[NMScience] an opportunity

[Jerry Cross]

I received this info, but am no longer interested in participating.  Any other mid school science teachers want to sign up for this study?

Jerry Cross   McKinley Middle School

As you may recall, a while back you indicated an interest in learning about future studies conducted by Horizon Research, Inc. (HRI).  HRI is developing measures of teachers' and students' understanding of plate tectonics and force and motion.  

We are recruiting 400 middle school science teachers willing to complete a multiple-choice teacher assessment and administer our multiple-choice student assessment to one of their classes between January 2009 and the end of the current school year during a unit on plate tectonics or a unit on force and motion.  In addition, teachers will be asked to complete short, web-based logs of their instruction each day of the unit and may be randomly selected to take part in a telephone interview after the unit has ended. Students must be in 6th through 8th grade, and plate tectonics or force and motion must be part of the curriculum students are expected to study.  Teachers choosing to participate in the study will still plan their own instruction; the study will not provide instructional materials.

As an incentive, each participating teacher will receive a $200 honorarium.  The honorarium is conditional upon the participant's fulfillment of the obligations described in the registration (linked below).  The incentives cannot be pro-rated for partial participation.  In addition, HRI would like to observe a limited number of teachers for two class periods during the unit of instruction.  Teachers who volunteer for this additional activity will be accepted on a first-come, first-served basis and will receive an extra $100 for being observed.  We plan to observe a total of 20 teachers.

It is important for you to know that it is your responsibility to obtain permission from the appropriate school and/or district personnel for your students to participate in this study. 

If you are willing to participate, or would like to learn more about the study, please go to the following web site: 

https://secure.horizon-research.com/atlast/civ_study/

Please be assured that this study is not designed to evaluate teachers or students.  Individual student and teacher data will remain strictly confidential.  We are studying the validity of the teacher and student assessments and the relationships among teacher content knowledge, instruction, and student learning. 

If you have any questions, please contact Annick Le Goff at atlast_study at horizon-research.com or by calling toll-free (877)-297-6829.  Participation in this study is limited and registrations will be accepted on a first-come, first-served basis.

Thank you for your consideration.

Sincerely,
Annick Le Goff
Research Associate

PS:  Please feel free to forward this e-mail to others who you know that may be interested in participating in this study.

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You received this email because you indicated your interest in participating in future studies conducted by Horizon Research, Inc.  To be removed from this announcement list, send an email to studies-unsubscribe at lists.horizon-research.com.

To learn more about Horizon Research, Inc. visit out website at http://www.horizon-research.com.
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