About SERP

“SERP field sites are structured as a set of three closely connected, and partially overlapping, groups: The Core Group, The Design Team, and the Research Team.”

San Francisco Field Siteback

Current Research Collaborations

  • How do students understand major science concepts? How do teachers use knowledge of students’ understanding of a given concept to make instructional decisions?

    A research and development partnership with the science department of San Francisco Unified School District and the Berkeley Evaluation and Assessment Research Center is mapping learning progressions connected to core scientific concepts taught in middle school.

    Timeline:
    Phase I: Assessment (January 2007 to June 2010)
    Phase II: Instruction (Sept. 2009-June 2010)

    District Collaborators:
    Jeanne D’Arcy, Supervisor, Mathematics and Science
    Deb Farkas, Content Specialist, Middle School Science
    Nine teacher co-developers

    Researchers:
    Tina Cheuk, Assistant Director, SERP
    Phil Daro, Director, SERP
    Andrew Galpern, Graduate Student, UC Berkeley
    Linda Morell, Post Doc, UC Berkeley
    Jonathan Osborne, Professor of Education, Stanford
    Helen Quinn, Professor of Physics, Stanford
    Mark Wilson, Professor of Education, UC Berkeley
    Shih-Ying Yao, Graduate Student, UC Berkeley

    Phase I of this work involves working with middle school science teachers to develop a set of five progress maps per grade level and associated assessment questions and scoring guides that target the core concepts being taught in each six-week instructional period. They are designing assessment items that will provide better information about student thinking and of their misconceptions regarding these core scientific ideas.

    Phase II of this work will involve instructional use, pilot studies, and implementation models of the progress maps.