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The Improving Practice Together Project


Stanford University Graduate School of Education seeks a post-doctoral fellow to work with Dr. Hilda Borko and Dr. Jonathan Osborne on their NSF funded collaborative project with Lawrence Hall and a local school district.  The title of the project is "A Partnership to Adapt, Implement and Study a
Practice-based Professional Learning Model and Build District Capacity to Meet the Challenges of NGSS."
Stanford University, the Lawrence Hall of Science at the University of California, Berkeley and the school district are conducting a 4-year project to study how to scale up a model for science professional learning (PL) for upper elementary (grades 3-5) classroom teachers which was the successful outcome of a previous 4-year project. The study began in the fall of 2017 and will finish in July 2021. 

In the previous project, Lawrence Hall developed a model of PL to support elementary teachers to engage their students in science-based discussions.  The primary focus of the PL model was to develop the use of discourse which supports argumentation from evidence, based on reading science texts and conducting inquiry-based science investigations. The outcome of the project showed that the approach was successful at generating a significant change in teachers' capability to support this form of discourse.  In our second project, Lawrence Hall and Stanford are working collaboratively with the local school district to adapt the PL model based on the District's objectives and constraints, and to build the capacity of a cadre of teacher leaders and a District program coordinator to implement the program independently. Concurrently, we are researching the adaptability of the PL model and the effectiveness of its implementation. The Lawrence Hall team has primary responsibility for working with the District to implement the PL model and build leadership capacity. The Stanford team has primary responsibility for collecting and analyzing video and interview data to investigate the modifications that are required for implementation by the school district, the tools that are needed to prepare and support teacher leaders to implement the PL program, and the impact of the program on classroom practices. These analyses will inform ongoing modifications to the PL model. The post-doc appointed to this project will be responsible for the day to day management of the project, supervising and organizing research assistants for the data collection, the data storage and the coding and rating of the data.  In addition, they will be expected to contribute to the publications and presentations that will result from the project.

Candidates for this post must have an earned doctoral degree in science education or another appropriate discipline prior to starting the appointment. The successful applicant will have a demonstrated ability to engage in creative scholarship/research in science education and/or teacher professional development. The responsibilities of the position include working as part of a collaborative team with faculty and graduate students at the Stanford Graduate School of Education.

Desirable attributes for this position include: strong formal background in research on science education or teacher professional development, experience in k-12 school settings, good content knowledge in K-12 science, and expertise in quantitative research methods. 

This position is open to all qualified applicants without regard to race, age, gender, religion, color, national origin, or physical disability. 

Application review will begin on April 10, 2018.  The successful candidate will be expected to start work by September 1, 2018 at the latest, preferably in June/July. Prospective applicants for the position can obtain further information from:

Dr. Hilda Borko, Graduate School of Education Stanford University, 485 Lasuen Mall, Stanford, CA 94305 650 721 1660 (message), [log in to unmask] <mailto:[log in to unmask]>

Applicants should email a letter of interest describing their qualifications and a curriculum vita to Dr. Borko.

For information about the Stanford Graduate School of Education, please visit our web site: www.stanford.edu <http://www.stanford.edu/>.