Hi Mark, 

Thanks so much for your interest in our work! From my perspective, the Smithsonian Science Education Center's 30+ years of work in inquiry-based science education is inherently linked to the science and engineering practices of NGSS. For the past three decades through our curriculum and professional development we have been engaging students in designing and conducting experiments, collecting and synthesizing data, and engaging in arguments from evidence. It is exciting to see today's standards so well aligned to our philosophy of teaching and learning.

These standards connect back to the LASER framework specifically in the areas of Curriculum and Professional Development. STC, the curriculum used in this study, is a research-based hands-on curriculum focused on student-centered education, so it naturally lends itself to the practices. The accompanying professional development is also crucial because for many teachers, this student-centered approach to teaching is completely different from what they have experienced, both as teachers and as students. Empowering teachers with the tools to teach in an inquiry-based, hands-on way are very much in line with meeting the NGSS.      

Just a little aside - we are currently developing and releasing a K-8 curriculum line specifically aligned to the NGSS called "Smithsonian Science for the Classroom." Our development of this curriculum incorporates lessons learned from LASERi3, while honoring the same spirit of hands-on, object-based learning that our STC line does, and the same Smithsonian dedication to researched-based educative materials. We are hoping that we can conduct the same type of rigorous study on the new materials too!  

Hi Kevin,

Thanks for your question! Participating schools were matched based on demographic and achievement variables. The schools were then randomly assigned to either receive the intervention or serve as the comparison group while conducting “business as usual.” To measure student gains across the three participating regions, our evaluator administered the Partnership for the Assessment of Standards-Based Science (PASS) test, which consisted of multiple-choice and open-ended questions as well as hands-on performance tasks. The Center for Research in Educational Policy (CREP) also analyzed state test data in science, math, and reading. In addition, CREP conducted classroom observations, measuring the frequency with which behaviors like gathering and recording evidence, asking questions, and collaborative learning were observed. If you want more information about this, I would recommend reviewing the executive summary found here: https://ssec.si.edu/laser-i3

As far as Administrative and Community Support goes, the SSEC offers a tiered set of leadership development programs that provide support and awareness-building for educational leaders throughout the participating school systems and communities. The first of these is a Building Awareness event that brings in stakeholders (anyone from teachers to administrators to parents and community members) to inform them of the work and familiarize them with the materials and the program. This is followed by a Strategic Planning Institute – an opportunity for a team of 5 leaders/champions of STEM to attend and create a five-year strategic plan to build out their program. During this institute, participants take part in sessions that help them to understand the work that needs to be done around each of the five pillars, and then plan their strategy to achieve a sustainable science program. My experience has been that these two institutes really set the stage for administrator and community buy-in, and then work to bring those individuals into the fold, and in-touch with what students and teachers need, enabling them to be stronger leaders.

To better support the implementation of LASER and supporting materials, the SSEC also sought out local regional partners to help shepherd the work. Regional partners included the North Carolina Science, Mathematics and Technology Education Center (www.ncsmt.org) the LANL Foundation (www.lanlfoundation.org) and the Houston Independent School District. These partners were crucial to success in the regions, and this is a model that we continue to use in other ongoing implementations of LASER. Each year during the grant, we brought together these organizations as well as educational leaders (teachers, administrators and community members) from each region for a Regional Leaders Meeting, enabling folks to share ideas across regions.

I love that you asked about disseminating LASER more broadly! We have been using this model, and hosting institutes for 25+ years, and have had over 1000 teams representing schools, districts, states or ministries of education take part in this work. We are currently conducting a pilot program using LASER in Colorado and this summer we will host our annual strategic planning institute to engage teams who are not a part of a large-scale funded project like LASER i3, but are interested in using the LASER model to transform their schools.