Talaria, Inc., proposes a three-year project to increase understanding of how to get research results on teaching and learning into teachers' minds and actions. To accomplish this, a teacher professional development program will be designed to implement DIAGNOSER, a computerized diagnostic instructional tool. The DIAGNOSER is a web-delivered system in which students answer assignments/questions and teachers access the report on the students after they have completed the assignments. DIAGNOSER focuses on physical sciences, force and motion at the middle-school level. The professional development program will provide teachers with opportunities to use formative assessment tools, interpret student data, interact with and reflect on each other's practice, and access research and science resources. Participating teachers include those involved in three middle-school Local Systemic Change Projects in Washington State. The program involves one workshop, teacher networks, face-to-face meeting with teachers and resource teachers for in-class coaching. The improvement of the program will be done through iterations (design-testing-redesign). The research will focus on two questions: What are the effects of the professional development and diagnostic instructional tools on teachers' teaching and students' learning? What are the teacher and system factors related to the effective implementation of the tools? The premise of the proposal is that at the end of the study there will be a prototype program that can be scalable nationally.
