The Mathematics Teacher Development (MTD) Project

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9600023AbstractOVERVIEW: The MTD Project is studying the development of preservice and inservice mathematics teachers of kindergarten through grade 6 as they develop their teaching practices in the direction of current mathematics education reforms. The research studies these teachers in the context of an intensive instructional program and supervised field experience. It seeks to identify patterns of teacher development, obstacles for preservice teachers, and key issues that emerge during the professional development process.STRATEGIES: The project's first instructional component is a series of five academic-year courses, for a combined group of prospective and practicing elementary and middle school teachers, taught by the project director. In 1996, participants completed the first course designed to foster mathematical knowledge, confidence, and competence and to provide an experiential base for mathematics instruction that reflects the national standards. The second course (1997) will focus on students' mathematical thinking; participants will conduct student interviews to investigate students' understanding of mathematics. The third, fourth and fifth courses (1997 and 1998) will provide an integrated look at the learning and teaching of key concepts in the elementary school mathematics curriculum. During the project's second component, each inservice teacher is paired with a project staff member, who visits one of the teacher's mathematics classes weekly to observe and provide feedback or teach model lessons; they then meet to outline future action plans, discuss useful resources, and address problems and issues that arise. Each preservice teacher also works directly with an inservice teacher, with increasing responsibility in the classroom culminating in a full-time student teaching experience in 1998.IMPACT: Fifteen preservice teachers and 13 teachers from five elementary schools and two middle schools in the State College Area School District are participating. The research focuses on the individual and collective development of the teachers through whole-class teaching experiments and individual case studies. Data collected through classroom videotapes of participants teaching and being taught, notes taken during site visits, student work, and audiotaped teacher interviews. The case studies of the development of three teachers and three prospective teachers also include audiotaped interviews every two weeks and videotaped observations in their classrooms each month. In addition. these teachers' meetings with project staff and preservice teachers are audiotaped. Beginning in 1997, annual meetings with an advisory panel of university faculty, policymakers, and teachers will be held to discuss the project's progress. A summative evaluation report will be available upon conclusion. The project has proposed a paper about teachers' basic teaching models at the 1997 National Council of Teachers of Mathematics annual meeting. Project staff and participants will present their findings at additional national and international conferences and will publish them in professional journals.PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATORS: Martin A. Simon, Ron Tzur