Examining How Learning Trajectory Focused Lesson Study Deepens Teachers' and Coaches' Professional Learning

• In Event: Learning Trajectories as Boundary Objects for Psychometricians, Learning Scientists, and Practitioners in Mathematics Education

Abstract

Our research reports on results from learning trajectory focused professional development. Using the definition of LT from Authors C (2009) and their Learning Trajectories for the K-8 Common Core Math Standards, [blinded website], we asked teachers to document student thinking within the LT of Length, Area, and Volume (Author C, 2012) . More specifically, we used Lesson Study (Lewis, 2002) to focus on unpacking LTs through rich tasks with teams that intentionally represented multiple grade levels so that teachers could attend to the application of LT to lesson design, enactment, and analysis of student thinking across vertical grades. Our previous study (Authors D., 2019) reported on how the intentional use of LTs across vertical grades impacted each phase of Lesson Study and contributed to the improvement and expansion of teachers’ horizon content knowledge. Building on our previous study, we focused on the professional tools and activities that were central to the LT-based Lesson Study. We developed a planning tool called the VAULT (Vertical Articulation to Unpack the Learning Trajectory) that supported teachers’ thinking through the learning trajectories by focusing on a rich task as they considered important dimensions from the Teaching for Robust Understanding (TRU) framework which included: Cognitive Demand; The Mathematics; Equitable Access; Agency, Ownership, and Identity; and Formative Assessment (Schoenfeld, 2016).
Our research questions were:
1) In what ways does a LT focused PD course support teachers’ and coaches’ learning as they plan and enact lessons?
2) How does examining student work along the learning trajectory focus teachers’ and coaches’ professional noticings?
Using the professional noticing framework as a tool (Jacob et al., 2010), we analyzed the interplay between teachers’ focus on LT and TRU dimensions and how teachers and coaches attended to, interpreted and responded to classroom interactions. Coaches used the VAULT to lead teachers in co-planning the Research Lesson, unpacking the LT using the descriptors from [blinded website] to provide a coherent progression for students' development of ideas within the Length, Area and Volume LT (Authors C, 2012). Analyzing teacher planning and student work from several tasks, we found that teachers and coaches adopted an asset based orientation to students’ development. Instead of focusing on the deficit thinking that can sometimes plague conversations around achievement and performance, teachers and coaches used the student work to analyze what students were capable of and where they could be placed within the learning trajectory. Using LTs in planning, supported teachers’ thinking about providing access to content for students who might be performing below grade-level expectations, while still ensuring that they maintain the rigor of the mathematics (Cognitive demand, and Access). The use of LTs strengthened teachers’ ability to support, recognize, and celebrate student work, even when it did not reflect specific grade-level standards (Agency, Ownership, and Identity), and to use this work to make informed decisions about future instruction (Formative Assessment). The use of LTs to structure understanding of content and student learning has implications far beyond the content included within the progression.

Authors

• Jennifer M. Suh, George Mason University

• Sara Birkhead, George Mason University