blog posts and news stories

Determining the Impact of MSS on Science Achievement

Empirical Education is conducting an evaluation of Making Sense of SCIENCE (MSS) under an Investing in Innovation (i3) five-year validation grant awarded in 2014. MSS is a teacher professional learning approach that focuses on science understanding, classroom practice, literacy support, and pedagogical reasoning. The primary purpose of the evaluation is to assess the impact of MSS on teachers’ science content knowledge and student science achievement and attitudes toward science. The evaluation takes place in 66 schools across two geographic regions—Wisconsin and the Central Valley of California. Participating Local Educational Agencies (LEAs) include: Milwaukee Public Schools (WI), Racine Unified School District (WI), Lodi Unified School District (CA), Manteca Unified School District (CA), Turlock Unified School District (CA), Stockton Unified School District (CA), Sylvan Unified School District (CA), and the San Joaquin County Office of Education (CA).

Using a Randomized Control Trial (RCT) design, in 2015-16, we randomly assigned the schools (32 in Wisconsin and 34 in California) to receive the MSS intervention or continue with business-as-usual district professional learning and science instruction. Professional learning activities and program implementation take place during the 2016-17 and 2017-18 school years, with delayed treatment for the schools randomized to control, planned for 2018-19 and 2019-20.

Confirmatory impacts on student achievement and teacher content knowledge will be assessed in 2018. Confirmatory research questions include:

What is the impact of MSS at the school-level, after two years of full implementation, on science achievement in Earth and physical science among 4th and 5th grade students in intervention schools, compared to 4th and 5th grade students in control schools receiving the business-as-usual science instruction?


What is the impact of MSS on science achievement among low-achieving students in intervention elementary schools with two years of exposure to MSS (in grades 4-5) compared to low-achieving students in control elementary schools with business-as-usual instruction for two years (in grades 4-5)?

What is the impact of MSS on teachers’ science content knowledge in Earth and physical science compared to teachers in the business-as-usual control schools, after two full years of implementation in schools?

Additional exploratory analyses are currently being conducted and will continue through 2018. Exploratory research questions examine the impact of MSS on students’ ability to communicate science ideas in writing, as well as non-academic outcomes, such as confidence and engagement in learning science. We will also explore several teacher-level outcomes, including teachers’ pedagogical science content knowledge, and changes in classroom instructional practices. The evaluation also includes measures of fidelity of implementation.

We plan to publish the final results of this study in fall of 2019. Please check back to read the research summary and report.

Arkansas Implements Observation Engine Statewide

BloomBoard’s observation tool, EdReflect, has been used across the state of Arkansas since fall 2014. Last year, the Arkansas Department of Education piloted Observation Engine, an online observation training and calibration tool from Empirical Education Inc., in four districts under the state’s Equitable Access Plan. Accessible through the BloomBoard platform, Observation Engine allows administrators and other teacher evaluators to improve scoring calibration and reliability through viewing and rating videos of classroom lessons collected in thousands of classrooms across the country.

Paired with BloomBoard resources and training, the results were impressive. In one district, the number of observers scoring above target increased from 43% to 100%. Not only that but the percent discrepancy (scores that were two levels above or below the target) decreased from 9% to 0%. Similar results were found in the other three pilot districts, prompting decision makers to make Observation Engine readily available to districts throughout the state.

“EdReflect has proven to be a valuable platform for educator observations in Arkansas. The professional conversation, which results from the ability to provide timely feedback and shared understanding of effective practice, has proven to ensure a transparency and collaboration that we have not experienced before. With the addition of Empirical Education’s Observation Engine, credentialed teacher observers have ready access to increase inter-rater reliability and personal skill. For the first time this year, BloomBoard Collections and micro-credentials have begun meeting individualized professional learning needs for educators all over the state.”
– Sandra Hurst, Arkansas Department of Education

In July, the Arkansas Department of Education decided to offer Observation Engine to the entire state. About half of all districts in the state opted in to receive the service, with the implementation spanning three groups of users in Arkansas. The Beginning Administrators group has already started pursuing a micro-credential based on Observation Engine. Micro-credentials are a digital form of certification that indicate a person has demonstrated competency in a specific skill set. The Beginning Administrators group can earn their “Observation Skills for Beginning Administrators” micro-credential by demonstrating observation skill competencies using Observation Engine’s online observer calibration tool to practice and assess observation skills.

Next month, the 26 more districts under the Equitable Access Plan and the remaining Arkansas districts will begin using Observation Engine. We look forward to following and reporting on the progress of these districts during the 2016-17 school year.