THE IMPACT OF THE TEXAS EARTH AND SPACE SCIENCE REVOLUTION

For four years the TeXas Earth and Space Science (TXESS) Revolution has helped teachers build a solid foundation in geoscience by providing up-to-date information through guided inquiry activities and lectures delivered by science experts. The professional development program comprises eight professional development academies and two summer institutes. The project serves over 170 teachers from rural, suburban, and urban schools across Texas. These teachers reach a geographically, economically and ethnically diverse group of about 17,000 K-12 students of which 67% are minorities, a result that compares favorably with the demographics of the Texas school age population, currently 65.3 % minority. In addition, teachers have conducted project-related outreach to more than 2000 other teachers. The project’s evaluation team has administered assessment instruments and surveys, pre- and post-content knowledge tests, and conducted focus groups to document the efficacy of the delivery of the professional development, the impressions and level of satisfaction of the teachers, and changes in teachers’ confidence level and content knowledge. Evaluation results show that teachers have a very favorable attitude towards the TXESS Revolution professional development program, and are making significant gains in pedagogical content knowledge, confidence, and enthusiasm. Comparison of the results with the Math Science Partnership (MSP) statistics show that 90-95% of TXESS Revolution teachers made significant gains in knowledge content. Additional indicators of the success of the project are the number of teachers (43) who have been inspired by their participation in the TXESS Revolution to pursue other research/professional development activities and attend meetings/conferences that they would not normally attend. Teachers have remained in the program for at least two years, an essential element of the project contributing to teachers’ gains, a strong sense of community, and to the project’s achievements. Finally, the project has laid the foundation to obtain support for other grants that extend the goals of the TXESS Revolution within and beyond Texas and provide additional professional development opportunities for TXESS Revolution teachers.