Iterative Model Building (IMB): A Program for Training Quality Teachers and Measuring Teacher Quality

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The goal of this project is to improve professional development programs for pre-service teachers (PSTs) as a way to improve student learning in mathematics and science. PSTs engage in a series of teaching cycles beginning by working with pairs of elementary school students to create models of their mathematics and science knowledge (teaching experiments). The PSTs then engage in lesson study groups to develop, teach, and analyze a whole class lesson. The cycle is completed by reexamining students' knowledge in teaching experiments with pairs of students. These teaching cycles are called Iterative Model Building (IMB). Six specific research questions are investigated. The six research questions are: 1.) Do PSTs exhibit growth in their understanding of how students reason; 2.) Do PSTs exhibit growth in their ability to design appropriate whole class lessons and activities based on where students are; 3.) Do PSTs exhibit growth in their ability to plan instruction as part of a collaborative research community; 4.) How do PSTs' beliefs and knowledge about the nature of math and science mature throughout the program; 5.) Are there significant differences between teacher practices in classrooms taught by IMB PSTs compared to other PSTs; 6.) What do teacher quality measures tell us about our current program and the proposed approach?