CS-condition teachers had lower content knowledge than control teachers, yet content knowledge was positively related to student achievement¶

Claim · All claims
Evidence · 1 study (2 entries) · causal r2 · q3 · i0 negligible
Currency · newest study 2017 · not yet checked against its sources · not reviewed by a person

Subclaims¶

q3 i? Teachers in the CS condition had content knowledge 0.25 standard deviations lower than control teachers (p = .04). → Desimone and Hill 2017 q3 i0 Each one standard deviation increase in content knowledge corresponds to a 0.08 standard deviation increase in student achievement (p = .001). → Desimone and Hill 2017 (2)

Evidence¶

Desimone and Hill 2017¶

Laura M. Desimone, Kirsten Lee Hill. (2017). Inside the Black Box: Examining Mediators and Moderators of a Middle School Science Intervention. Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis. https://doi.org/10.3102/0162373717697842

q3 · i? · causal · r2

SEM results: contrary to expectations, CS participation was negatively associated with teacher content knowledge (a 0.25 SD difference, p = .04; no standardized effect size printed). The article offers possible explanations including control-condition content-intensive PD or "unhappy random assignment," untestable because no content knowledge pretest was administered.

"teachers in the CS condition had levels of content knowledge that are 0.25 standard deviations lower than teachers in the control condition (p = .04)"

Desimone and Hill 2017 (2)¶

Laura M. Desimone, Kirsten Lee Hill. (2017). Inside the Black Box: Examining Mediators and Moderators of a Middle School Science Intervention. Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis. https://doi.org/10.3102/0162373717697842

q3 · i0 · causal · r2

Same SEM analysis of 10,281 students and 124 teachers: the printed standardized coefficient of 0.08 (p = .001) is below the small-effect threshold, so impact is coded 0. Table 3 reports the indirect effect of content knowledge as −0.018*.

"content knowledge is positively related to student achievement, such that for every one standard deviation increase in content knowledge, there is a corresponding 0.08 standard deviation increase in student achievement (p = .001)"

Discussion¶

Related Claims¶

• Implementation fidelity of cognitive science principles mediates the CS intervention's effect on student achievement, with no significant direct effect remaining — related
• Classroom prior achievement moderates the treatment-implementation relationship: implementation gaps between high- and low-achieving classrooms appear only in the CS condition — related
• Several interviewed teachers reported the PD bolstered their science knowledge, contradicting the survey finding of lower content knowledge in the CS condition — related