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Current Projects

Bay College
(2010-2013)
Client: Bay College
Funder: U.S. Department of Education Title III program
External evaluation of a 5-year project designed to strengthen Student Success in Math and Science at Bay College in Escanaba, Michigan. The project has two goals: 1) to increase student success in passing math and science courses and 2) to increase persistence and retention of students taking math and science courses.
CPACE II: Implementing Constituency-driven Curricular Change that Integrates Computational Thinking Across Engineering Disciplines
(2009-2012)
Client: Michigan State University Department of Engineering, Lansing Community College
Funder: National Science Foundation

External evaluation of CPATH (CISE Pathways to Revitalized UndergraduateComputing Education) grant. Michigan State University has partnered with Lansing Community College to implement new models for undergraduate computing education with focus on Computational Thinking in the engineering disciplines.
Expedition Earth and Beyond
(2008-2012)
Client: Johnson Space Center/NASA
Funder: NASA

External evaluation of materials development and dissemination project to engage middle school students in scientific research using data from earth and other solar system images.
Greater Proficiency in Mathematics (GPM)
(2012-2013)
Client: Dickinson-Iron Intermediate School District
Funder: U.S. Department of Education/MSP

SAMPI is the external evaluator for this professional learning program for elementary and middle grade educators to support a deeper understanding of mathematical concepts. The program supports educators from 57 school districts throughout Michigan's Upper Peninsula through a three-tier program of professional development during the 2011-12 and 2012-13 school years.
Informal Pathways to Engineering
(2011-2014)
Client: WGBH Boston
Funder: National Science Foundation

SAMPI is the external evaluator for an engineering education research project seeking to investigate the effect of informal, out-of-school learning activities on students' decisions to attend engineering degree programs. The study builds on the success of the "Design Squad" TV series and a website (http://pbskids.org/designsquad/) that engages many middle-school aged youth. The study uses survey methods as well as interviews to collect data which will be analyzed using social cognitive career theory.
Integrated Career and Educational Pathways in Building Science
(2011-2013)
Client: Lansing Community College
Funder: National Science Foundation

SAMPI is a subcontracted external evaluator for a project funded by the National Science Foundation. The project involves a collaboration between Lansing Community College and its academic and industry partners to create an integrated grades 9-16 academic-career pathways model to give students the technical and workforce skills needed to become leaders in Michigan's growing green building industry.
KBS GK-12: Using the STEM Dimensions of Bioenergy Sustainability to Bring Leading-Edge Graduate Research to K-12 Learning Settings
(2010-2014)
Client: Michigan State University and Kellogg Biological Station
Funder: National Science Foundation
External evaluation of a project that partners Michigan State University graduate students with K-12 science teachers. The goals of the program include: 1) supporting and enhancing the training of a diverse group of graduate students through a program of activities, 2) enriching the professional development of K-12 teacher partners, and 3) helping K-12 students in a variety of ways, including by giving them the opportunity to work with young practicing scientists who differ from conventional stereotypes.
Measuring Inquiry Project
(2005-2012)
Client: Mallinson Institute for Science Education
Funder: National Science Foundation
SAMPI is the evaluator for this project, which involves developing an assessment tool for testing undergraduate pre-service elementary teachers' pedagogical knowledge of inquiry science teaching.
Michigan Mathematics and Science Centers Network
(1992 through present)
Client: MI Math and Science Centers Network
Funder: State of Michigan
Work with network of 33 centers includes facilitating Department of Education and Legislative requirements, sustaining data collection/information systems, and technical assistance to individual centers.
- M/S Center Forms
- M/S Center Data Deadlines
- M/S Centers Network website: http://www.mimathandscience.org
MSU CCLI Phase II - Collaborative Research: Automated Analysis of Constructed Response Concept Inventories to Reveal Student Thinking: Forging a National Network for Innovative Assessment Methods
(2010-2012)
Client: MSU, OSU, CUBoulder
Funder: National Science Foundation
SAMPI is a co-PI on this project. This project is a collaboration among science education researchers at Michigan State University (MSU), The Ohio State University (OSU) and University of Colorado at Boulder (CUBoulder). The overall goal of this project is to develop constructed response (written answer) versions of established conceptual assessment inventories and to create computer automated lexical analysis resources customized for the assessments.
MTU GK-12: Global Watershed
(2010-2014)
Client: Michigan Technological University
Funder: National Science Foundation
External evaluation of a project that partners Michigan Technological University graduate students with K-12 science teachers. The goals of the program include: 1) expanding traditional STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Math) graduate student training to allow graduate students to acquire improved teaching and communication skills, and 2) enriching STEM learning and instruction in local K-12 schools serving low-income and high Native American populations, specifically by translating state-of-the-art watershed research to the K-12 level.
Project WET Activity Field Test and Review
(2009-2012)
Client: Project WET Foundation
Funder: Project WET Foundation
SAMPI is conducting a national field test of new water-related activities in the Project WET Curriculum and Activity Guide.
SAM³ - Science and Mathematics Misconception Management
(2011-2014)
Client: Wayne RESA
Funder: State of Michigan
Science and Mathematics Misconception Management, or SAM³, is a statewide collaborative effort between the Michigan Mathematics and Science Center Network and the Michigan Department of Education to provide middle and high school science and mathematics teachers with professional development opportunities. The goals are to increase teacher content and pedagogy knowledge, as well as teacher awareness of student misconceptions in science and mathematics. SAMPI is acting as the external evaluator of this four-year project. As such, SAMPI is working in conjunction with all 33 Mathematics and Science Centers in Michigan to determine the impact of the program on participating teachers and their students; identify effective implementation strategies and contextual factors; provide evaluation information to improve programming; and determine strengths and limitations of the current project. SAMPI is collecting both formative and summative evaluation data, including longitudinal data on selected schools designated as persistently low achieving.
S-STEM - Improving the S-STEM Workforce by Improving Community College Teachers of Science
(2010-2013)
Client: Mallinson Institute for Science Education
Funder: National Science Foundation
SAMPI is performing process evaluation of the program, which is designed to support scholarships for academically talented, financially needy students, enabling them to enter the workforce following completion of an associate, baccalaureate, or graduate level-degree in science and engineering disciplines.
Title IIA - Improving Teacher Quality Competitive Grants Program
Statewide Cross-site Evaluation
(2004-2013)
Client: Michigan Department of Education Office of Professional Services
Funder: Michigan Department of Education

Statewide cross-site evaluation of cadres of professional development projects funded through the Michigan Department of Education Title IIA(3) Improving Teacher Quality Competitive Grants Program. SAMPI gathers data across sites, provides evaluation technical assistance to projects, and compiles findings for reporting to MDE and other stakeholders.
Title IIA - Lesson Observation Training
(2004-2013)
Client: Michigan Department of Education Office of Professional Services
Funder: Michigan Department of Education

Training to use the SAMPI Lesson Observation protocol.
Western Michigan University’s ExpeRTS (Experiencing Research for Teaching Science)
(2010-2016)
Client: WMU
Funder: Howard Hughes Medical Institutes' Precollege and Undergraduate Science Education Program
Process evaluation of the ExpeRTS program, which has the goal of having pre-service teachers work in faculty laboratories during one summer, and then enroll in a science education course designed to help them learn how to translate science into practical experiences for their future students. The project hopes to develop a generation of middle and high school teachers who will be inspired to use research-based active teaching approaches in their classroom.
The W.K. Kellogg Foundation's Woodrow Wilson Michigan Teaching Fellowships at Western Michigan University
(2011-2017)
Client: WMU
Funder: Woodrow Wilson Foundation
SAMPI Is the internal evaluator for this fellowship program, which is aimed at people with bachelor's degrees in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics who want to be part of a national effort to reform the way math and science are taught in the United States. At WMU, the program will be a strong field-based effort focused on preparing teachers for work in urban settings. The University has partnered with two large school districts - Benton Harbor Area Schools and Kalamazoo Public Schools - to ensure fellows have a wealth of experience in the classroom. WMU's fellowship program will lead to initial certification in mathematics, chemistry and physics. Certification will be earned in the first year of the fellowship program, and the program will ultimately lead to a master's degree.

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