Does a RESEED Volunteer effect the Middle School Science Student? Is there a prolonged effect on student knowledge and interest? S.R. Brovender, MD, T. Ciaccia, EE S. Wallace, BS, MS (Ed) M. Downey, BS, MS (Ed) Liam Skinner, BA, MS (Ed Adm.)

NEED  The PISA* report of 2013 placed the U.S. 26 th and 30 th in the world in math, science and problem solving.  Other countries are increasingly moving ahead of us.  MA., no. 1 in the U.S. placed 6 th (ahead of Finland). Competed as a country in  We have improved our position. “This shows that a good curriculum and good teachers have an effect”** – American students can learn.  *  *OECD’s Programme for International Student Assessment  OECD = Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development  **Comment by MA Commissioner of Education (WBUR 12/3/2013)

NEED note S&E doctorates lead the way

Background Reason and Purpose  Studies show that reading and math scores improve and dropout rates decrease with one on one tutoring 1,2.  MCAS English language scores in Lawrence Public School students did improve with one on one tutoring 3.  However  RESEED volunteers work with whole classes.  We contribute many hours to Massachusetts Middle Schools in science education but usually are only with the students one hour per week  Is this less costly technique also effective ?  To answer this, we examined the results of curriculum enhancement and mentoring of 7 th grade students in a Massachusetts Middle School by a volunteer with a degree in a life science.  We looked for both increased knowledge and evidence of increased interest as shown by their results on the 10 th grade MCAS in Biology as well as the number of students taking that exam.

Schedule of Evaluation and Mentoring in Life Science Schedule of Evaluation and Mentoring in Life Science  2007 : First year in 7 th grade Life Science  One of us designed a hands-on and demo laboratory course for students based on the school curriculum and agreed to by the teachers.  2008: Second year  Further fine tuning of the lab course in Life Science (less demo, more hands-on )  2009: The reference base year (we were not there in 2006)  2010: First set of our 10 th grade student MCAS results  2011: The second set of 10 th grade MCAS results  Greater teacher participation in use of laboratory  The teachers now own and control the course!

The Site  Lowell is a multi-ethnic city in the Merrimack Valley with a Population of +/- 105,000. average Income in 2009 was $23,000, now $56,000. Becoming young yuppie!  The Daley School is one of 6 Middle schools, all have RESEED volunteers.  The Daley Middle School has 150 to 160 students per year divided into six classes.  Only the Daley School had a volunteer with an advanced degree in a life science.  Lowell High School receives the students from the 6 Lowell Middle Schools.

Definitions of Testing Used  MCAS = Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System  Administered by the Commonwealth  Grading = Failed, Needs Improvement, Proficient, Advanced (F,NI,P,A)  NAEP = National Assessment of Educational Progress (The Nation’s Report Card)  Administered by ACT under DOE contract.  Grading = Failed, Basic, Proficient, Advanced (F,B,P,A)

Procedure 1.We obtained the 10 th grade biology MCAS results of former Daley students over the 3 year period (2009 – 2011) 2.We compared these results to those of the Lowell High School biology MCAS and to the results of the Biology MCAS for the Commonwealth for the same 3 years. 3.To see if our students were different from other Lowell students, we compared the Daley 2008, 8 th grade science MCAS to the 8 th grade science MCAS results of the Lowell district and of the Commonwealth. 4.To evaluate if there was a correlation of the 8 th and 10 th grade results, we looked at the results of the national NAEP examinations for 8 th and 12 th grade science.

NAEP U.S. Results 2009 Science (% ONLY) (Total No. = 146,300) 2  No significant difference (p for P+A = ). NAEP EXAM FBPAP+A 8 th Grade th Grade

Daley vs. Lowell vs. State ( 2008 ) ( 8 th grade science MCAS) FNIPA P+A P Lowell P state Daley # %23% 45% 22%1%23% Lowell district # <.0002 % 34 % 42 % 20% 4% 4% 24% State#72,80715,08130,14224,9932,59027,667 % 21 % 41 % 34% 4 % 4 %38%

2009 Base Year  10th Grade Biology MCAS results for former Daley Science Students vs. Lowell HS in Biology MCAS (of the 792 Lowell students Daley's =156 or 20%. Only 9% of former Daley students took that exam.) State No.=72,313 ORG.No.FNIPAP+A p Dist. p State Daley <.0001<.0001 % Lowell H.S <.0002 % State53,0937,82013,12624,7058,34233,047 %

2010 Our students from 2007 #FNIPAP+A p vs. H.S. p vs. state Daley <.017<.34 25%18%28%28%26%54% Lowell H.S < %34%30%23%14%14% State68,2405,21518,78931,99412,24244,236 99%8%28%47%18%65%

2011 #FNIPAP+A p vs. H.S. p vs. state Daley < %48%52% 100 % Lowell H.S %26%24%28%23%51% State49, ,71112,34335,054 72%9%20%46%25%71%

th grade Science MCAS #FNIPAP+A p vs. district p vs. state Daley < %22%48%25%5% 30 % Lowell H.S. 1, <.0001 %38%47%14%1%15% State ,29630,24424,9193,11028,029 %19%42%35%4%39%

Summary Daley Numbers # taking exam PAP+A Total

Compare P+A% with HS and State P + A % Difference Average for Daley Students 77% Average for Lowell HS 42%-25% Average for the Commonwealth 63%-4%

Summary 1.Daley Middle School in Lowell was the only Lowell Middle School with a volunteer with an advanced degree in a life science. 2.We studied the 10 th Grade MCAS of the mentored students to see if there was increased interest and knowledge. 3.The performance of these students at the 10 th grade was consistently better than the other Lowell HS students on the biology MCAS and equal to or better than the Commonwealth average. 4.For the two years of the study there was an increased number of students electing to take the biology MCAS. 5.By 2011 there was a significant improvement in the results of the 8 th grade science MCAS!

Conclusions 1.A statistically significant number of former Daley Middle School students consistently performed better on the 10 th grade Biology MCAS than other Lowell High School students. 2.After mentoring with an appropriate volunteer, there was an increase in the numbers of students taking the 10 th grade biology MCAS. The 8 th grade Science result improved also. 3.Student grades remained significantly higher than those of the local high school and on a par with the state results. 4.Given the 2008 performance in science, Daley students did not seem to be a subset of brighter Lowell students! 5.It appears that mentoring by a volunteer with an appropriate degree can have a positive effect on student learning and continued interest in the studied discipline. 6.RESEED volunteers seem to be effective in their field!

Bibliography  1.Volunteers in Public Schools, Committee on the use of volunteers in schools, National Academy Press, 1990, B. Michael ed, pp  2.Slavin, R.E., Madden, N.A: Research on Achievement Outcomes of Success for All: A summary and response to critics: Success For All Foundation; pp8-27; 2000  3.  3. Success for All in Lawrence, Massachusetts MCAS) – English Language Arts (Grades 3–5 and Middle Schools, 2003 to 2009);   4. nces.ed.gov/nationsreportcard/states 2009   national_Student_Assessment