Standardized test outcomes of urban students participating in standards and project based science curricula

Abstract

Considerable effort has been made over the past decade to address the needs of learners in large urban districts through scaleable reform initiatives. We examine the effects of a multifaceted scaling reform which focuses on supporting standards based science teaching in urban middle schools. The effort was one component of systemic reform efforts in Detroit Public Schools. Two cohorts of students that participated in reform curricula are compared with the remainder of the district population, using results from the high-stakes state standardized test in science. Both the initial and scaled up cohorts show substantive increases in science content understanding and process skills over their peers, and significantly higher pass rates on the statewide assessment up to a year and a half after exposure, with little fall off in achievement gains with increased scale. Examination of results by reveals that the curriculum reform effort succeeds in reducing the gender gap in achievement experienced by urban African-American boys. These findings are an encouraging example of how standards-based urban systemic reform can successfully impact student achievement as measured by statewide standardized instruments.