Elementary

Simulations as a Tool for Practicing Questioning

In this chapter we discuss some of the affordances and constraints of using online teaching simulations to support reflection on specific pedagogical actions. We share data from a research project in which we implemented multiple iterations of a set of simulated teaching experiences in an elementary mathematics methods course. In each experience, preservice teachers contrasted the consequences of different pedagogical choices in response to a particular example of student thinking.

Author/Presenter

Corey Webel

Kimberly Conner

Wenmin Zhao

Lead Organization(s)
Year
2018
Short Description

Authors discuss some of the affordances and constraints of using online teaching simulations to support reflection on specific pedagogical actions.

Scaling up innovative learning in mathematics: exploring the effect of different professional development approaches on teacher knowledge, beliefs, and instructional practice

Professional learning experiences (PLEs) provide teachers with opportunities to improve their understanding of mathematics content and teaching practices. However, PLEs are often conducted in person and in small groups—hence costly and localized. The purpose of the current study was to explore different ways for teachers to engage in PLEs and how these approaches might enable the field to scale up these efforts in a sustainable manner.

Author/Presenter

Daniel J. Heck

Courtney L. Plumley

Despina A. Stylianou

Adrienne A. Smith

Gwendolyn Moffett

Year
2019
Short Description

The purpose of the current study was to explore different ways for teachers to engage in Professional learning experiences (PLEs) and how these approaches might enable the field to scale up these efforts in a sustainable manner.

Patterns Linking Interpreting and Deciding How to Respond During the Launch of a Lesson: Noticing from an Integrated Perspective

Researchers have generated a powerful framework that identifies three aspects of noticing students’ mathematical thinking: attending to, interpreting, and deciding how to respond to student thinking. Previous research has tended to focus on evaluating how well teachers engaged in noticing, and how well they connected the different aspects of noticing. We describe a complementary way of studying the connections between different aspects of noticing, one that stresses the content of teachers noticing.

Author/Presenter

Rob Wieman

Corey Webel

Year
2019
Short Description

Authors describe a complementary way of studying the connections between different aspects of noticing, one that stresses the content of teachers noticing. They report on a study in which participants were shown depictions of students reacting to the launch of a complex task. Participants then chose among a variety of possible interpretations and teacher responses.

Instruments to Measure Elementary Student Mindsets about Smartness and Failure in General and with respect to Engineering

The aim of this study was to assess evidence for the validity of General Mindset (GM) and Engineering Mindset (EM) surveys that we developed for fifth-grade students (ages 10-11). In both surveys, we used six items to measure student mindset to determine if it was more fixed (presuming intelligence is fixed and failure is a sign that one is not smart enough) or more growth-minded (presuming one can become smarter and that failures are signals to improve) (Dweck, 1986).

Author/Presenter

Pamela S. Lottero-Perdue

Cathy P. Lachapelle

Lead Organization(s)
Year
2019
Short Description

The aim of this study was to assess evidence for the validity of General Mindset (GM) and Engineering Mindset (EM) surveys that we developed for fifth-grade students (ages 10-11).

Aligning Test Scoring Procedures with Test Uses: A Balancing Act

Test scoring procedures should align with the intended uses and interpretations of test results. In this paper, we examine three test scoring procedures for an operational assessment of early numeracy, the Early Grade Mathematics Assessment (EGMA). Current test specifications call for subscores to be reported for each of the eight subtests on the EGMA. This test scoring procedures has been criticized as being difficult for stakeholders to use and interpret, thereby impacting the overall usefulness of the EGMA for informing decisions.

Author/Presenter

Leanne Ketterlin Geller

Lindsey Perry

Linda Platas

Yasmin Sitabkhana

Year
2018
Short Description

Test scoring procedures should align with the intended uses and interpretations of test results. In this paper, we examine three test scoring procedures for an operational assessment of early numeracy, the Early Grade Mathematics Assessment (EGMA). Current test specifications call for subscores to be reported for each of the eight subtests on the EGMA. This test scoring procedures has been criticized as being difficult for stakeholders to use and interpret, thereby impacting the overall usefulness of the EGMA for informing decisions. We examine the psychometric properties including the reliability and distinctiveness of the results and usefulness of reporting test scores as (1) total scores, (2) subscores, and (3) composite scores. These test scoring procedures are compared using data from an actual administration of the EGMA. Conclusions and recommendations for test scoring procedures are made. Generalizations to other testing programs are proposed.

The Impacts of a Research-Based Model for Mentoring Elementary Preservice Teachers in Science

This article focuses on the impacts of a program designed to prepare elementary classroom teachers to mentor preservice teachers for effective science instruction. The mentor preparation program was grounded in research on effective science instruction and learning-focused mentoring.

Author/Presenter

Matthew Miller

Daniel Hanley

Joseph Brobst

Year
2019
Short Description

This article focuses on the impacts of a program designed to prepare elementary classroom teachers to mentor preservice teachers for effective science instruction.

Mentoring the Mentors: Hybridizing Professional Development to Support Cooperating Teachers’ Mentoring Practice in Science

This article describes key features of a hybrid professional development (PD) program that was designed to prepare elementary classroom teachers to mentor preservice teachers for effective science instruction. Five classroom teachers who were new to our mentor training participated in the study to document the impacts of the PD sequence. The PD combined an in-person immersion into the components of effective science instruction with online modules centered on learner-supportive mentoring practices.

Author/Presenter

Josie Melton

Matthew Miller

Joseph Brobst

Year
2019
Short Description

This article describes key features of a hybrid professional development (PD) program that was designed to prepare elementary classroom teachers to mentor preservice teachers for effective science instruction.

What Can We Learn from Correct Answers?

Dig deeper into classroom artifacts using research-based learning progressions to enhance your analysis and response to student work, even when most students solve a problem correctly.

Ebby, C. B., Hulbert, E. T., and Fletcher, N. (2019). What can we learn from correct answers? Teaching Children Mathematics, 25(6), 346-353.

Author/Presenter

Caroline B. Ebby

Elizabeth T. Hulbert

Nicole Fletcher

Lead Organization(s)
Year
2019
Short Description

This article describes how research-based learning progressions can be used to enhance the analysis and response to student work.

Theorizing Reciprocal Noticing with Non-dominant Students in Mathematics

In this paper, I theorize reciprocal noticing as a relational practice through which teachers and students exchange roles as knowers by reciprocating each other’s noticing as they study mathematics concepts. Findings from a unit on measuring time implemented in two classrooms with non-dominant students illustrate how teachers and students—through their reciprocal noticing—mobilize concepts back to previous understandings and forward to possible new meanings.

Author/Presenter

Higinio Dominguez

Lead Organization(s)
Year
2019
Short Description

In this paper, the author theorizes reciprocal noticing as a relational practice through which teachers and students exchange roles as knowers by reciprocating each other’s noticing as they study mathematics concepts.

Measuring Science Instructional Practice: A Survey Tool for the Age of NGSS

Ambitious efforts are taking place to implement a new vision for science education in the United States, in both Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS)-adopted states and those states creating their own, often related, standards. Inservice and pre-service teacher educators are involved in supporting teacher shifts in practice toward the new standards. With these efforts, it will be important to document shifts in science instruction toward the goals of NGSS and broader science education reform.

Author/Presenter

Kathryn N. Hayes

Christine S. Lee

Rachelle DiStefano

Dawn O’Connor

Jeffery C. Seitz

Year
2016
Short Description

This article describes the process of developing and validating a Science Instructional Practices survey instrument that is appropriate for NGSS and other related science standards.