Teacher Quality – Mathematics and Science

Publications Emerging From Research Funded through the National Center for Education Research as of September 30, 2009

This document contains a list of publications (as of September 30, 2009) that have resulted from the more than 400 research grants funded through IES/NCER since 2002.

The publications, intended for both the scientific community as well the general public, are on topics spanning from basic translational research to the evaluation of state education policies. The list will be updated regularly to include new articles as they are published, so please check our website periodically for updated material.

The document would be a lot more valuable if merged with the ERIC database.

For example, here is one section of the report, with abstracts and links to full text added for two articles:


Teacher Quality – Mathematics and Science

FY 2003

Institution: LessonLab Research Institute
Principal Investigator: James Stigler
Project Title: Algebra Learning for All
Grant: R305M030154

Santagata, R. (2009). Designing Video-Based Professional Development for Mathematics Teachers in Low-Performing Schools. Journal of Teacher Education, Theme Issue: Innovative Uses of Technology in Teacher Education, 60(1): 38-51.

This article describes the theoretical framework, research base, structure, and content of a video-based professional development program implemented during 2 consecutive years with sixth-grade mathematics teachers from five low-performing schools. First, difficulties teachers encountered in responding to video-based prompts during the 1st year are summarized. Problematic questions deal with teachers' (a) basic understanding of target mathematics topics, (b) knowledge of their students' understanding, and (c) ability to analyze students' work and reasoning beyond classification into right and wrong answers. Changes that were made to the program to address teachers' needs in the 2nd year are then described. These are structured around three principles for designing video-based professional development: (a) attending to content-specific understanding, (b) scaffolding analysis of student thinking, and (c) modeling a discourse of inquiry and reflection on the teaching and learning process.

http://jte.sagepub.com/cgi/reprint/60/1/38


FY 2005

Institution: University of Cincinnati
Principal Investigator: Carla Johnson
Project Title: Utah’s Improving Science Teacher Quality Initiative
Grant: R305M050005

Johnson, Carla C., and Sherry Marx (in press).Transformative Professional Development: a Model for Urban Science Education Reform. Journal of Science Teacher Education.
Johnson, C.C. (in press). Transformative Professional Development for In-Service Teachers: Enabling Change in Science Teaching to Better Meet the Needs of Hispanic ELL Students. In Sunal, D.W., Sunal, D.S., Mantero, M., and Wright, E. (Eds.), Teaching Science With Hispanic ELLs in K-16 Classrooms. Information Age Publishing.
Johnson, C.C., and Fargo, J.D. (in press). Urban School Reform through Transformative Professional Development: Impact on Teacher Change and Student Learning of Science. Urban Education.

FY 2006

Institution: LessonLab, Inc.
Principal Investigator: Nicole Kersting
Project Title: Using Video Clips of Classroom Instruction as Item Prompts to Measure Teacher Knowledge of Teaching Mathematics: Instrument Development and Validation
Grant: R305M060057

Kersting, N. (2008). Using Video Clips as Item Prompts to Measure Teachers’ Knowledge of Teaching Mathematics. Educational and Psychological Measurement, 68:845-886.



Responding to the scarcity of suitable measures of teacher knowledge, this article reports on a novel assessment approach to measuring teacher knowledge of teaching mathematics. The new approach uses teachers' ability to analyze teaching as a proxy for their teaching knowledge. Video clips of classroom instruction, which respondents were asked to analyze in writing, were used as item prompts. Teacher responses were scored along four dimensions: mathematical content, student thinking, alternative teaching strategies, and overall quality of interpretation. A prototype assessment was developed and its reliability and validity were examined. Respondents' scores were found to be reliable. Positive, moderate correlations between teachers' scores on the video-analysis assessment, a criterion measure of mathematical content knowledge for teaching, and expert ratings provide initial evidence for the criterion-related validity of the video-analysis assessment. Results suggest that teachers' ability to analyze teaching might be reflective of their teaching knowledge.

http://epm.sagepub.com/cgi/reprint/68/5/845