Nicole B. Kersting

Teachers' analyses of classroom video predict student learning of mathematics: Further explorations of a novel measure of teacher knowledge

This study explores the relationship between teacher knowledge and student learning in the area of mathematics by developing and evaluating an innovative approach to assessing teacher knowledge. This approach is based on teachers’ analyses of classroom video clips. Teachers watched 13 video clips of classroom instruction and then provided written comments on the interactions of the teacher, students, and content. The quality of teachers’ analyses, coded using an objective rubric, are shown to be reliable and valid, relating both to another widely used measure of teacher knowledge and to teachers’ own students’ learning (from pre- to posttest).

Measuring Usable Knowledge: Teachers’ Analyses of Mathematics Classroom Videos Predict Teaching Quality and Student Learning

This study explores the relationships between teacher knowledge, teaching practice, and student learning in mathematics. It extends previous work that developed and evaluated an innovative approach to assessing teacher knowledge based on teachers’ analyses of classroom video clips. Teachers watched and commented on 13 fraction clips. These written analyses were coded using objective rubrics to yield a reliable and valid indicator of their usable teaching knowledge. Previous work showed this measure to correlate with another measure of teacher knowledge and to predict students’ learning from the teachers’ fraction instruction. In this study, the authors replicated those findings and further showed that the effect of teacher knowledge on student learning was mediated by instructional quality, measured using video observations of teachers’ lessons.

Problem Implementation as a Lever for Change: An Experimental Study of the Effects of a Professional Development Program on Students’ Mathematics Learning

Abstract This study investigates, through an experimental design, the effectiveness of a professional development program on teacher knowledge and practices and on student learning. The program consisted of a series of video-based modules designed to respond to needs of U.S. teachers, as highlighted by findings from the 1999 Third International Mathematics and Science Video Study. Sixty-four 6th-grade teachers from five low-performing inner-city schools participated in the study and were randomly assigned to treatment and control groups. Measures included fidelity of implementation, teacher knowledge and practice, and student mathematics learning. The program did not impact significantly teacher knowledge or practices as measured in the study. An effect was found on mathematics learning for students whose teachers reached a certain level of mathematics content knowledge. Discussion of findings includes lessons learned about conducting and studying professional development, particularly in low-performing schools.

Understanding and Improving Mathematics Teaching: Highlights from the TIMSS 1999 Video Study

portion of the TIMSS 1999 Video Study included Australia, the Czech Republic, Hong Kong SAR, Japan, the Netherlands, Switzerland, and the United States. In this article, we focus on the mathematics lessons; the science results will be available at a later date. Stimulated by a summary article that appeared in the Kappan and by other reports, interest in the TIMSS 1995 Video Study focused on its novel methodology and the striking differences in teaching found in the participating countries. In particular, the sample of eighth-grade Understanding and Improving Mathematics Teaching: Highlights from the TIMSS 1999 Video Study

Automated Scoring of Teachers' Open-Ended Responses to Video Prompts: Bringing the Classroom-Video-Analysis Assessment to Scale

In this study, we explored the potential for machine scoring of short written responses to the Classroom-Video-Analysis (CVA) assessment, which is designed to measure teachers’ usable mathematics teaching knowledge. We created naïve Bayes classifiers for CVA scales assessing three different topic areas and compared computer-generated scores to those assigned by trained raters. Using cross-validation techniques, average correlations between rater- and computer-generated total scores exceeded .85 for each assessment, providing some evidence for convergent validity of machine scores. These correlations remained moderate to large when we controlled for length of response. Machine scores exhibited internal consistency, which we view as a measure of reliability. Finally, correlations between machine scores and another measure of teacher knowledge were close in size to those observed for human scores, providing further evidence for the validity of machine scores. Findings from this study suggest that machine learning techniques hold promise for automating scoring of the CVA.

Teacher Math Anxiety Relates to Adolescent Students’ Math Achievement:

Elementary school teachers’ math anxiety has been found to play a role in their students’ math achievement. The current study addresses the role of teacher math anxiety on ninth-grade students’ math achievement and the mediating factors underlying this relationship. Using data from the National Mindset Study, we find that higher teacher math anxiety is associated with lower math achievement. This relationship is partially mediated by the students’ perception that their teacher believes not everyone can be good at math and is not explainable by teachers’ usable knowledge to teach mathematics. In subsequent analyses, we find that higher teacher math anxiety relates to a reduction in process-oriented (as opposed to ability-oriented) teaching practices, which in turn predict students’ perception of teacher mindset. We argue that math anxious teachers and their use of particular teaching strategies have the potential to shape students’ math achievement and their perceptions of what their teacher believes about math.