM partnership, these organizations now focus on the first exploration of content-specific simulations. When designed and clinically tested, the researchers expect the SIM to serve as an innovative teacher development tool that helps novice mathematics and science teachers effectively transition from preservice preparation to classroom practice.

The heart of the SIM is a series of live, one-to-one interactions between novice mathematics and science teachers and standardized individuals (SIs). Similar to medical education's use of standardized patients, the SIM's standardized individuals are local actors who are carefully trained and scripted to present to novice teachers distinct mathematics or science problems, questions, or dilemmas. For example, how do novice mathematics teachers navigate a conversation with a standardized student who questions the relevance of advanced mathematics? Similarly, how do novice science teachers navigate a difficult conversation with a standardized parent who questions the teaching of evolutionary biology? Each teacher's simulation is immediately followed by an individual debriefing and a written improvement plan in a highly structured simulation to reflection to improvement plan cycle of assistance. Each simulation cycle is coupled with a content-specific seminar designed to support teachers' strengths and to address their content or pedagogical misconceptions. The SIM is structured as an iterative design project, where the initial design of the eight simulations will be clinically tested twice. 40 novice teachers (20 preservice and 20 induction stages) will take part in the clinical testing process. SIM data strands include pre-simulation questions, audio/video data of the simulated interactions between teachers and SIs, post-simulation teacher video reflections, and written professional improvement plans. The research team will focus on refining the simulations and identifying the teachers' strengths and misconceptions based on 160 different simulated interactions.

When complete, the SIM will consist of eight simulations that effectively identify the content and pedagogical strengths and misconceptions of secondary mathematics and science teachers. Initially, the SIM will be implemented within the Syracuse University School of Education. SIM products, processes, and all findings will be made available to all education researchers and teacher educators through password-protected digital access. The SIM's problem-based methodology challenges novice teachers to enact content and pedagogy, while also helping researchers to accurately and meaningfully assess teacher strengths and misconceptions in mathematics and science. As data are gathered and analyzed for each SIM problem of practice, we anticipate the formation of grounded theories and models of mathematics and science teacher development. These data - gathered through a methodology that places novice teachers in immediate, demanding, authentic situations - hold the potential to yield broader understandings of how novice science and mathematics teachers are transferring the content and pedagogy learned within teacher preparation into actual teacher practice.

The project is an extended planning grant that leverages the growing existence of and interest in green school buildings and uses this as an opportunity to involve students in STEM activities relevant to their environment. The goal is to produce an action plan for transforming the middle school science and mathematics curriculum by rethinking the content that is taught, the ways in which students and teachers can engage effectively with that content, and the role that technology can play to ensure wide access to the data and to the new curriculum. By doing so, the project could help a new generation learn to apply STEM knowledge and practices to decisions throughout their lives.

AAAS has a unique capacity to bring together highly qualified people and prestigious institutions to work towards a common purpose, and that ability is fully displayed in this proposal. The project assembles experts in all related fields (middle school teachers, university faculty in STEM and in education and cognition, researchers, curriculum experts, and technology developers), which is an effective strategy to surface the best ideas, ensure broad ownership, and provide leadership. The development process moves from meetings of experts to a prototype that undergoes limited testing. The project uses web-based technologies for a number of purposes, including to share real time data on green buildings and to foster collaboration and teamwork. Because of this, the project could disseminate readily to other schools and even to informal institutions.

The project has a number of deliverables. These include three documents: a needs assessment related to the theme, a conceptual framework that connects disciplines and identifies boundaries, and an instructional framework that includes the design principles and the supporting technologies. In addition, the products include a single prototype activity with limited field testing and a blueprint for the use of technology and data sharing in curriculum design. The project begins with national discipline-specific learning goals (AAAS Project 2061, the National Research Council, the College Board, and Achieve) and builds on those goals and themes. The products include a new form of materials development based on current research and the commonly held belief that schools need to leverage resources and technologies in order to involve learners in more interesting and relevant activities that focus on important ideas.

Concerns about both economic competitiveness and educational equity emphasize the need for the United States to broaden and diversify the pipeline of students prepared and motivated to pursue STEM college majors. An emerging strategy for addressing this need is large-scale implementation of inclusive STEM high schools. In this exploratory project, investigators from SRI International and George Washington University are laying the foundation for a rigorous quasi-experiment to test the effects of attending such a school using longitudinal student records, surveys, and interviews. The project's operational definition for an inclusive STEM high school (ISHS) is a school, school within a school, or school program that accepts students primarily on the basis of interest rather than aptitude or prior achievement and gives them the mathematics and science preparation they need to succeed in a STEM college major. ISHSs enroll students from groups underrepresented in STEM professions through an application process that does not require high test scores before high school entry. In contrast to selective STEM schools that admit gifted and talented students on the basis of entrance examination scores and thus select for perceived STEM aptitude, ISHSs have the more ambitious goal of developing STEM expertise.

To establish the feasibility of a large, multi-state investigation of the effectiveness of inclusive STEM schools at scale, researchers are:

- Developing a tentative taxonomy of ISHSs and exploring implications of ISHS heterogeneity for the research design;

- Recruiting three school partners representing different ISHS approaches;

- Using state data to identify a comparison school (without a particular focus on STEM) for each ISHS school partner and recruiting comparison school partners;

- Developing School Leader and three student surveys (fall 9th-grade, spring 12th-grade, and spring post-graduation);

- Collaborating with partner schools in design of data collection procedures, recruiting materials, and incentives;

- Piloting the School Leader Survey and two student surveys (9th-grade fall survey and 12th-grade spring survey) in six partner schools;

- Identifying and recruiting a larger sample of ISHSs and matched comparison schools for Year 2 data collection;

- Administering surveys in 40 or more high schools;

- Locating spring 2012 graduates of the three ISHS partner schools and pilot testing the post-graduation student survey with these students; and

- Engaging an Advisory Board who will provide methodological expertise and advice.

Ultimately, by documenting survey response rates, student location rates, and rates for successful matching of student administrative and survey data, this feasibility work is demonstrating that it is possible to collect the kind of data that would enable a large-scale study to be launched with the necessary instruments and experience in hand. As evidenced by the recent call from the President's Council of Advisors in Science and Technology for 1,000 new STEM schools and the National Research Council's report entitled "Successful K-12 STEM Education: Identifying Effective Approaches in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics" that highlights various STEM schools, the proposed research is highly relevant to current policy initiatives and debates. Moreover, the research has the potential to promote diversity in the STEM pipeline by influencing policymakers in states and districts that have yet to implement ISHSs at scale.

This project will build and validate learning trajectories (LTs) in mathematics for fraction, ratio, and for decimal and percent to represent learning by grades 3-7 students. A system will be developed to automate data collection for field testing assessment items to determine students' attainment of proficiency levels. Three LTs will be produced and validated along with over 125 assessment items for each of these three trajectories. These assessment items will be useful for diagnosing student learning. Technologies such as mobile phones, tablets, and computers will be used to deliver, analyze, and report diagnostic data on students. The learning trajectories will be available both electronically and in print. The levels of proficiencies will be provided with the outcome spaces, the exemplary items, the student work, and videos of student responses. Publications will provide data on analysis of the diagnostic items and assessments. The project will be done by researchers at the North Carolina State University in collaboration with RoleModel Software Inc.,and the University of Maryland.

The learning trajectories will be developed through literature reviews, whole class teaching experiments, clinical interviews, and large-scale assessments. Students in grade 3 will be observed and interviewed while engaging in work on fractions, ratios, decimal, and precents. Some of these students will be observed longitudinally over the two years. Other students from grades 4 through 8 will be interviewed. For each of the three trajectories, about 150 assessment items will be developed and field tested with a large group.

Three learning trajectories will be developed and made available electronically with supporting materials. The learning trajectories will be done in coordination with the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) in mathematics. Because the learning trajectories and materials will be informative to teachers who will be implementing the CCSS, the work has the potential to appeal to and reach a very large audience. Publications will provide data on analysis of the diagnostic items and assessments. The researchers will seek ways for a greater audience to have access to the software for accessing and retrieving items.

The aim of this project is to examine opportunity structures provided to students by inclusive STEM-focused high schools, with an emphasis on studying schools that serve students from underrepresented groups. In contrast to highly selective STEM-focused schools that target students who are already identified as gifted and talented in STEM, inclusive STEM-focused high schools aim to develop new sources of STEM talent, particularly among underrepresented minority students, to improve workforce development and prepare STEM professionals. A new NRC report, Successful K-12 STEM Education (2011), identifies areas in which research on STEM-focused schools is most needed. The NRC report points out the importance of providing opportunities for groups that are underrepresented in the sciences, especially Blacks, Hispanics, and low-income students who disproportionately fall out of the high-achieving group in K-12 education. This project responds specifically to the call for research in the NRC report and provides systematic data to define and clarify the nature of such schools.

The project is studying inclusive STEM-focused high schools across the United States to determine what defines them. The research team initially identified ten candidate critical components that define STEM-focused high schools and is refining and further clarifying the critical components through the research study. The first phase of the study is focusing on 12 well-established and carefully planned schools with good reputations and strong community and business support, in order to capture the critical components as intended and implemented. Case studies of these high-functioning schools and a cross-case analysis using a set of instruments for gauging STEM design and implementation are contributing toward building a theory of action for such schools that can be applied more generally to STEM education. The second phase of the study involves selecting four school models for further study, focusing on student-level experiences and comparing student outcomes against comprehensive schools in the same district. Research questions being studied include: 1) Is there a core set of likely critical components shared by well-established, promising inclusive STEM-focused high schools? Do other components emerge from the study? 2) How are the critical components implemented in each school? 3) What are the contextual affordances and constraints that influence schools' designs, their implementation, and student outcomes? 4) How do student STEM outcomes in these schools compare with school district and state averages? 5) How do four promising such schools compare with matched comprehensive high schools within their respective school districts, and how are the critical components displayed? 6) From the points of view of students underrepresented in STEM fields, how do education experiences at the schools and their matched counterparts compare? And 7) How do student outcomes compare?

The research uses a multiple instrumental case study design in order to describe and compare similar phenomena. Schools as critical cases are being selected through a nomination process by experts, followed by screening and categorization according to key design dimensions. Data sources include school documents and public database information; a survey, followed by telephone interviews that probe for elaborated information, to provide a systematic overview of the candidate components; on-site visitations to each school provide data on classroom observations at the schools; interviews with students, teachers and administrators in focus groups; and discussions with critical members of the school community that provide unique opportunities to learn such as mentors, business leaders, and members of higher education community that provide outside of school learning experiences. The project is also gathering data on a variety of school-level student outcome indicators, and is tracking the likely STEM course trajectories for students, graduation rates, and college admission rates for students in the inclusive STEM-focused schools, as compared to other schools in the same jurisdiction. Analysis of the first phase of the study aims to develop rich descriptions that showcase characteristics of the schools, using axial and open coding, to determine a theory of action that illustrates interconnections among context, design, implementation, and outcome elements. Analysis of the second phase of the study involves similar processes on four levels: school, student, databases, and a synthesis of the three. Evaluation of the project consists of an internal advisory board and an external advisory board, both of which provide primarily formative feedback on research procedures.

Research findings, as well as case studies, records of instrument and rubric development and use, annual reports, and conference proposals and papers are being provided on a website, in order to provide an immediate and ongoing resource for education leaders, researchers and policymakers to learn about research on these schools and particular models. An effort is also being made to give voice to the experiences of high school students from the four pairs of high schools studied in the second phase of the study. Findings are also being disseminated by more traditional means, such as papers in peer-reviewed journals and conference presentations.

This study is investigating the classroom factors and teacher characteristics that contribute to Latino English Language Learners' (ELL) gains in mathematics learning in the eighth grade. Researchers are collaborating with two school districts in Texas to investigate teaching practices. The project includes professional development that incorporates successful strategies found from their investigations. In addition to looking for key characteristics that influence mathematics learning, the researchers are measuring teachers' knowledge of mathematics for teaching, quality of instruction, and knowledge about English learners.

The research design of the five-year study is a two-level cluster design in which students are nested within teachers. The goal is to predict English Language Learners' gains in mathematics achievement on standardized tests from the resources used by teachers. Measures of teacher knowledge include the Learning Mathematics for Teaching instrument, TExES Bilingual Education Supplemental 4-8 Representative Exam, and the Quality of Mathematics Instruction instrument. Variables and their interactions are analyzed to understand their relationship with student achievement. The evaluation plan involves both formative and summative components related to conducting the research and offering the associated professional development. The educational plan includes implementing a Mathematics Bilingual Institute that offers practicing teachers a professional development focused on successful classroom practices.

This project has the potential to help educators throughout the United States understand the best practices that promote mathematical learning for Latino ELL students. It can help us understand teacher characteristics that contribute to student learning and ways to help teachers develop those characteristics.

The Math Teachers' Circles project (MTC) is connecting mathematicians and mathematics teachers in middle schools by offering summer workshops and continued communication throughout the year. The workshops focus on mathematical problem solving and include activities that offer multiple entry points. The goal of the workshops is to increase teachers' knowledge of mathematics for teaching and to help teachers use their knowledge to improve student learning of mathematics. In addition to conducting workshops, researchers are investigating what mathematics teachers learn by participating in the workshops and how teachers use what they have learned in their mathematics teaching. The American Institute of Mathematics (AIM) is facilitating Math Circles in 26 states with research sites in Albuquerque, Denver and San Francisco Bay area. Their research questions include: (1) How is the MTC model being implemented at local sites? (2) What are the effects of participation in a MTC on Teachers' Mathematical Knowledge for Teaching? (3) What is the impact of MTC involvement on teachers' approaches toward mathematics and classroom practice? Twelve case studies, based on classroom observations, are offering insights into how teachers use their mathematical knowledge in planning, implementing, assessing, and reflecting on their instruction. Math Teachers' Circle leaders and participants are connected by a digital network organized by AIM. Workshops are offered for mathematicians who would like to be leaders and organizers of local Math Teachers' Circles, and help is provided to local Circles. The purpose of the local workshops is to develop teachers' content knowledge, problem-solving skills, and mathematical habits of mind. The Math Circles supplement other professional development efforts that focus on pedagogy. The MTC model includes five criteria: content focus, active learning, coherence, approximately 50 hours of professional development, and collective participation. Participants are expected to continue to work within the networked community to develop their mathematical knowledge. The research effort is measuring teachers' mathematical knowledge and conducting case studies to investigate the impact of the MTC on mathematics teaching. They are videotaping lessons and using the Mathematical Quality of Instruction observation protocol. The project evaluator is from Colorado State University.

This CAREER awardee at Utah State University is investigating the learning that can take place when elementary school students are directly involved in the collection, sense-making, and analysis of real, personally-meaningful data sets. The project responds to increasing attention to data collection and analysis in elementary grades and aims to make important contributions to the knowledge base on effective approaches to these topics. The hypotheses of this work are that by organizing elementary statistics instruction around the study of physical activities, students will have greater personal engagement in data analysis processes and that students will also develop more robust understandings of statistical ideas. Students and teachers from fifth grade classrooms from several elementary schools from northern Utah, are participating in the project. This work is co-funded by the EPSCoR program.

Statistics topics include measures of center and variation. Students use pedometers, heart rate monitors, other probeware, and the TinkerPlots software. The research team investigates the influence of personal ownership and relationships to data on students' understanding of learning of elementary statistics concepts and their ability to analyze data. The research involves multi-year clinical interviews and video-recorded classroom design experiments.

Research results are expected to be published in appropriate journals and are expected to be presented at professional meetings. Lesson plans and student instructional materials related to physical activity, measures of center, and data distributions are made available for use in partner elementary schools.

This CAREER awardee at Michigan Technological University is investigating the outcomes of a teacher education model designed to foster prospective mathematics teachers' abilities to notice and capitalize on important mathematical moments in instruction. The researcher engages prospective teachers in research-like analysis of unedited teacher-perspective classroom video early in their teacher education coursework in order to help them learn to identify, assess the mathematical potential of, and respond to important student ideas and insights that arise during instruction.

The research is based on a quasi-experimental design and involves three cohorts of prospective teachers. Practicing teachers from local schools collaborate with the research team. The data collected consists of classroom video. The video is coded and analyzed using Studiocode, which allows for real-time coding and for multiple users to code and annotate video segments.

The research findings are integrated into the institution's teacher education program and are also disseminated more broadly through publication and presentations at professional meetings.