Designing for scale: The landscape of science education curriculum design efforts in the United States

Understanding how to design curriculum materials for large scale implementation is central to the work of curriculum designers. However, little empirical evidence exists about what makes design successful at scale. We are exploring what project characteristics are associated with scaling success across 231 Federally-funded K-12 science curriculum design efforts in the United States between 2001 and 2010. Analysis follows a three-step procedure. First, based on abstract screening from Federal funding databases, relevant projects and their general characteristics are identified in order to map curriculum design efforts. Second, a large subset of projects are sampled to code for a) scale outcomes in terms of spread, sustainability, depth and shift in ownership (Coburn, 2003) as well as learner outcomes, and b) key structural characteristics that might be associated with scale. Third, statistical analyses examine predictive relationships. In this poster, we present results from the first step (a review of the overall funded portfolio and changes over time), and the approach that we are taking in the second step (e.g., how to conceptualize scale and evidence for scale in design projects).