A Longitudinal Study of the Effects of K-8 Mathematics Teacher Preparation on Teacher Knowledge, Teaching Practices, and Student Learning

这个为期五年的项目旨在：(1)完善一个发展中的教师准备理论；(2)实证检验教师备课、教师学习、教学实践与学生学习之间的关系；(3)了解教师在何种条件下使用在准备阶段和最初几年教学中获得的知识和技能来提高他们的实践水平。利用纵向设计和跟踪两组教师，当他们从数学教师准备计划过渡到课堂教学时，该项目将研究准备计划、现场条件和选定的上下文变量如何影响有效课堂数学教学的实施。研究方法将包括控制实验、小样本复制和案例研究的计划组合。数据收集将包括大样本书面评估和小样本反复观察和访谈。通过关注选定的有理数主题和7-8年级的中学，研究人员将比较两种不同的准备计划的效果，一种是为小学/中学（K-8年级）设计的，另一种是为中学（7-12年级）设计的。该项目解决了如何教会教师从职前到在职阶段有效教学的基本问题。它的纵向方面包括记录有效数学教学的增长，从参与者在学校作为职前本科教育专业的学生到多年后他们在学校作为专业的在职数学教师。该项目认为，学校的有效数学教学不仅需要加强教师的数学内容，还需要解决支持他们处理阻碍或支持有效教学实践有效实施的上下文变量（制度约束）的方法。该项目还解决了当今数学教师教育研究面临的以下有争议的问题：数学内容（在中学数学专业的情况下）多于数学教学（在小学和初中专业的情况下）的数学内容知识是有效教授数学（反之亦然）的充分条件，特别是分数？

The five-year project seeks to: (1) refine a developing theory of teacher preparation; (2) examine empirically the relationships among teacher preparation, teacher learning, teaching practice, and student learning; and (3) understand the conditions under which teachers use the knowledge and skills acquired during preparation and during their first few years of teaching to improve their practice. Utilizing a longitudinal design and following two cohorts of teachers as they transition from mathematics teacher preparation programs into classroom teaching, the project will study how preparation programs, field conditions, and selected contextual variables affect the implementation of effective classroom mathematics teaching. Research methods will include a planned mix of controlled experiments, small-sample replications, and case studies. Data collection will include both large-sample written assessments and small-sample recurring observations and interviews. By focusing on selected rational number topics and the middle grades 7-8, researchers will compare the effects of two different preparation programs, one designed for elementary/middle school (grades K-8) and the other for secondary school (grades 7-12).The project addresses the fundamental issue of how teachers can be taught to teach effectively from the preservice to the inservice stage. Its longitudinal aspect involves documenting growth in effective mathematics teaching from the time participants are in schools as preservice undergraduate education majors to many years after when they are in schools as professional, inservice mathematics teachers. The project takes the view that effective mathematics teaching in the schools does not only require strengthening teachers' mathematics content but also addressing ways in which they can be supported in dealing with contextual variables (institutional constraints) that either hinder or support effective implementation of effective teaching practices. The project also addresses the following controversial issue facing mathematics teacher education research today: Does having more mathematics content (in the case of secondary mathematics majors) than mathematical content knowledge for teaching mathematics (in the case of elementary and middle school majors) a sufficient condition for effectively teaching mathematics (and vice-versa), in particular, fractions?