Drew Polly

Examining How Learner-Centered Professional Development Influences Teachers’ Espoused and Enacted Practices

ABSTRACT Prior professional development studies have identified discrepancies between what teachers’ report (espoused practices) and demonstrate (enacted practices) during classroom teaching. This has proven particularly evident in studies examining classroom implementation of standards-based practices such as learner-centered instruction. The authors examined the enacted and espoused practices of 2 elementary school teachers during a yearlong professional development project focusing on supporting implementation of learner-centered pedagogies in their classrooms. The convergence of video analysis of classroom teaching evidence and teacher interviews confirm little alignment between participants’ espoused and enacted practices. However, enacted teaching practices became increasingly consistent with learner-centered professional development practices when adopting a project activity or coplanning the lesson with an experienced professional developer. Implications for the design and research of learner-centered professional development are provided.

Factors and Interactions Influencing Technology Integration during Situated Professional Development in an Elementary School

This study examined factors that influence K–5 teachers’ technology integration efforts during a semester-long Collaborative Apprenticeship. Results suggest that shared planning time, shared curriculum, connection to an individual, expertise, physical proximity, and comfort level influenced interactions across the community of practice. Posing and responding to task-based questions, giving and seeking advice, and sharing ideas composed more than 70% of interactions between teachers. However, the nature of interactions changed as teachers assumed increased responsibility for designing technology-enhanced lessons. Teacher-leaders initially modeled exemplar applications of technology-enhanced lessons and gave advice on their classroom use. Subsequently, the community of teachers brainstormed ideas collaboratively as teacher-leaders supported peers to develop original lessons independently. Implications for collaborative apprenticeships and learning in professional environments are provided.

Developing Higher-Order Thinking Skills through WebQuests

Abstract In this study, 32 teachers participated in a year-long professional development project related to technology integration in which they designed and implemented a WebQuest. This paper describes the extent to which higher-order thinking skills (HOTS) and levels of technology implementation (LoTI) occur in the WebQuests that participants designed. WebQuests provided teachers an opportunity to integrate technology into their teaching. However, most of the tasks in the WebQuests included lower-level thinking skills and low levels on the LoTI scale. The authors also discuss implications related to the findings and ways to support teachers’ integration of technology.

Examining the Influence of a Curriculum-Based Elementary Mathematics Professional Development Program

This study presents findings from the first cohort of teachers in a U.S. Department of Education Mathematics Science Partnership (MSP) grant designed to support the use of a standards-based elementary school mathematics curriculum, Investigations in Number, Data, and Space (Investigations). In line with the goals of the MSP program, the 84-hour professional development program focused on building teachers’ knowledge of mathematics content, examining how the mathematics content is embedded into curriculum, and supporting teachers’ enactment of reform-based pedagogies. Teacher participants had a positive gain in their content knowledge, but this increase did not have any statistically significant impact on student gains in the assessment of mathematics proficiency. Results about teacher beliefs were inconclusive, as more time is needed to change teacher beliefs. Teachers who changed their practices from teacher centered to student centered found their students with statistically more gains in their performance in curriculum-based mathematics assessments. Discussions and implications of these findings were also presented.

Elementary School Teachers' Use of Technology during Mathematics Teaching.

Various educational technologies have been advanced as potential vehicles to transform teaching and learning. Still, research studies have documented that primary school teachers struggle to integrate technology in meaningful ways. This article presents the findings of a year-long study in which the author frequently observed three primary school teachers’ enactments of technology into their mathematics teaching. Each teacher was observed between 25 and 30 times during the school year. The types of technologies used as well as the types of mathematical tasks and problems that participants posed while teaching with technology were inductively analyzed. Inductive qualitative analyses indicated that participants’ technology use focused on presentation technologies such as the document camera or interactive whiteboard more than computer-based technologies or interactive activities. Further, teachers varied widely in their enacted pedagogies while integrating technology, and two participants demonstrated more frequent enactments of learner-centered pedagogies toward the end of the school year. Implications for researching teachers’ use of technology in the future are also shared.

Kindergarten Teachers’ Orientations to Teacher-Centered and Student-Centered Pedagogies and Their Influence on Their Students’ Understanding of Addition

This study examined the influence of kindergarten teachers’ orientations toward student-centered teaching and their influence on their students’ understanding of addition. The study examined 120 students across 10 classrooms. Based on an interview and two classroom observations, 10 teachers were classified as either student centered or mainly teacher centered. Twelve students in each classroom—four above grade level, four at grade level, and four below grade level—were given a task-based interview focused on their understanding of addition. Inductive analysis suggests that students in both types of classrooms could complete addition problems correctly, but students in student-centered classrooms scored better on tasks that involved writing story problems and tasks that involved missing addends. Implications for future research are also discussed.

Cases on Technology Integration in Mathematics Education

‘Cases on Technology Integration in Mathematics Education’ provides various examples of how technology can effectively be integrated into the teaching and learning process for K-12 classrooms. As America’s education system transitions to the Common Core, such integration is not only necessary, but as this book proves, such integration actually makes a positive impact on student understanding of complex mathematical ideas, allows students to model mathematical thinking, and shows how technology can be used as the powerful tool it was intended to be in the Common Core State Standards. ORGANIZATION OF THE BOOK

Common Core Mathematics Standards and Implementing Digital Technologies

Common Core Mathematics Standards and Implementing Digital Technologies provides a critical discussion of educational standards in mathematics and how communication technologies can support the implementation of common practices across state lines. Leaders in the fields of mathematics education and educational technology will find an examination of the Common Core State Standards in Mathematics through concrete examples, current research, and best practices for teaching all students regardless of grade level or regional location. This book is part of the Advances in Educational Technologies and Instructional Design series collection.

Perceptions of the roles and responsibilities of elementary school mathematics coaches

Purpose – In the USA, school districts are funding mathematics coaching positions to provide school-level support to teachers. The purpose of this paper is to survey school personnel whose job responsibilities included mathematics coaching in order to examine their job responsibilities and what they felt that their job responsibilities should be. Design/methodology/approach – In all, 67 elementary school mathematics coaches completed a survey that included 30 aspects of the job of elementary school mathematics leaders. Findings – Quantitative analyses indicated that there were statistically significant differences between their actual roles and their preferred roles on 24 of the 30 items. This means that coaches reported that the aspects of their current role did not align to what they thought their job should be. Research limitations/implications – The findings indicate a need to collect further information in a longitudinal study, potentially from a combination of surveys, interviews, and observations, ...

Examining How Professional Development Influences Elementary School Teachers’ Enacted Instructional Practices and Students’ Evidence of Mathematical Understanding

This study examined how evidence of students’ mathematical understanding was influenced by elementary schoolteachers’ enactment of instructional practices emphasized during a mathematics professional development program. Videos and field notes were collected during lessons for two teachers from the program and two matched comparison teachers. Lessons were observed when teachers espoused that their instruction aligned with the instructional practices emphasized during professional development. Inductive qualitative analyses indicated that the level of mathematical task and level of teacher direction influenced students work. More specifically, students in participants’ classrooms were more likely to utilize resources (e.g., manipulatives and technology) to create mathematical representations and were able to explain mathematical concepts more clearly than students in the comparison classrooms. Implications for future studies and the design of professional development are also shared.