Investigating Simulations of Teaching Practice: Assessing Readiness to Teach Elementary Mathematics

The PI argues cogently that assessment of pre-service teacher preparedness to teach is based on a flawed model. The goal then is to use a simulation model from other professional arenas: the training of doctors, nurses, etc., to offer new insights and control for the many variables that come to play when conducting evaluations in practice. These might include classroom context, the difficulty of the mathematics being deployed, etc. To do this the PI will develop three assessments that vary in the simulation scenario. In the context of developing and validating these assessments, the PI will examine:

1. What do we learn about the nature of pre-service teachers skills at eliciting and interpreting students thinking and their mathematical knowledge for teaching (MKT) in use through assessments that simulate teaching practice? How does their performance correspond with eliciting and interpreting students mathematical thinking in classroom contexts?

2. How does the nature of pre-service teachers skills at eliciting and interpreting students thinking and mathematical knowledge vary in relation to different simulation scenarios? Are some simulation scenarios easier than other simulation scenarios?

3. What are the challenges of designing alternative versions of a particular simulation assessment?