9804925 Firestone The Center for Educational Policy Analysis in New Jersey (CEPA-NJ) proposes to explore the effects the effects of New Jersey's systemic reform on both the quality and equity of mathematics and science instruction. Information collected here will inform efforts to implement systemic reform strategies throughout the nation but will be especially useful to policy makers and professional developers within the state. The project will address four questions: 1. As standards are implemented in New Jersey, what kinds of changes in math and science teaching do teachers report? 2. What factors help explain the observed changes in instruction? 3. How do changes in instruction affect student outcomes? 4. Are the effects of state assessment on math and science teaching different in schools serving middle class, majority children, and those serving poor, minority children? The study will be based on a sample of 300 4th grade teachers, stratified to include high, medium, and low income schools with a fourth group selected to have received extensive professional development from the New Jersey SSI program. The sample will be designed to be representative of the state. Data will be collected at two points of time in order to track change. Fourth grade teachers will be chosen because that is the year where elementary students take the state's new Elementary School Performance Assessment (ESPA), the major manifestation of systemic reform in New Jersey elementary grades. Information on teachers' instructional practice will come from teacher interview student questionnaires reporting on teachers, and portfolios of teachers' assignments. In addition to teacher interviews, data on elements of systemic reform will come from interviews of principals and central office curriculum specialists. A variety of quantitative and qualitative analyses will be conducted that will permit us to explore typical mathematics and science teaching in the state, changes in teaching practice in re sponse to systemic reform over time, the difference in both teaching practice and policies affecting teaching between rich and poor districts, how different factors actually influence teaching, and the effects of teaching on student outcomes. An aggressive effort will be made to disseminate findings within the state. These will include the publication of two newsletters, reporting findings in the press and other publications geared to educators, and presentations at a variety of fora for educators, the public, and policy makers. In addition, findings will be disseminated nationally through academic publications, paper presentations at conferences, and other sources.
