This paper evaluates the learning impact of different teacher training methods using a randomized controlled trial implemented in 70 state schools in Buenos Aires, Argentina. A control group receiving standard teacher training was compared with two alternative treatment arms: providing a structured curriculum unit or receiving both the unit and weekly coaching. Following a 12-week intervention, there are substantial learning gains for students whose teachers were trained using structured curriculum units, as well as for those whose teachers received coaching (between 55 percent and 64 percent of a standard deviation more than those students in the control group). Coaching teachers does not appear to be cost-effective, as the unit cost per 0.1 standard deviation is more than twice the cost of using only the structured curriculum unit. However, additional coaching is particularly beneficial for inexperienced teachers with less than two years of teaching science. Coaching teachers also showed specific gains for girls, who both learned and declared to enjoy science lessons more. High-performing students especially benefited from both interventions, with students from coached teachers performing particularly well in harder questions. Using structured curriculum units and providing coaching also affected teacher perceptions: teachers expressed that they enjoyed teaching science more and taught more hours of science, and that their students developed more skills. Results from a follow-up survey suggest persistent change in teacher practice, with the vast majority reporting using the structured curriculum unit one year after the intervention.

PurposeThe study aimed to understand the effect of instructional coaching on teachers' implementation of a science teaching improvement programme and whether it varies in schools of different socioeconomic statuses.Design/methodology/approachThe authors conducted an experimental study. A total of 59 seventh-grade classrooms from a representative sample of public schools from the city of Buenos Aires, Argentina, were provided with research-based science educative curriculum materials (ECM) as resources to improve their teaching. A randomly selected treatment group received additional instructional coaching. Coaches met one-on-one with teachers on a weekly basis, providing pedagogical support to enact the ECM. After a 12-week intervention, the authors analyzed science teaching practices as evidenced in students' notebooks. The authors used a fidelity framework to understand the programme's implementation (with and without coaching), considering its adherence, dosage and quality, and compared how it varied across schools.FindingsWhile teachers in both groups used the ECM in their science lessons (i.e. with high adherence), instructional coaching almost tripled science teaching time (i.e. the dosage) but did not increase the quality of implementation (i.e. the percentage of inquiry-based science activities taught). In low socioeconomic status schools, the effect of coaching on dosage was even more intense.Originality/valueThis study provides robust evidence on the impact of instructional coaching on teaching improvement programmes in science in developing countries, an under researched topic. The findings may contribute to developing targeted coaching interventions considering their effectiveness in different school contexts.

: 81-103 Investigaciones didácticas https://doi.org/10.5565/rev/ensciencias.2519 ISSN (impreso): 0212-4521 / ISSN (digital): Furman, M., Luzuriaga, M., Taylor, I., Anauati, M. V., & Podestá M. E. (2018). Abriendo la «caja negra» del aula de ciencias: un estudio sobre la relación entre las prácticas de enseñanza sobre el cuerpo humano y las capacidades de pensamiento que se promueven en los alumnos de séptimo grado. Enseñanza de las ciencias, 36(2), 81-103.Abriendo la «caja negra» del aula de ciencias: un estudio sobre la relación entre las prácticas de enseñanza sobre el cuerpo humano y las capacidades de pensamiento que se promueven en los alumnos de séptimo grado Opening the «black box» of the science classroom: a study on the relationship between teaching practices on the topic of the Human Body and the thinking skills promoted in 7th grade students RESUMEN • Comprender los bajos desempeños de los alumnos argentinos en las evaluaciones de ciencias implica abrir la «caja negra» del aula para analizar las prácticas de enseñanza. Se realizó un estudio cuanti-cualitativo en una muestra representativa de 36 cursos de séptimo grado (alumnos de entre 12 y 13 años) de 19 escuelas estatales de la ciudad de Buenos Aires. Se analizó el tiempo dedicado al área y los tipos de actividades propuestas por los docentes a partir de los cuadernos de clase de los alumnos y se evaluó a todos los estudiantes (574). Observamos que en promedio se dictan 1,75 horas de clase semanales de ciencias, frente a las 4 estipuladas, y que el 81 % de las actividades promueven capacidades de pensamiento de orden inferior. Más tiempo de enseñanza y de actividades de orden superior correlacionan positivamente con el rendimiento de los alumnos en la prueba (r = 0,66 p < 0,05 y r = 0,5 p < 0,05, respectivamente).PALABRAS CLAVE: enseñanza de las ciencias; escuela primaria; pensamiento de orden superior; prácticas de enseñanza. ABSTRACT • Explaining low student achievement in Science requires opening the «black box» of the classroom to understand teaching practices. This mixed methods study on science teaching was conducted in a representative sample of 36 7th grade classes (students between 12 and 13 years old) from 19 state schools in the City of Buenos Aires, Argentina. All students (n = 574) were evaluated to understand the relationship between teaching practices and learning outcomes. Using student workbooks, we found that teachers taught an average of 1.75 hours of science lessons per week, versus the 4 hours specified by local guidelines, and that 81% of teaching activities promote lower order thinking skills (such as recalling and reproducing facts). This is worrying as increasing teaching time and higher order activities correlate positively with student learning outcomes (r = 0.66 p < 0.05 and r = 0.5 p < 0.05 respectively).

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