In spring 2015, the Discovery Center for Evaluation, Research, and Professional Learning was created through the formal merger of Ohio’s Evaluation & Assessment Center for Mathematics and Science Education and The Discovery Center.
Housed at Miami University, the “new,” unified Discovery Center serves as Ohio’s only comprehensive center for research, evaluation, and professional learning in science, mathematics, technology, computer, science, and engineering education. The Center’s mission, which is to provide high-quality research, evaluation, assessment, and professional development services to improve teaching and learning and promote equity in opportunity, access, and outcomes for all learners, is accomplished through a focus on collaboration, advocacy, and strategic innovation.
The Center routinely evaluates more than 20 externally-funded initiatives, located at institutions of higher education and local education agencies across the US, and provides over 30 mathematics and science professional development experiences for more than 650 urban, suburban, and rural teachers across Ohio, annually.
The Center has extensive experience in the evaluation of systemic reform, with strength in the evaluation of P-20+ STEM education initiatives and, to date has conducted more than 165 program and project evaluations, served more than 20,000 Ohio teachers, and received more than $47 million in grants from state and federal sources. Current Center funding is more than $4.4 million and the Center is committed to project work through 2019. Primary funding agencies for Center work include the National Science Foundation, National Institutes of Health, U.S. Department of Education, Ohio Department of Higher Education (formerly the Ohio Board of Regents), and Ohio Department of Education.
To achieve their work, the Discovery Center formally collaborates with peer institutions in Ohio and nationally and taps the specific expertise of more than 30 state and national experts and affiliate faculty. The Center also strategically partners with individuals and institutions who have demonstrated the potential to make significant contributions to STEM teaching, learning, and assessment.
To learn more about the Centers’ recent merger, please check out some of our recent posts; or if you would like to contact the Center to learn more about their work and the services they offer, please email discoverycenter@MiamiOH.edu or call (513)529-1686.
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