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Considerable effort has been made over the past decade to address the needs of learners in large urban districts through scaleable reform initiatives. We examine the effects of a multifaceted scaling reform that focuses on supporting standards based science teaching in urban middle schools. The effort was one component of a systemic reform effort in the Detroit Public Schools, and was centered on highly specified and developed project-based inquiry science units supported by aligned professional development and learning technologies. Two cohorts of 7th and 8th graders that participated in the project units are compared with the remainder of the district population, using results from the high-stakes state standardized test in science. Both the initial and scaled up cohorts show increases in science content understanding and process skills over their peers, and significantly higher pass rates on the statewide test. The relative gains occur up to a year and a half after participation in the curriculum, and show little attenuation with in the second cohort when scaling occurred and the number of teachers involved increased. The effect of participation in units at different grade levels is independent and cumulative, with higher levels of participation associated with similarly higher achievement scores. Examination of results by gender reveals that the curriculum effort succeeds in reducing the gender gap in achievement experienced by urban African-American boys. These findings demonstrate that standards-based, inquiry science curriculum can lead to standardized achievement test gains in historically underserved urban students, when the curriculum is highly specified, developed, and aligned with professional development and administrative support. (Contains 2 tables, 4 figures, and 1 note.)

Science education standards established by American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) and the National Research Council (NRC) urge less emphasis on memorizing scientific facts and more emphasis on students investigating the everyday world and developing deep understanding from their inquiries. These approaches to instruction challenge teachers and students, particularly urban students who often have additional challenges related to poverty. We report data on student learning spanning 3 years from a science education reform collaboration with the Detroit Public Schools. Data were collected from nearly 8,000 students who participated in inquiry-based and technology-infused curriculum units that were collaboratively developed by district personnel and staff from the University of Michigan as part of a larger, district-wide systemic reform effort in science education. The results show statistically significant increases on curriculum-based test scores for each year of participation. Moreover, the strength of the effects grew over the years, as evidenced by increasing effect size estimates across the years. The findings indicate that students who historically are low achievers in science can succeed in standards-based, inquiry science when curriculum is carefully developed and aligned with professional development and district policies. Additional longitudinal research on the development of student understanding over multiple inquiry projects, the progress of teacher enactment over time, and the effect of changes in the policy and administrative environment would further contribute to the intellectual and practical tools necessary to implement meaningful standards-based systemic reform in science.

Describes uses for new technologies in teacher professional development. The paper examines literature on teacher knowledge and professional development; discusses how research can inform design of three types of technology to support teacher learning (multimedia, productivity tools, and telecommunication information systems); investigates how technology can contribute to innovation; identifies research questions; and speculates on future technology uses. (SM)

Directions for future research on goal theory are suggested. The need for greater specificity in construct definition and the possible contributions of constructivist perspectives on learning and instruction are considered. An investigation is proposed of the way social goals interact with mastery and performance goals. (Author/SLD)

Relationships among motivation, use of general and content-specific learning strategies, and achievement were examined for 283 high school geometry students early and late in the semester. Results suggest that teachers should emphasize domain-specific strategies when introducing a unit, and emphasize less domain-specific strategies later in the year. (SLD)

The authors assessed change over 3 years in elementary school children's competence beliefs and subjective task value in the domains of math, reading, instrumental music, and sports. The longitudinal sample consisted of approximately 615 mostly White, lower middle to middle-class children. Stability correlations indicated moderate to strong stability in children's beliefs, especially older children's competence beliefs. The relation of children's ratings of their competence in each domain to estimates of their competence in those domains provided by both parents and teachers increased over the early elementary grades. Children's competence beliefs and ratings of the usefulness and importance of each activity decreased over time. Children's interest in reading and instrumental music decreased, but their interest in sports and math did not. Gender differences in children's competence beliefs and subjective task values did not change over time.

Describes the cognitive characteristics and procedural "forms" associated with common school learning tasks. Illustrates how variations in these can affect student motivation and learning. Concludes that simple task content and unvaried procedures tend to result in limited thinkers and alienated workers. (JDH)

The relation of classroom experience to children's self-perceptions of ability, effort, and conduct was investigated in an observational study of 85 second and sixth graders. Findings suggest that children distinguish among different types of feedback and highlight the differential effects of feedback on achievement-related self-perceptions. (Author/LMO)