Skip to main content
Log in

Developing a Web-Based Mechanism for Assessing Teacher Science Content Knowledge

  • Published:
Journal of Science Teacher Education

Abstract

The National Science Teachers Association (NSTA) recently launched a comprehensive electronic professional development (e-PD) online portal, the NSTA Learning Center. This support site for educators currently includes over 6,000 e-PD resources and opportunities available on-demand, as well as various tools designed to help educators maximize the effectiveness of using NSTA resources. One tool, the PD Indexer, helps teachers identify their own areas of content strengths and weaknesses by selecting content-specific assessments. Individual NSTA resources are recommended based on assessment outcomes. This paper presents a detailed description of the procedures employed by NSTA to develop valid and reliable PD Indexer content-specific multiple-choice assessment items.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Abell, S. K. (2007). Research on science teacher knowledge. In S. K. Abell & N. G. Leaderman (Eds.), Handbook of research on science education (pp. 1105–1149). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

    Google Scholar 

  • America COMPETES Act, H.R. 2272, 110th Congress, 1st Session, (2007).

  • American Association for the Advancement of Science. (1993). Benchmarks for science literacy. New York, NY: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Anderson, T. (2003). Getting the mix right again: An updated and theoretical rationale for interaction. International Review of Research in Open and Distance Learning, 4(2). Retrieved April 29, 2009 from http://www.irrodl.org/index.php/irrodl/article/view/149/708.

  • Appleton, K. (2007). Elementary science teaching. In S. K. Abell & N. G. Lederman (Eds.), Handbook of research on science education (pp. 493–535). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bashaw, W. (1991). Assessing learner performance. In L. Briggs, K. Gustafsen, & M. Tillman (Eds.), Instructional design: Principles and applications (pp. 151–167). Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Educational Technology Publications.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bransford, J. D., Brown, A. L., Cocking, R. R., Donovan, M. S., & Pellegrino, J. W. (Eds.). (2000). How people learn: Brain, mind, experience, and school. Washington, DC: National Academy Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Council of Chief State School Officers. (2007). Fifty-state analysis of the preparation of teachers and conditions for teaching: Results from the NCES schools and staffing survey. Washington, DC: Blank, R. K., & Toye, C.

    Google Scholar 

  • Crocker, L., & Algina, J. (1986). Introduction to classical and modern test theory. New York, NY: Holt, Rinehart, and Winston.

    Google Scholar 

  • Darling-Hammond, L. (2006). Constructing 21st-century teacher education. Journal of Teacher Education, 57, 300–314.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dick, W., Carey, L., & Carey, J. O. (2008). The systematic design of instruction (7th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Merrill.

    Google Scholar 

  • Educational Testing Service. (2009). ETS Guidelines for fairness review of assessment, Princeton, NJ. Retrieved April 29, 2009 from http://www.ets.org/Media/About_ETS/pdf/overview.pdf.

  • Fishman, B. J., Marx, R. W., Best, S., & Tal, R. T. (2003). Linking teacher and student learning to improve professional development in systemic reform. Teaching and Teacher Education, 19, 643–658.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gagne, R., & Driscoll, M. (1988). Essentials of learning for instruction. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall.

    Google Scholar 

  • Goldhaber, D. (2002). The mystery of good teaching. Education Next, 2, 50–55.

    Google Scholar 

  • Griffith, G. (2008). Initial impacts of no child left behind on elementary science education. Journal of Elementary Science Education, 20, 35–48.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hambleton, R. K., & Rodgers, H. J. (2004). Developing an item bias review form. ERIC Doc: ED398241. Clearinghouse on Assessment and Evaluation. Retrieved April 29, 2009 from http://ericae.net/ft/tamu/biaspub2.htm.

  • Hanuscin, D. L., & Lee, M. H. (2008). Using the learning cycle as a model for teaching the learning cycle to preservice elementary teachers. Journal of Elementary Science Education, 20, 51–66.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Heywood, D. S. (2007). Problematizing science subject matter knowledge as a legitimate enterprise in primary teacher education. Cambridge Journal of Education, 37, 519–542.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Howitt, C. (2007). Preservice elementary teachers’ perceptions of factors in a holistic methods course influencing their confidence in teaching science. Research in Science Education, 37, 41–58.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kang, N. (2007). Elementary teachers’ epistemological and ontological understanding of teaching for conceptual learning. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 44, 1292–1317.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Luera, G. R. (2005). What type and level of science content knowledge of elementary education students affect their ability to construct an inquiry-based lesson. Journal of Elementary Science Education, 17, 12–25.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Merrill, M. D., & Tennyson, R. (1994). Teaching concepts: An instructional design. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Educational Technology.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mundry, S. (2005). Changing perspectives in professional development. Science Education, 14, 9–15.

    Google Scholar 

  • National Research Council. (1996). National science education standards. Washington, DC: National Academy Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Nunnally, J. (1967). Psychometric theory. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill.

    Google Scholar 

  • Popham, W. J. (2008). Classroom assessment: What teachers need to know. Boston, MA: Pearson.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sullivan, H., & Higgins, N. (1983). Teaching for competence. New York, NY: Teachers College Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • U.S. Department of Education. (2000). Before it’s too late: A report to the nation from the national commission on mathematics and science teaching for the 21st century. Washington, DC: National Commission on Mathematics and Science Teaching for the 21st Century.

    Google Scholar 

  • U.S. Department of Education, & National Center for Education Statistics. (2009). Common core of data (CCD), State nonfiscal survey of public elementary/secondary education, 20002001 through 20052006. Retrieved April 29, 2009 from http://nces.ed.gov/programs/digest/d07/tables/dt07_062.asp?referrer=list.

  • Weiss, I. R., Banilower, E. R., McMahon, K. C., & Smith, S. P. (2001). Report of the 2000 national survey of science and mathematics education (No. REC-9814246). Chapel Hill, NC: Horizon Research, Inc.

  • Wilson, S. M., Floden, R. E., & Ferrini-Mundy, J. (2002). Teacher preparation research: An insider’s view from the outside. Journal of Teacher Education, 53, 190–204.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Al Byers.

About this article

Cite this article

Byers, A., Koba, S., Sherman, G. et al. Developing a Web-Based Mechanism for Assessing Teacher Science Content Knowledge. J Sci Teacher Educ 22, 273–289 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10972-011-9227-2

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10972-011-9227-2

Keywords

Navigation