0

Eric.ed.gov – Recruiting, Preparing, and Retaining High Quality Secondary Mathematics and Science Teachers for Urban Schools: The Cal Teach Experimental Program

eric.ed.gov har udgivet: Recruiting, preparing, and retaining high quality secondary mathematics and science teachers are three of the most critical problems in the nation’s urban schools that serve a vast majority of children from socially and economically disadvantaged backgrounds. Although the factors contributing to these problems are complex, one area that has caught the attention of leaders of the teacher education community centers are the alternative pathways (or routes) through which teachers are trained and allowed into the profession. Many of these alternative pathways, teacher educators argue, aim to move teachers into teaching on a fast track and thereby short-change the necessary training that candidates need to have to become adequately prepared as classroom teachers. This article looks at the arguments on both sides: proponents and critics of traditional and… Continue Reading

0

Eric.ed.gov – Why University Teacher Preparation Programs Should Provide a New Set of Personal Constructions of Mathematics through Math Content Courses for Elementary Teachers

eric.ed.gov har udgivet: Teacher preparation programs are in danger of seriously under-preparing elementary teachers to teach mathematics for understanding if they wait to provide students with evidence of effective mathematics teaching methods in the mathematics methods courses. With strong traditional beliefs about how mathematics ought to be taught and their determination to be able to explain mathematics to elementary children, the methods course is much too late to change preservice teachers’ perceptions of mathematics or how to teach it. If we want to change the way they teach mathematics, we must do it in their mathematics content courses. In the content courses, we have a chance to provide them with positive and successful personal mathematics constructions. Only when they learn to become active problem-solvers, can they teach others the importance… Continue Reading

0

Eric.ed.gov – Using Writing to Encourage PSMTS’ Reflections on Ambiguity in Mathematical Language

eric.ed.gov har udgivet: Literature suggests that the mathematical language of teachers impacts a student’s understanding of math concepts. When teachers unintentionally use ambiguous language, students’ understanding of a subject can be negatively affected. We share background on specific instances in which teachers can create confusion with the language they use, and we investigate both pre-service teachers’ and college algebra students’ concepts of three common terms in mathematics: Solve, Evaluate, and Simplify by asking both groups to unpack their understanding of these terms through a writing prompt. We compare the language used by both groups in their definitions. Preservice teachers’ reflections on their experience with the writing prompt are also examined to identify ways that such a task can help them identify gaps in their own understanding and in their thinking… Continue Reading

0

Eric.ed.gov – Broadening Perspectives on Mathematics Thinking and Learning. Proceedings of the Annual Meeting of the North American Chapter of the International Group for the Psychology of Mathematics Education (35th, Chicago, Illinois, November 14-17, 2013)

eric.ed.gov har udgivet: These Proceedings are a written record of the research presented at the 35th Annual Meeting of the North American Chapter of the International Group for the Psychology of Mathematics Education (PME-NA 2013) held in Chicago, Illinois, November 14-17, 2013. The theme of the conference is Broadening Perspectives on Mathematics Thinking and Learning. The Proceedings include papers from 1 plenary talk, 2 panel presentations, 68 research reports, 121 brief research reports, 208 posters, and 14 working groups. Chapters include:(1) Plenary Papers; (2) Curriculum and Related Factors; (3) Early Algebra, Algebra, and Number Concepts; (4) Geometry and Measurement; (5) Math Processes; (6) Statistics and Probability; (7) Student Learning and Related Factors; (8) Teacher Education and Knowledge; (9) Teaching and Classroom Practice; (10) Technology; (11) Theory and Research Methods; and… Continue Reading

0

Eric.ed.gov – Educator Enhancement Academies Evaluation Study: Phase 2. Teacher and Trainer Reports of NxGen Professional Development and Their Sense of Preparedness

eric.ed.gov har udgivet: As the final stage of West Virginia’s rollout of the Next Generation Content Standards and Objectives (NxGen CSOs), the regional education service agencies (RESAs) conducted six train-the-trainer events in the spring of 2013 to prepare educators–mostly teachers–to provide professional development back in their home schools and districts. These events, called Educator Enhancement Academies (EEAs), lasted two or three days depending on which RESA conducted them, and targeted teachers in grade levels that had not yet received professional development in the NxGen CSOs, that is, Grades 2-3, 6-8, and 10-12. The first phase of this study looked at how well prepared those trainers were at the end of their EEA experience by asking them about their experiences during the training and after they, themselves, conducted training sessions during… Continue Reading

0

Eric.ed.gov – Mathematical Knowledge for Teaching of Student Teachers and Its Enhancement through a Special Final Course

eric.ed.gov har udgivet: In this article we describe the results of a special final course, at the main teachers’ college in Mexico, which had two related main objectives: one was to find out the Mathematical Knowledge for Teaching (MKT) held by student teachers (ST) at the end of their instructional preparation. The other was to discern ways to improve this knowledge and to document the changes observed. In teachers’ colleges in Mexico, math contents and pedagogical ideas are taught separately, so we aimed to help student teachers to integrate these. The analysis showed that their knowledge is mainly instrumental but that through discussions and reflection about the main issues, they were able fairly quickly to attain a significant improvement in all the contents included. Moreover, they also showed changes on… Continue Reading

0

Eric.ed.gov – Artistry in Teaching: Writing Children’s Mathematics Literature Books as Teacher Education

eric.ed.gov har udgivet: Helping pre-service teachers to feel competent and courageous about the mathematics they will find themselves teaching as elementary school teachers is a critical component of any math methods course. This paper addresses this aim by highlighting a process that involves pre-service teachers in creating original mathematics literature books. This process assumes a social practice theory of learning based on a relationship among one’s own thinking, the activity, and the thinking of other interested persons (Rogers, 1974). My stance is that creating such books offers ways for pre-service teachers to gain new mathematical understandings, connect the math they will be teaching to other life situations, identify pedagogical practices that support student thinking, integrate artistry into the teaching of content, and understand more deeply the multidisciplinary nature of mathematics.… Continue Reading

0

Eric.ed.gov – Developing Empirical Benchmarks of Teacher Knowledge Effect Sizes in Studies of Professional Development Effectiveness

eric.ed.gov har udgivet: Growing interest in teaching quality and accountability has focused attention on the need for rigorous studies and evaluations of professional development (PD) programs. However, the study of PD has been hampered by a lack of suitable instruments. The authors present data from the Teacher Knowledge Assessment System (TKAS), which was designed to administer Learning Mathematics for Teaching (LMT) measures. TKAS is being widely adopted in the evaluation of PD programs with over 500 separate program administrations and 16,000 teachers representing every major region in the country. The purpose of the current study was to leverage the TKAS dataset to develop a set of empirical benchmarks of effect sizes for designing rigorous studies of teacher professional development programs. The research design consisted of two goals: (1) to investigate… Continue Reading

0

Eric.ed.gov – Preliminary Evidence on Measurement Characteristics for the Foundational Assessment of Competencies for Teaching Performance Tasks. Research Report. ETS RR-20-27

eric.ed.gov har udgivet: In this report we provide preliminary evidence on the measurement characteristics for a new type of teaching performance assessment designed to be combined with complementary assessments of teacher content knowledge. The resulting test, which we refer to as the Foundational Assessment of Competencies for Teaching (FACT), is designed for use as part of initial teacher licensure. Twenty elementary FACT performance tasks (10 for mathematics [MATH] and 10 for reading language arts [RLA]) were developed and then administered to 59 teacher candidates. The results from the pilot indicate that the performance tasks function as designed with candidates completing the tasks on average in approximately 3.5 min. Human raters were able to score the tasks quickly and accurately. All score points were well represented for all the scored tasks.… Continue Reading

0

Eric.ed.gov – Finding the Maths: Helping Students Connect Their Mathematical Knowledge to Other Contexts

eric.ed.gov har udgivet: The plethora of data that confronts teachers on a daily basis requires that they know more than simply being able to calculate. It demands that they understand the context in which the mathematical ideas are embedded and what those ideas are telling them in relation to that context. Also, it necessitates that they are prepared to question how data, and the associated claims, are presented. For primary teachers, the implication is that they must be prepared to help their students to develop these skills. The “Finding the Maths” strategy described in this article has been shown to be successful in helping students achieve this outcome. The aim of using this strategy is to encourage students to develop the three types of thinking referred to in the numeracy… Continue Reading