Reference BAAS 29, 795, 1997

The American Astronomical Society Teacher Resource Agent Program provided 215 teachers with a four-week summer institute as their initial preparation as agents. Contact with the agents, including their attendance at an AAS meeting, is maintained following this initial participation. The formative evaluation of the program illuminates the challenges and opportunities presented in dealing with a diverse group of teachers. Changes to the original program structure due to various evaluation elements and the need to integrate the new National Science Education Standards will be addressed. AASTRA is supported by NSF under grant ESI 93-53377 and the AAS. Additional support is provided by Loyola University of Chicago, Northern Arizona University of Flagstaff, University of Maryland at College Park, and the University of Texas at Austin.

Internal

• content pre-test/post-test
• weekly satisfaction survey
• end of institute survey
• random, workshop presentations (plan 21 visits/yr. in each of 3 years)
• focus discussion groups at national AAS meeting in following summer

• examination of participants' journals
• structured interviews and follow-up with randomly selected participants
• questionnaires from peer-led workshop attendees
• random visits to participants' classrooms
• examination of institute and peer-led workshop materials
• professionalism survey

External summative evaluation

Internal

• KWL method [subsituted for pre-post test and evaluations of journals]
  • What do you Know about a concept?
  • What do you Want to know about a concept?
    
  • What did you Learn about the concept?
• weekly satisfaction survey
• end of institute survey [done by external evaluator rather than internal to project]
• random, workshop presentations (plan 63 visits total)
• focus discussion groups at national AAS meeting in following summer [done through reflective survey by external evaluator]

• KWL [subsituted for pre-post test and evaluations of journals]
• structured interviews (in person) and follow-up with randomly selected participants (by letter and phone)
• questionnaires from peer-led workshop attendees
• [random visits to participants' classrooms originally proposed were not done by external evaluator] more extensive telephone interviews were conducted instead
• examination of institute and peer-led workshop materials
• professionalism survey
• focus discussion groups at national AAS meeting in following summer of each year's institute

• Rapid feedback on Agents' concerns and misconceptions during the summer institute
  
• Illumination from attending a sample of workshops led to instructional changes in subsequent years
  e.g., use of "Facilitating Systemic Change in Science and Mathematics Education: A Toolkit for Professional Developers" in summer 1996
  
• Changes in scheduling, organization, and topics
  
• Response to Agents' needs through newsletter, electronic mail (for 108 Agents), and Web Site

215 Agents from 45 states, GM, PR, and VI

• 15% of Agents are underrepresented minorities
• 67% have not had prior participation in NSF supported programs for teachers
• 67% of Agents are women
• the teaching assignments of the Agents are:
  
  • 23% teach pre-K-2 students
  • 22% teach grade 3-5 students
  • 29% teach middle school students
  • 22% teach high school
  • 4% are other (planetaria, elementary school principal, college teacher, etc.)

by April 1997, 6100 second tier teachers of over 360,000 students were served in workshops that average 2.8 hours with 15 participants attending. Of these teachers:

• 23% teach grades K-2
• 35% teach grades 3-5
• 28% teach grades 6-8
• 8% teach grades 9-12
• 6% non-classroom teachers, in schools

Agents become Associate Members of AAS for two years, and attend one AAS meeting (68 Agents are attending the Winston-Salem meeting)

This document last updated: 27 April 1998
Mary Kay Hemenway's Selected Publications