Professional Development for Changing Undergraduate Mathematics Instruction

The effect of a 15- to 24-month in-service professional development (PD) program on state accountability mathematics test scores for middle school students was examined using a quasi-experimental design. Middle level mathematics teachers (n = 128) from 7 school districts and 64 middle schools volunteered for a PD sequence of content-oriented summer courses and pedagogy-oriented structured follow-up experiences during the subsequent academic year. Student effects of the PD program were measured using Colorado's state mathematics test results for 2 cohorts of students: 1 that received mathematics instruction from participant teachers in the year prior to the PD and another cohort that received mathematics instruction in the year following the PD. The odds of a student achieving a Proficient or Advanced score on the state test were then compared between cohorts. Results showed that students' odds of achieving a score of Proficient or better increased with teacher participation in the PD program.

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Supporting Teacher Learning: Improving Mathematics Instruction through Classroom-Based Inquiry

Teaching Children Mathematics ◽

10.5951/tcm.14.3.0182 ◽

2007 ◽

Vol 14 (3) ◽

pp. 182-186

Author(s):

Caroline Brayer Ebby ◽

Maria Palaitis Ottinger ◽

Penny Silver

Keyword(s):

Professional Development ◽

Student Learning ◽

Teacher Learning ◽

Teacher Professional Development ◽

Mathematics Instruction ◽

Learning To Teach ◽

Mathematical Content ◽

Beliefs And Practice ◽

Teacher Professional ◽

Teacher's Knowledge

Research has shown that learning to teach mathematics for understanding is not simply a matter of learning new pedagogical techniques but rather requires substantial changes in a teacher's knowledge, beliefs, and practice (Putnam and Borko 2000). Preparing teachers to implement reform-oriented curricula requires positioning them as learners and inquirers of mathematical content, student learning, and instructional practice. Ball (1996) asserts that teacher professional development must embrace the uncertainty of practice and reflect a “stance of critique and inquiry—a stance of asking and debating, a discourse of conjecture and deliberation” (p. 506).

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Noticing Children's Participation: Insights Into Teacher Positionality Toward Equitable Mathematics Pedagogy

Journal for Research in Mathematics Education ◽

10.5951/jresematheduc.45.3.0312 ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 45 (3) ◽

pp. 312-350 ◽

Cited By ~ 26

Author(s):

Anita A. Wager

Keyword(s):

Professional Development ◽

Mathematics Instruction ◽

Elementary Mathematics ◽

Mathematics Pedagogy ◽

Mathematics Classrooms ◽

Mathematics Educators ◽

Children’S Participation ◽

Children's Participation ◽

Development Course

This article describes how teachers in a professional development course responded to what they noticed about children's participation in elementary mathematics classrooms and how what they noticed was connected to the teachers' positionality toward equitable mathematics pedagogy. Findings suggest that a lens of participation supported teachers as they considered how to provide more equitable mathematics instruction. Further, the depth to which teachers noticed children's participation was connected to their positionality as equitable mathematics educators.

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