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1. Initial Steps in Developing Classroom Observation Rubrics Designed Around Instructional Practices that Support Equity and Access in Classrooms with Potential for “Success”

   https://doi.org/10.1177/01614681221140963  

   Wilson, Jonee ( November 2022 , Teachers College Record: The Voice of Scholarship in Education)

   Background: The field of mathematics education has made progress toward generating a set of instructional practices that could support improvements in the learning opportunities made available to groups of students who historically have been underserved and marginalized. Studies that contribute to this growing body of work are often conducted in learning environments that are framed as “successful.” As a researcher who is concerned with issues of equity and who acknowledges the importance of closely attending to the quality of the mathematical activity in which students are being asked to engage, my stance on “successful learning environments” pulls from both Gutiérrez’s descriptions of what characterizes classrooms as aiming for equity and the emphasis on the importance of conceptually oriented goals for student learning that is outlined in documents like the Standards. Though as a field we are growing in our knowledge of practices that support these successful learning environments, this knowledge has not yet been reflected in many of the observational tools, rubrics, and protocols used to study these environments. In addition, there is a growing need to develop empirically grounded ways of attending to the extent to which the practices that are being outlined in research literature actually contribute to the “success” of these learning environments. Purpose: The purpose of this article is to explore one way of meeting this growing need by describing the complex work of developing a set of classroom observation rubrics (the Equity and Access Rubrics for Mathematics Instruction, EAR-MI) designed to support efforts in identifying and observing critical features of classrooms characterized as having potential for “success.” In developing the rubrics, I took as my starting place findings from an analysis that compared a set of classrooms that were characterized as demonstrating aspects of successful learning environments and a set of classrooms that were not characterized as successful. This paper not only describes the process of developing the rubrics, but also outlines some of the qualitative differences that distinguished more and less effective examples of the practices the rubrics are designed to capture. Research Design: In designing the rubrics, I engaged in multiple cycles of qualitative analyses of video data collected from a large-scale study. Specifically, I iteratively designed, tested, and revised the developing rubrics while consistently collaborating with, consulting with, and receiving feedback from different experts in the field of education. Conclusions: Although I fully acknowledge and recognize that there are several tensions and limitations of this work, I argue that developing rubrics like the EAR-MI is still worthwhile. One reason that I give for continuing these types of efforts is that it contributes to the work of breaking down forms of practice into components and identifying key aspects of specific practices that are critical for supporting student learning in ways that make potentially productive routines of action visible to and learnable by others, which may ultimately contribute to the development of more successful learning environments. I also argue that rubrics like the EAR-MI have the potential to support researchers in developing stronger evidence of the effectiveness of practices that prior research has identified as critical for marginalized students and in more accurately and concretely identifying and describing learning environments as having potential for “success.” 

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2. Measures of success: characterizing teaching and teaching change with segmented and holistic observation data

   https://doi.org/10.1186/s40594-023-00413-y  

   Weston, Timothy J. ; Laursen, Sandra L. ; Hayward, Charles N. ( March 2023 , International Journal of STEM Education)

   Numerous studies show that active and engaging classrooms help students learn and persist in college, but adoption of new teaching practices has been slow. Professional development programs encourage instructors to implement new teaching methods and change the status quo in STEM undergraduate teaching, and structured observations of classrooms can be used in multiple ways to describe and assess this instruction. We addressed the challenge of measuring instructional change with observational protocols, data that often do not lend themselves easily to statistical comparisons. Challenges using observational data in comparative research designs include lack of descriptive utility for holistic measures and problems related to construct representation, non-normal distributions and Type-I error inflation for segmented measures.

   We grouped 790 mathematics classes from 74 instructors using Latent Profile Analysis (a statistical clustering technique) and found four reliable categories of classes. Based on this grouping we proposed a simple proportional measure we called Proportion Non-Didactic Lecture (PND). The measure aggregated the proportions of interactive to lecture classes for each instructor. We tested the PND and a measure derived from the Reformed Teaching Observation Protocol (RTOP) with data from a professional development study. The PND worked in simple hypothesis tests but lacked some statistical power due to possible ceiling effects. However, the PND provided effective descriptions of changes in instructional approaches from pre to post. In tandem with examining the proportional measure, we also examined the RTOP-Sum, an existing outcome measure used in comparison studies. The measure is based on the aggregated items in a holistic observational protocol. As an aggregate measure we found it to be highly reliable, correlated highly with the PND, and had more statistical power than the PND. However, the RTOP measure did not provide the thick descriptions of teaching afforded by the PND.

   Findings suggest that useful dependent measures can be derived from both segmented and holistic observational measures. Both have strengths and weaknesses: measures from segmented data are best at describing changes in teaching, while measures derived from the RTOP have more statistical power. Determining the validity of these measures is important for future use of observational data in comparative studies.

    

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3. Climate data from the R ocky M ountain B iological L aboratory (1975–2022)

   https://doi.org/10.1002/ecy.4153  

   Prather, Rebecca M. ; Underwood, Nora ; Dalton, Rebecca M. ; barr, billy ; Inouye, Brian D. ( September 2023 , Ecology)

   The Rocky Mountain Biological Laboratory (RMBL; Colorado, USA) is the site for many research projects spanning decades, taxa, and research fields from ecology to evolutionary biology to hydrology and beyond. Climate is the focus of much of this work and provides important context for the rest. There are five major sources of data on climate in the RMBL vicinity, each with unique variables, formats, and temporal coverage. These data sources include (1) RMBL resident billy barr, (2) the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), (3) the United States Geological Survey (USGS), (4) the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), and (5) Oregon State University's PRISM Climate Group. Both the NOAA and the USGS have automated meteorological stations in Crested Butte, CO, ~10 km from the RMBL, while the USDA has an automated meteorological station on Snodgrass Mountain, ~2.5 km from the RMBL. Each of these data sets has unique spatial and temporal coverage and formats. Despite the wealth of work on climate‐related questions using data from the RMBL, previous researchers have each had to access and format their own climate records, make decisions about handling missing data, and recreate data summaries. Here we provide a single curated climate data set of daily observations covering the years 1975–2022 that blends information from all five sources and includes annotated scripts documenting decisions for handling data. These synthesized climate data will facilitate future research, reduce duplication of effort, and increase our ability to compare results across studies. The data set includes information on precipitation (water and snow), snowmelt date, temperature, wind speed, soil moisture and temperature, and stream flows, all publicly available from a combination of sources. In addition to the formatted raw data, we provide several new variables that are commonly used in ecological analyses, including growing degree days, growing season length, a cold severity index, hard frost days, an index of El Niño‐Southern Oscillation, and aridity (standardized precipitation evapotranspiration index). These new variables are calculated from the daily weather records. As appropriate, data are also presented as minima, maxima, means, residuals, and cumulative measures for various time scales including days, months, seasons, and years. The RMBL is a global research hub. Scientists on site at the RMBL come from many countries and produce about 50 peer‐reviewed publications each year. Researchers from around the world also routinely use data from the RMBL for synthetic work, and educators around the United States use data from the RMBL for teaching modules. This curated and combined data set will be useful to a wide audience. Along with the synthesized combined data set we include the raw data and the R code for cleaning the raw data and creating the monthly and yearly data sets, which facilitate adding additional years or data using the same standardized protocols. No copyright or proprietary restrictions are associated with using this data set; please cite this data paper when the data are used in publications or scientific events.

    

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4. Navigating Relational Perspectives Through Collaboration to Expand Students’ Experiences Of/With/In Places and Cultures

   Covitt, Beth A. ; Frank, Nicollette ; Perry, Ho’oululāhui Erika ; Watson, Bruce Ka’imi ; Haavind, Sarah ; Cope, Dale ; Staudt ; Carolyn ( April 2023 , Annual Meeting of NARST)

   Making sense of what to do about the many daunting socio-environmental issues that we face will require intercultural understanding, openness to learning, and a capacity to draw on the strengths of multiple perspectives and to recognize limitations of dominant perspectives such as Eurocentric science. Navigating multiple perspectives in the school science classroom can be particularly treacherous for Indigenous students, whose cultural worldviews have often been excluded or denigrated in Eurocentric educational contexts. We present findings from a partnership project that is designing, implementing, studying, and refining instructional experiences for middle school students from significantly/predominantly Indigenous communities in Alaska and Hawai’i. This paper describes our efforts to understand project partners’ standpoints, acknowledging that in designing and implementing multi-perspective middle school science instruction, it will be critical to understand the multiple perspectives that we ourselves bring to the work. We present and discuss the views that project partners (including teachers) have shared concerning science, science education, multiple perspectives, and Indigenous cultural integrity and potential consequentiality for the project’s collaborative work. Five prominent themes relate to (1) the challenge of defining Indigenous and Eurocentric science for application in an instructional design context, (2) relationships with place, (3) centrality of language, (4) scaffolding and understanding learning through a multi-perspective lens, and (5) constraints associated with Eurocentric classroom and science contexts. 

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5. Tensions and synergies in arts‐integrated data literacy instruction: Reflections on four classroom implementations

   https://doi.org/10.1111/bjet.13257  

   Matuk, Camillia ; DesPortes, Kayla ; Amato, Anna ; Vacca, Ralph ; Silander, Megan ; Woods, Peter J. ; Tes, Marian ( July 2022 , British Journal of Educational Technology)

   Data‐art inquiry is an arts‐integrated approach to data literacy learning that reflects the multidisciplinary nature of data literacy not often taught in school contexts. By layering critical reflection over conventional data inquiry processes, and by supporting creative expression about data, data‐art inquiry can support students' informal inference‐making by revealing the role of context in shaping the meaning of data, and encouraging consideration of the personal and social relevance of data. Data‐art inquiry additionally creates alternative entry points into data literacy by building on learners' non‐STEM interests. Supported by technology, it can provide accessible tools for students to reflect on and communicate about data in ways that can impact broader audiences. However, data‐art inquiry instruction faces many barriers to classroom implementation, particularly given the tendency for schools to structure learning with disciplinary silos, and to unequally prioritize mathematics and the arts. To explore the potential of data‐art inquiry in classroom contexts, we partnered with arts and mathematics teachers to co‐design and implement data‐art inquiry units. We implemented the units in four school contexts that differed in terms of the student population served, their curriculum priorities, and their technology infrastructure. We reflect on participant interviews, written reflections, and classroom data, to identify synergies and tensions between data literacy, technology, and the arts. Our findings highlight how contexts of implementation shape the possibilities and limitations for data‐art inquiry learning. To take full advantage of the potential for data‐art inquiry, curriculum design should account for and build on the opportunities and constraints of classroom contexts.

   What is already known about this topic

   Arts‐integrated instruction has underexplored potential for promoting students' data literacy, including their appreciation for the role of context and real‐world implications of data and for the personal and social relevance of data.

   Arts‐integrated instruction is difficult to implement in school contexts that are constrained by disciplinary silos.

   What this paper adds

   Descriptions of four data‐art inquiry units, which take an arts‐integrated approach to data literacy.

   Examples of the synergies and tensions observed between data literacy, technology, and the arts during classroom implementation in four different schools.

   Reflections on the role of school contexts in shaping disciplinary synergies and tensions.

   Implications for practice and/or policy

   Arts‐integration offers opportunities for data literacy learning.

   Consideration of the unique resources and constraints of classroom contexts is critical for fulfilling the promises of data‐art inquiry learning.

   There is a need to develop school support specific to arts‐integrated data literacy instruction.

    

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