Leaping without Bridges: Implementing the Common Core with Students Not Previously Instructed Within Its Expectations

Teachers in most states across the nation are now engaged in transitioning their instruction and content focus to the domains of the Common Core State Standards for Mathematics (CCSSM). They are working very hard to make adaptive decisions about their practice and they are serious about understanding the ways in which the CCSSM “are not intended to be new names for old ways of doing business” (CCSSI, 2010, p. 5). As the states transition to the CCSSM many teachers will be working with students whose mathematics instruction took place under a different set of mathematics learning expectations. In our work with our own students and through the CCSSM professional development that we have provided for other teachers in multiple states, we have observed how difficult this transition can be for both teachers and students. The purpose of this article is to share what we have found to be productive ways for teachers to leap into the CCSSM and overcome the fact that many students are missing curricular and instructional bridges that might have otherwise made the transition smoother

Improving Attitude and Problem Solving Through Mathematics Camps

This poster describes the results of preservice teachers’ involvement in providing mathematics camps to children that focus on enjoyment of problem solving through their teaching program at a university in Southeast Asia

Generating a Peer Mentoring Culture Through Mathematics Camps

In this poster I will describe an exploratory evaluation study (Patton, 1987) of a mathematics teacher program at a university in Southeast Asia

Deepening Teachers’ Understandings of Mathematical and Pedagogical Connectedness

In this paper, I will describe the findings and perspectives of one group of teachers who recently completed the Walk-Across task and share my views on the implications of these findings for those who lead professional developments focused on the CCSSM

Examining Programmatic Lesson Study in Preservice Teacher Education

This study of mathematics preservice teachers investigates their experiences with a program requirement to learn about and engage in multiple iterations of open approach lesson study. Inductive analysis revealed four experiential themes: Variable Contexts, Professional Community, Challenges, and Transformation. Preservice teachers attribute their transformation to reform-based mathematics instruction involving iterative experiences and processes of open approach lesson study. Other experiences and implications are examined

Overcoming a Common Storm: Designing Professional Development for Teachers Implementing the Common Core

Classroom implementation of the Common Core State Standards for Mathematics (CCSSM) requires significant professional development that develops teachers’ understanding of the mathematics content and practice standards. This professional development must begin with the content and pedagogical needs of the teachers it serves. This study examined elementary and middle school teachers’ perceived mathematics content needs related to the CCSSM mathematics content domains, their perceived pedagogical needs, and the connection between these perceptions and statewide assessment data. K-5 teachers indicated a great need in Operations and Algebraic Thinking and Numbers and Operations on Fractions. Middle school teachers expressed a major need in better understanding modeling, statistics and probability, geometry and measurement, and proportional reasoning. Furthermore, teachers’ perceived mathematics content needs aligned with their previous students’ high-stakes test performance. In light of these findings, we discuss implications for designing CCSSM-related professional development

Preservice Mathematics Teacher Professional Learning through Informal Field Experiences (pp. 37--46)

This study investigated the role that involvement in a program wide informal field experience had on the professional learning of preservice mathematics teachers at a university in the Midwestern portion of the United States.  Participants completed a survey as well as a semi-structured interview which was transcribed.  The qualitative coding and analysis was structured in accordance with a previously developed theoretical framework involving a reflexive inquiry model for preservice teacher education.  The framework was adapted to fit the specific context of the informal field experience and focused on the following three lenses; inquiry into self in relation to prior experience, inquiry into contexts and personnel roles, and inquiry into relationships.  Analysis revealed thirteen categories which demonstrated connections preservice teachers made between their programmatic informal field experience involvement and their professional learning as teachers.  Preservice teachers described positive aspects of impact from the informal field experience in areas including classroom management, rapport, planning, and collaboration. Implications for teacher educators are discussed

Looking for Elementary Mathematics Teachers’ Common Core-Focused Instruction

This manuscript describes six elementary teachers’ instructional changes through the lens of the Standards for Mathematical Practices (SMPs). Teachers were randomly selected from a larger sample of K-5 teachers who engaged in yearlong professional development targeting the SMPs. Videos of their pre- and post-professional development programs were examined using a SMPs-focused protocol. They overwhelmingly provided more opportunities for students to engage in the SMPs after the professional development experience. We connect this impression with ways to effectively foster elementary teachers’ SMP-focused instructional practices through professional development

Overcoming a Common Storm: Designing Professional Development for Teachers Implementing the Common Core

Classroom implementation of the Common Core State Standards for Mathematics (CCSSM) requires significant professional development that develops teachers’ understanding of the mathematics content and practice standards. This professional development must begin with the content and pedagogical needs of the teachers it serves. This study examined elementary and middle school teachers’ perceived mathematics content needs related to the CCSSM mathematics content domains, their perceived pedagogical needs, and the connection between these perceptions and statewide assessment data. K-5 teachers indicated a great need in Operations and Algebraic Thinking and Numbers and Operations on Fractions. Middle school teachers expressed a major need in better understanding modeling, statistics and probability, geometry and measurement, and proportional reasoning. Furthermore, teachers’ perceived mathematics content needs aligned with their previous students’ high-stakes test performance. In light of these findings, we discuss implications for designing CCSSM-related professional development

Preparing K-10 Teachers Through Common Core for Reasoning and Sense Making

There looms an uncertainty about the Common Core State Standards for mathematics for many teachers. Teachers have indicated that they want professional development (PD) focused on learning about the new standards (Bostic & Matney, in press). This manuscript describes PD programs for K-10 mathematics teachers and offers results from one activity aimed to help teachers unpack the Standards for Mathematical Practice (SFMP). Four major themes arose from interpretive analysis of teachers’ perceptions of the SFMP. These findings suggest (1) the PD supported teachers to make sense of the SFMP and (2) teachers may have misperceptions about the SFMP that require further PD