Science classrooms produce extensive amounts of student performance data – e.g. exit cards, district-level benchmark assessments, informal questioning – that can inform teachers about student learning. A strong body of research suggests that this data, when used formatively, can significantly improve teaching practice and lead to increased student learning. However, recent classroom studies have indicated that the use of data to inform practice is a difficult task for many teachers.

The Quality Assessment in Science Professional Development (QAS PD) project is a joint research project between the researchers at the University of Notre Dame and Stanford University that investigates whether, when, and how middle school science teachers use evidence of student thinking to inform instruction after engaging in portfolio-focused professional learning communities.

This work was funded through the generous support of the Spencer Foundation, grant # 201400153, and builds on the work of previous collaborations with Felipe Martinez (PI) at UCLA and Brian Stecher (Co-PI) at RAND Corporation and funded in part by the Spencer Foundation and the W.T. Grant Foundation.