LEARNING PROGRESSIONS AS VISION TOOLS FOR ADVANCING TEACHERSʼ PEDAGOGICAL PERFORMANCE

Learning progressions were originally designed as continua of performances that students could exhibit around different dimensions of key scientific ideas. Our research group has applied these ideas to the development of a learning progression for early career educators that can be used by teachers to critique and advance their own pedagogical performance over time. Our principal claim is that the impact of learning progressions in educational settings can only be fully realized if the concept is extended from being about tools describing student performance to tools and tool systems that move teachers toward more effective and equitable instruction. This paper explores the ways in which first year teachers used a model-based inquiry learning progression as well as other tools to envision what is possible in a secondary science classroom.

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