“MAST is like the gift that keeps on giving for science teachers. It’s been 5 years since I graduated, and I still use the techniques I learned and the materials provided” (Program Alum, 2012)
REA would like to congratulate Mehri Fadavi and Jackson State University (JSU) program staff for eight successful years of the Mississippi Academy for Science Teaching (MAST) program. MAST has required a tremendous team effort from JSU faculty, administrators, and we want to thank all of our colleagues who have worked on this project since 2009. Working on MAST has required intense collaboration and has been an invaluable learning experience for all.
Funded by NSF in 2009 to provide pre-service and in-service high school teachers with content and pedagogical support in science, MAST professional development (PD) involves science teachers in an intensive three-week summer workshop, supplemental courses, and program support throughout the academic year. The content taught in MAST is tied to the content objectives of the 2010 Mississippi Science Framework, and aims to provide science teachers with the knowledge and resources to better understand and teach these objectives.
REA has served as the program’s external evaluators since 2009, and has conducted annual evaluations of the program’s impact each year. Our analysis of the data collected over the past eight years has led us to several key conclusions and lessons learned:
- Effective implementation of the MAST model involves learning and developing comfort with the material over time, building trust, and viewing teacher professional development (PD) as a process and complex system rather than an event that leads to rapid change. Over time, teachers had greater confidence in implementing what they’ve learned from MAST. While some short-term gains have been found from teachers and students, the long-term changes demonstrated by the alums show that the program has lasting effects. More time to learn, more time to engage in peer-to-peer reflection and observations, increased feedback, and more time to implement change may lead to stronger outcomes.
- Learning from experts is essential to teacher and student benefits. Without expert knowledge and insight, teachers might be constrained in developing students’ scientific engagement and thinking. Banilower et al. (2007) has also argued that students’ ability to learn science depends on teachers’ advanced content knowledge and their ability to convey information in developmentally appropriate ways.
- Teachers must learn from one another to improve practice. MAST teachers often discussed the importance of peer-to-peer learning and interaction, collaboration, and reflection. High school teachers may become accustomed to working independently when it comes to teaching and managing their classes. MAST incorporates and encourages reflection, small-group projects, and candid discussions about teacher practice and how to best approach student learning unique to the state of MS. In this learning environment, teachers participated in professional learning communities with a shared understanding of their long-term teaching goals – to improve student outcomes and achievement.
- Teachers can demonstrate competency, mastery, and growth in a variety of ways. MAST has proven the long-standing argument that there is not a “one-size-fit-all” approach to PD, teacher learning, and effective practice. MAST gave teachers the freedom to customize their learning in a way that suited them and, importantly, their students. Teachers have demonstrated growth in a number of areas, including content knowledge, teaching efficacy, learning efficacy, and professional learning practices with gains in some areas but not others.
- Post-program support and outreach could further benefit teacher and student growth. The MAST alums provided the strongest evidence of the program’s long-term impact. Some of the most frequently cited requests from the program, years later, were the inclusion of post-program support, outreach, and networking. If MAST wants to further develop its long-term impact on educators in MS, perhaps an online forum for teachers to share experiences and practices that work would yield greater confidence and support. Opportunities such as the MAST “mini conference” (lead by MAST alums for teachers) offers such experiences.
Overall, our findings indicate that teachers who participated in MAST showed greater gains in their ability to teach science than teachers not exposed to MAST (control group). Additionally, MAST can achieve meaningful and sustained effects on teachers in areas such as their approach to teaching science and overall teaching practice, their levels of confidence in teaching and learning science, their level of comfort with teaching the 2010 Mississippi Science Framework, and their students’ confidence in, and understanding of science. Our findings also illustrated how teachers who participated in MAST continued to implement the principles of the program years after their participation had ended.
To learn more about REA’s evaluation of MAST, please read our summative report here.