Explaining differences in one teacher’s instruction across multiple tracked fifth-grade classes

In this article, we describe the case of “Keri,” a fifth-grade teacher who had completed an Elementary Mathematics Specialist (EMS) certification program. Drawn from a larger study investigating the knowledge, beliefs, and practices of EMSs, Keri\u27s case was unique in that she was teaching mathematics to four classes in a departmentalized structure, where students were placed into different classes according to perceived mathematics ability. Observations from the larger study revealed that Keri\u27s instructional practices did not align with her reported beliefs and knowledge. To explore this deviation, we conducted a case study where we observed Keri\u27s instruction across multiple classes and used interviews to explore reasons for Keri\u27s instructional decisions in terms of her perceived professional obligations. We found that Keri did employ practices that were aligned with her reported beliefs and knowledge such as pressing students for mathematical justifications, but only in her “higher ability” classes. Interview data suggested that Keri\u27s decisions were driven by a strong obligation to individual students, overriding other obligations. We describe implications of these findings, including the limitations of teacher assessments and surveys as proxies for teaching quality, and discuss recommendations for approaches to teacher development that account for teachers’ perceived obligations

A novel lung disease phenotype adjusted for mortality attrition for cystic fibrosis Genetic modifier studies

Genetic studies of lung disease in Cystic Fibrosis are hampered by the lack of a severity measure that accounts for chronic disease progression and mortality attrition. Further, combining analyses across studies requires common phenotypes that are robust to study design and patient ascertainment