Doing the Math with Paraeducators: A Research and Development Project

探索研究K-12计划（DRK-12）旨在通过研究和开发创新资源，模型和工具，显着提高学前班学生和教师的科学，技术，工程和数学（STEM）的学习和教学。DRK-12计划中的项目建立在STEM教育的基础研究和先前的研究和开发工作的基础上，这些研究和开发工作为拟议项目提供了理论和经验依据。目前有100多万名准教育工作者（教学助理和志愿者）在课堂上提供帮助，今后十年可能还会增加10万人。辅助教育工作者经常被要求教授数学等内容，但很少有人努力为他们提供知识或监督，使他们在与一系列学生，包括残疾学生和英语为第二语言的学生一起工作时能够有效。该项目将侧重于发展信心，数学知识和教学策略，他们将使用课堂活动，他们将实施。计划中的专业发展将使他们能够在课堂上发挥更大的作用，但也将增加他们接受继续教育和工作机会的机会。 这项工作将在波士顿公立学校（BPS）进行，并将重点放在K-3年级，那里雇用的学生人数最多。考虑到早期数学学习在预测数学成绩方面的重要性，支持低年级的学生尤为重要。该项目将设计和试点专业发展，以支持准教育工作者的知识发展，并解决数学教学中的教学挑战。该项目将致力于以下目标：研究当前数学教师在数学教学中的作用，他们的合作教师的准备，以及指导教师和BPS中的数学教师之间的合作和规划机会;试点、开发、实施，并研究一个专业发展计划的模式，为学生的目标，他们可以实施的具体活动，是关键的学生学习的数字和操作在幼儿园-3;记录学生如何承担新的角色，提高学生的参与度，使他们成为数学学习者;试点，开发，实施和研究一个监督组件，以帮助教师设定期望，并与他们的学生一起进行汇报和反思的结构;并根据我们的研究结果确定早期发展研究的下一步。将进行一项需求评估调查，以调查残疾人工作的背景。基于设计的研究的迭代过程将开发，测试和实施有针对性的专业发展，测量他们如何准备实施新的想法，以及他们如何将他们的学习转化为新的教学实践。交叉分析，描述性统计，吻合和编码的行为从观察，和主题的研究，教师和管理人员的采访将被收集，编码和分析。此外，将定期进行疗效调查，以记录患者的纵向变化，并将其纳入交叉分析。

The Discovery Research K-12 program (DRK-12) seeks to significantly enhance the learning and teaching of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) by preK-12 students and teachers through research and development of innovative resources, models and tools. Projects in the DRK-12 program build on fundamental research in STEM education and prior research and development efforts that provide theoretical and empirical justification for proposed projects. Over one million paraeducators (teaching assistants and volunteers) currently assist in classrooms, and another 100,000 are likely to be added in the next ten years. Paraeducators (paras) are often required to teach content, such as mathematics, but there are few efforts to provide them with the knowledge or supervision they need to be effective when working with a range of students, including those with disabilities and for whom English is a second language. The project will focus on developing the confidence, mathematical knowledge, and teaching strategies of paras using classroom activities that they are expected to implement. The planned professional development will enable them to make a greater difference in the classroom, but it will also increase their access to continuing education and workplace opportunities. The work will be conducted in the Boston Public Schools (BPS) and will focus on grades K-3, where the largest numbers of paras are employed. Given the importance of early math learning in predicting mathematical achievement, supporting paras who work in the early grades is particularly important. The project will design and pilot professional development that supports paraeducator knowledge development and addresses instructional challenges in teaching mathematics. The project will address the following goals: research the current roles of paras in mathematics instruction, the preparation of their collaborating teachers, and the opportunities for collaboration and planning between supervising teachers and paras in BPS; pilot, develop, implement, and research a model for professional development program for paras that targets specific activities they can implement that are key to student learning in number and operation in K-3; document how paras assume new roles that increase student engagement and empower them as mathematical learners; pilot, develop, implement, and research a supervisory component to help teachers set expectations, and structures for debriefing and reflecting along with their paras; and identify next steps for an early stage development study based on our findings. A needs assessment survey will investigate the context in which paras work. The iterative process of design-based research will develop, test, and implement the targeted professional development with paras, measuring how prepared they feel to implement new ideas and how they translate their learning into new pedagogical practices. Crosscase analyses, descriptive statistics, tallies and coded behaviors from observations, and themes from paras, and teacher and administrator interviews will be collected, coded, and analyzed. Furthermore, an efficacy survey will be administered periodically to document longitudinal changes in paras, which will be integrated in the crosscase analyses.