Middle

The Role of the Institutional Setting in Teachers’ Development of Ambitious Instruction in Middle School Mathematics
Kara Jackson, Paul Cobb, and Kristin McGraner, Vanderbilt University

Three DR-K12 projects report findings on aspects of the institutional setting of teaching that
affects teachers’ development of ambitious instructional practices in middle-school mathematics.

This chapter focuses on research that can inform the improvement of mathematics teaching and learning at scale. In educational contexts, improvement at scale refers to the process of taking an instructional innovation that has proved effective in supporting students’ learning in a small number of classrooms and reproducing that success in a large number of classrooms. We first argue that such research should view mathematics teachers’ instructional practices as situated in the institutional settings of the schools and broader administrative jurisdictions in which they work.

Research on how students make sense of and use the minus sign indicates that students struggle to understand the multiple meanings of the minus sign. Teachers can support students in developing robust understanding of each interpretation of the minus sign, and associated symbol sense, so that they can move among the meanings and can recognize and use each meaning seamlessly.

With the advent of the digital age, research on the psychological impact of youth engagement with technology has surged. New technologies have often taken the blame for promoting negative (and potentially dangerous) youth experiences, such as cyber-bullying, sexual predation, privacy invasion, addiction to videogames, and exposure to violence. For many children and adolescents, however, digital media and technology provide positive ways to express identity, communicate with peers, and engage in civic activities across communities.

With the advent of the digital age, research on the psychological impact of youth engagement with technology has surged. New technologies have often taken the blame for promoting negative (and potentially dangerous) youth experiences, such as cyber-bullying, sexual predation, privacy invasion, addiction to videogames, and exposure to violence. For many children and adolescents, however, digital media and technology provide positive ways to express identity, communicate with peers, and engage in civic activities across communities.

By synthesizing what has been learned with regard to critical dimensions of mathematics classroom teaching and learning, and investigating the ways teachers and other school personnel characterize high-quality mathematics instruction, this study defines the notion of ‘instructional vision’ and provides an initial categorization scheme.