U Of A Researchers Win National Science Foundation Grant To Analyze Innovative Science Programs In Schools

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. - After the National Science Foundation implemented national systemic initiatives for science curricula in schools, two University of Arkansas researchers are devising a method to evaluate those reforms. With the grant, the two professors earned the first NSF grant ever awarded in the College of Education and Health Professions.

The NSF has awarded a grant to two U of A education professors to analyze data collected from the NSF’s Statewide, Urban and Rural Systemic Initiative Programs. These programs introduce innovative science curricula into school systems to help improve students’ understanding of science and actively engage the interest of more girls and minorities in scientific fields.

"The type of information we can provide is at grade level, classroom level and school level," said Ronna Turner, assistant professor of educational leadership, counseling and foundations (ELCF) and associate director of the Office of Research, Measurement and Evaluation (ORME).

Turner and Sean Mulvenon, associate professor of ELCF and director of ORME, will receive an estimated $211,000 to collect all the available data on SI programs; to devise a method for interpreting the data; to model additional strategies for conducting educational research on SI programs using data from Arkansas and from three Arkansas school districts; and to develop a guide for measurement and statistics that will help disseminate results.

"This will allow the NSF to make data-driven decisions about the SI programs," Mulvenon said.

The researchers will use statewide SI data from Arkansas to provide models of how urban, rural and statewide systemic initiatives work.

Mulvenon and Turner will examine "process drivers," such as faculty development and standards-based education programs, as well as "outcome drivers," such as standardized achievement tests and gains among under-represented groups in the sciences.

The researchers will then design a way to assess the effectiveness of the programs using the data entered from current or future SI programs. They will also create a database that could be used by other researchers interested in investigating SI programs.

"This kind of information can affect policy," Mulvenon said.

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