Teachers’ Knowledge Development: Structuring Opportunities to Learn About Elementary School Mathematics

• In Event: Understanding the Impact of Professional Development on Mathematics Teaching and Learning for K-3 In-Service Teachers

Abstract

Objectives and Framework
Various lines of educational research have documented teachers’ on-the-job learning from their interactions with peers (Eraut, 2004; Eraut & Hirsh, 2007; Frank, Zhao, & Borman, 2004). When teachers share expertise, talk about new material, discuss teaching strategies, and encourage experimentation around new initiatives, they create opportunities to learn (Brownell, Yeager, Rennells, & Riley, 1997; Davis, 2003; Little, 2003; Smylie, 1995). This paper examines if and how an Elementary Mathematics Specialist (EMS) program facilitated teacher learning and knowledge development in mathematics. Drawing on longitudinal data from three program district partners, this study addresses the following research question: How does investing in the mathematics knowledge of selected teacher leaders and in instructional coach positions influence teachers’ mathematics advice and information interactions that are foundational for learning?

Methods and Evidence
We draw from social network survey data collected between 2010 and 2013 from all elementary school staff members in 34 schools in three districts located in the Midwestern United States. Each district represented a different context, with one urban district, one suburban district, and one rural district. Given that high response rates to social network items are necessary to produce reliable results, we use data from all schools with at least 60 percent response rates in all three years of data collection, which included 872 school staff members in 2010, 965 in 2011, and 941 in 2013, with an overall response rate of 85 percent.
To examine teachers’ on-the-job learning, we use previously-validated social network survey items (Pustejovsky & Spillane, 2009). First, respondents were asked, “During this year, to whom have you turned to for advice and/or information about curriculum, teaching, and student learning?” Respondents nominated up to 12 individuals, and then they indicated the content area related to the advice they sought from each person. For this paper, we focus solely on advice and information interactions related to mathematics, since we know that advice and information are fundamental building blocks for developing knowledge and thereby for improving instruction (Elmore, 1996; Hill, 2004). We pay particular attention to changes in mathematics advice networks over time, before and after the implementation of the EMS initiative. Examining these shifts in teachers’ interactions over time across multiple settings allows us to understand how the EMS program was related to changes in teachers’ opportunities to learn about math and how these opportunities differed across district and school contexts.



Findings and Significance
Our analysis reveals that EMS participants, who returned to their schools in both informal and formal leadership roles, often emerged as central actors and influential brokers of advice and information about mathematics. However, schools that placed EMS participants in full-time instructional leadership positions experienced the greatest increases in advice and information interactions related to mathematics. These findings suggest that, while investing in the mathematics expertise of selected teachers affords more opportunities for teachers to learn about elementary math instruction, formal structures (i.e., coach positions) may be necessary to facilitate robust teacher learning related to mathematics.

Authors

• James P. Spillane, Northwestern University

• Megan Hopkins, The Pennsylvania State University