The Relationship Between Middle School Teachers’ Mathematics Knowledge for Teaching and Student Outcomes

• In Event: Professional Learning in STEM Areas

Abstract

Researchers measured the effects of long-term professional development on the Mathematics Knowledge for Teaching (MKT) of 43 teachers through use of the MKT validated tool and mixed methods. Analyses include 1,480 students taught by the first cohort of participants prior to intervention participation and 1,630 students during their first year of participation. MKT scores improved significantly for cohort one in Geometry but not for a second cohort. There appeared to be a positive relationship between teachers’ follow-up MKT performance and students’ outcomes, which lends credence to teachers’ specific self-reported learning gains and performance on university-designed assessments. Preliminary regressions showed a muddled but promising relationship between teachers’ MKT and student performance; students’ characteristics explained the greatest proportion of variance in outcomes.

Authors

• Kelly Feighan, Research for Better Schools

• Amy Cohen, Rutgers University

• Lynda B. Ginsburg, Rutgers University