California Science Project

CTQ and UCLA’s Graduate School of Education and Information Studies have partnered with the California Science Project (CSP) Statewide Office at UCLA in an effort to address the shortage of science teachers that is felt most acutely in high poverty schools. Essential to this initiative, CTQ and UCLA researchers will document and assess the varied efforts of ten sites to increase the retention of secondary science teachers in high-poverty schools.  The collaborative research team is guided by the following research questions:  

• How do CSP-focused professional learning communities affect the retention of secondary science teachers?
• How do teachers’ preparation pathways, background characteristics, life decisions (e.g., relocating, childrearing) and career intentions mediate the relationship between CSP programs and retention?

• What are the policies, practices, and working conditions that either promote or inhibit the capacity of schools and districts to create professional learning communities for science teachers in ways that promote their retention in high-poverty schools? 

To answer these questions, the researcher team is currently conducting a two-tiered study that includes:

1. A longitudinal study of the retention of program participants. Approximately three hundred secondary science teachers will be tracked each year of the CSP project.  Survey responses and retention of the research cohort will be compared with a national group of secondary science teachers drawn from the National Center for Educational Statistic’s 2003-04 and 2004-05 Schools and Staffing Survey.
2. Comparative case studies of the impact of professional learning communities on retention within schools targeted by three local CSP projects.

A better understanding of the professional experiences of participating teachers will (a) contribute to the larger body of knowledge about teachers’ careers, (b) enrich the limited knowledge base about professional learning communities and teacher development programs, (c) assist statewide efforts to support teacher development to increase retention, (d) help answer additional research questions about the relationships between professional learning communities, professional development, and retention, and (e) inform dialogue around policy approaches to teacher professional development and teacher retention for high-poverty schools.