Learning Progressions in Action in a Middle School: A Case Study

• In Event: 35.049 - Teachers' Use of Learning Progressions for Formative Assessment: Implications for Professional Development and Further Research

Abstract

Objective
This paper describes the results of a case study of a team of six middle-school mathematics teachers who started a weekly study group to examine how they could integrate learning progressions (LPs) that were developed by the Common Core Standards Writing Team (2013) into their planning, instruction, and assessment.

Perspective
An existing framework of the challenges faced by teachers enacting formative assessment (Furtak, 2011) was used as a lens through which to understand teachers’ interaction with and use of the LPs, and to highlight gaps that could suggest areas for future professional development and support. The framework explicates the beliefs, knowledge and practice that teachers need in order to set goals, find out what students know, and provide feedback.

Method & Data Sources
The data for this study came from multiple sources: a one-hour focus group interview; teacher responses to a background questionnaire; an assessment task and rubric that was developed by the teachers; a transcript from a meeting with the principal of the school; and facilitator notes from professional development meetings where the concept of LPs was introduced and discussed. Furtak’s (2011) framework was used as a coding scheme, and triangulation of results was achieved by comparing the data sources.

Results
The findings reveal that while the teachers can use LPs to set goals, they need support to use LPs to find out what students know and to provide feedback. The math team can use LPs to define learning targets and help them better understand both students’ development of mathematical thinking and the stages and milestones students should reach before they can learn the content that is typically taught in the teachers’ algebra classes. They are also very willing to share learning goals with students to help them understand how their learning is expected to progress. Yet, while the math team has beliefs that are compatible with finding out what students know and to providing feedback, they have reached an impasse with how to put these beliefs into practice. They need support to use LPs to anticipate student ideas, as well as the assessment and instructional strategies that can elicit these ideas. Once they have become familiar and comfortable with strategies for finding out what their students know vis-à-vis the LPs, they will also need support to identify and evaluate methods for helping their students advance in their thinking and to implement these methods “on the fly” in the classroom.

Significance
The results of this study illuminate the challenges that teachers face when they are introduced to LPs and confirm that there is a long road ahead to fully realize the promise of LPs. There is a dearth of research examining teachers’ perspectives, motivations, needs, and challenges as they make meaning of and attempt to implement LPs to conduct formative assessment. This case study contributes to the research base by documenting and analyzing the actual experiences of teachers as they undertake this new challenge.

Author

• Jennifer L. Kobrin, Pearson