Wested

Empowering Changemakers: Urban Biodiversity Initiative for Teachers and Youth -the Project Will Design, Develop, and Test a Research-based Professional Development (PD) Approach That Will Ensure That Teachers, and Ultimately Their Middle-school Students, Have the Knowledge to Act in a Way That Promotes Zero Net Loss of Biodiversity in Their Communities. the Project Will Serve 54 Teachers, Their Students and Administrators, Across Nine School Sites. Through Their Participation in the PD, Teachers Will Be Equipped to Plan for and Implement Ngss-aligned (next Generation Science Standards) Instruction, Facilitate Student Identification and Understanding of Biodiversity and Environmental Justice Issues in Their Local Community, and Foster Student Capacity to Take Action. Students Will Come to Understand That Biodiversity Is a Global Issue That They Can Influence at the Local Level, and Will Become Empowered, in Both Their Knowledge and Their Agency, to Be Leaders in Solving Biodiversity Problems in Their Communities. Rather Than Simply Following Agendas Set by Adults, Students Will Become Problem Identifiers and Solvers in Their Own Right. to Support This, the Project Will Create Equitable Learning Opportunities by Supporting Teachers in Centering on an Asset View of Students? Cultural Competence (i.e., What Learners Bring to the Classroom) and in Acknowledging That a Learner?s Culture Profoundly Influences Opportunities to Learn. the Project Involves a Multi-agency Partnership Including the Wested Research Team and K-12 Alliance, the University of California, Los Angeles, Dogoodery, Los Angeles Sanitation and Environment, and the Learning Policy Institute. the Project Will Use Targeted and Wide Dissemination to Share Project Research Results and Resources With Teachers, Administrators, and Educational Organizations and Leaders, Environmental Organizations and Policy Makers Through Conferences, Publications, and Briefings. a ?playbook? Including Project Tools and Processes Will Be Published by Wested.org to Support Teachers, Teacher Leaders and PL Providers. the Project Will Gather Data From Multiple Sources to Determine the Extent to Which the PD Model Influences Beliefs, Knowledge, and Achievement of Teachers, Administrators, and Students. the Project Will Examine How Knowledge of the NGSS, Environmental Literacy, and Environmental Justice Issues Amonjg Teachers and Students Change Over Time and How Recipients of PL Incorporate Materials and Pedagogy Into Their Practice. Research Questions Will Be Addressed by Utilizing a Multiple Baseline Design, Using Pre- and Post-measures With Staggered Implementation of the Intervention, to Measure Teacher, Administrator, and Student Outcomes. a Mixed-methods Research Approach Will Be Applied to Ascertain the Qualitative Outcomes of the Intervention in the Identified Groups and These Data Will Be Triangulated With the Quantitative Outcome Measures. Qualitative Open-ended Survey and Interview Data, as Well as Comprehensive Curriculum Captures, Teacher Instructional Logs, 3D Formative Assessments, and Concept Maps, Will Also Be Analyzed to Describe Impacts on Teachers?, Administrators?, and Students? Understanding. for the Quantitative Analyses of Pre-/post- Measures, the Project Will Use an Analysis of Covariance (ANCOVA) to Compare All Responses on the Student, Administrator, and Teacher Surveys, to Determine Whether Perceived Understandings of the Constructs That the Intervention Is Anticipated to Impact Changed Over Time. the Resulting Analysis Will Inform Potential Revisions to the PD. the Discovery Research PREK-12 Program (DRK-12) Seeks to Significantly Enhance the Learning and Teaching of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) by PREK-12 Students and Teachers, Through Research and Development of Innovative Resources, Models and Tools. Projects in the DRK-12 Program Build on Fundamental Research in Stem Education and Prior Research and Development Efforts That Provide Theoretical and Empirical Justification for Proposed Projects.? This Award Reflects NSF'S Statutory Mission and Has Been Deemed Worthy of Support Through Evaluation Using the Foundation's Intellectual Merit and Broader Impacts Review Criteria.