Lesson Study Supported by Mathematical Resources: A Theoretical Framework, Randomized Trial, and Implications for Reform

Session Submission Type: Symposium

Abstract

This symposium examines a persistent conundrum of reform: how to build teachers’ “ownership” while ensuring use of research-based knowledge. Lesson study with research-based mathematical resources is proposed as one potential solution to this conundrum, and a randomized trial of lesson study with research-based resources on fractions is reported. Results indicate significant impact on teachers’ and students’ knowledge of fractions and on teachers’ improvement-related beliefs. Three papers address the design principles for selection and arrangement of research resources on fractions; the design and results of the randomized trial; and a theoretical model of lesson study’s impact on instructional improvement along with its implications for re-thinking models of “scale-up” of education reform.

Sub Unit

• Division C - Learning and Instruction / Section 3: Mathematics

Chair

• Rebecca R. Perry, Mills College

Papers

• Research Resources for Lesson Study: Principles and Rationale for a Linear Measurement Approach to Fractions - Shelley Friedkin, Mills College; Catherine C. Lewis, Mills College; Rebecca R. Perry, Mills College

• A Randomized Trial of Lesson Study: Impact on Teachers’ and Students’ Knowledge of Fractions - Rebecca R. Perry, Mills College; Catherine C. Lewis, Mills College

• Theoretical Model of Lesson Study’s Instructional Impact: The Role of Teachers’ Beliefs and Professional Community - Catherine C. Lewis, Mills College; Rebecca R. Perry, Mills College

Discussants

• James W. Stigler, University of California - Los Angeles

• Geoffrey B. Saxe, University of California - Berkeley