A Study of Elements of Teacher Preparation Programs that Interact with Candidates' Characteristics to Support Novice Elementary Teachers to Enact Ambitious Mathematics Instruction

与候选人特征相互作用的教师准备计划要素的研究，以支持小学新手教师进行雄心勃勃的数学教学

• 批准号: 1535024
• 负责人: Peter Youngs
• 金额: $ 149.76万
• 依托单位: University of Virginia Main Campus
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2015
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2015-10-01 至 2020-03-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1535024&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Study; Elements; Teacher; Preparation; Programs

Preparing large numbers of elementary teachers to enact high-quality or ambitious mathematics instruction is a central policy challenge in the U.S. While several studies have tried to identify linkages between features of teacher preparation and student achievement outcomes, few large-scale studies have addressed the relationship between teacher preparation and ambitious mathematics instruction, a more proximal outcome. To meet the need for ambitious mathematics instruction, a more robust research base is needed regarding how to support beginning teachers in enacting such instruction. To that end, this NSF EHR Core Research Level II study will investigate how teacher preparation programs support elementary candidates in developing ambitious mathematics instruction and factors that are associated with how graduates of these programs enact mathematics instruction as first- and second-year teachers. Cultural-historical activity theory (CHAT) in a mixed-methods research design will be applied to examine how elementary candidates' characteristics (i.e., their teaching identity, beliefs, and knowledge with regard to teaching mathematics) interact with their opportunities to learn (OTL) in mathematics methods courses and student teaching experiences to influence their enactment of ambitious mathematics instruction as first- and second-year teachers. The study will also explore how novice teachers' characteristics interact with resources and expectations in their schools to influence their mathematics instruction as teachers of record. The study results will inform the design of university-based teacher preparation programs, including the selection of elementary candidates with particular characteristics, the content of mathematics methods courses, and desirable characteristics of student teaching assignments. This work is supported by the EHR Core Research (ECR) program. The ECR program emphasizes fundamental STEM education research that generates foundational knowledge in the field. Investments are made in critical areas that are essential, broad and enduring: STEM learning and STEM learning environments, broadening participation in STEM, and STEM workforce development. The program supports the accumulation of robust evidence to inform efforts to understand, build theory to explain, and suggest intervention and innovations to address persistent challenges in STEM interest, education, learning and participation.This study will feature surveys of 150 elementary candidates from a purposively sampled set of six teacher preparation programs in three states during their final year of preparation and their first two years of teaching. The Mathematics Scan (M-Scan) classroom observation instrument will be used to observe these graduates multiple times as they teach mathematics as first- and second-year teachers. M-Scan measures ambitious mathematics instruction by assessing teachers' use of mathematical tasks, discourse, representations, and coherence. In addition, this study will feature interviews with elementary preparation program directors and mathematics methods instructors at each university; and it will feature surveys of teacher educators, practicing teachers, mathematics instructional coaches, and principals who work with the novice teacher study participants. The study's primary outcome is to measure novices' enactment of ambitious mathematics instruction by using the four M-Scan constructs: mathematical tasks, discourse, representations, and coherence. Each construct represents its own dependent variable. Multiple regression will be used to study the main outcome as a function of several independent variables (including individual teacher characteristics, OTL in mathematics methods courses and student teaching, and resources and expectations in novice teachers' schools) and interactions among these variables. All models will include a vector of controls for teacher attributes (e.g., the teacher's ACT/SAT score, selectivity of undergraduate institution, undergraduate grade point average) and school attributes (e.g., student race/ethnicity, student eligibility for free/reduced lunch, school size, urbanicity, curriculum policy, professional development offerings). This project will contribute to building the knowledge base for designing high-quality teacher preparation and induction programs that support elementary candidates and novice teachers with a range of background experiences, beliefs, and knowledge. This includes understanding factors that inhibit or promote the development of ambitious mathematics instruction to ensure that new elementary teachers are able to provide all students with instruction that supports their deep conceptual understanding of mathematical content.

在美国准备大量的小学教师来制定高质量或雄心勃勃的数学教学是一项核心政策挑战，而几项研究试图确定教师准备和学生成就成果的特征之间的联系，很少有大规模的研究解决教师准备与雄心勃勃的数学指导之间的关系，这是一个更大的近端成果。 为了满足对雄心勃勃的数学指导的需求，关于如何支持初学者制定这种教学，需要一个更强大的研究基础。为此，这项NSF EHR核心研究级研究将调查教师准备计划如何支持基本候选人，以发展雄心勃勃的数学教学和与这些计划的毕业生如何作为一年级和二年级教师颁布数学教学的因素。 Cultural-historical activity theory (CHAT) in a mixed-methods research design will be applied to examine how elementary candidates' characteristics (i.e., their teaching identity, beliefs, and knowledge with regard to teaching mathematics) interact with their opportunities to learn (OTL) in mathematics methods courses and student teaching experiences to influence their enactment of ambitious mathematics instruction as first- and second-year teachers. 该研究还将探讨新手教师的特征如何与学校中的资源和期望相互作用，以影响其数学教学作为记录的教师。 该研究结果将为基于大学的教师准备计划的设计提供信息，包括选择具有特定特征的基本候选人，数学方法课程的内容以及学生教学任务的理想特征。这项工作得到了EHR核心研究（ECR）计划的支持。 ECR计划强调了基本的STEM教育研究，该研究在该领域产生了基础知识。 投资是在重要，广泛和持久的关键领域进行的：STEM学习和STEM学习环境，扩大参与STEM以及STEM劳动力的发展。 该计划支持积累可靠的证据，以告知努力，以理解，建立理论来解释，并提出干预和创新，以应对STEM的兴趣，教育，学习和参与方面的持续挑战。这项研究将从有目的地采样的六个教师准备计划中的150个基本候选人进行调查，并在六个州的六个州准备工作中，在他们的最终准备工作和他们的第一年教学中。 数学扫描（M-SCAN）课堂观察工具将在教学数学为一年级和二年级教师时多次观察这些毕业生。 M-Scan通过评估教师对数学任务，话语，表示和连贯性的使用来衡量雄心勃勃的数学指导。 此外，这项研究还将针对每所大学的基本准备计划主管和数学方法的讲师进行访谈；它将进行教师教育者，执业教师，数学教学教练以及与新手教师学习参与者合作的校长的调查。 该研究的主要结果是通过使用四个M扫描构造：数学任务，话语，表示和连贯性来衡量新手对雄心勃勃的数学指导的颁布。 每个构造代表其自己的因变量。 多元回归将用于研究主要结果，这是几个独立变量的函数（包括个人教师特征，数学方法课程中的OTL，学生教学中的OTL，以及新手教师学校中的资源和期望）以及这些变量之间的互动。 所有模型都将包括教师属性控件的向量（例如，教师的行为/SAT分数，本科机构的选择性，平均本科坡度的选择性）和学校属性（例如，学生种族/种族，学生竞赛，学生资格，有资格/减少/减少的自由/减少学校的午餐，学校规模，城市规模，课程政策，专业发展提供报价）。 该项目将有助于建立知识库，以设计高质量的教师准备和归纳计划，以支持具有一系列背景经验，信念和知识的基本候选人和新手老师。这包括了解抑制或促进雄心勃勃的数学教学发展的因素，以确保新的小学教师能够为所有学生提供支持他们对数学内容的深刻概念理解的教学。