training teachers of young children in mathematics: the ... · training teachers of young children...
TRANSCRIPT
Training Teachers of Young Children
in Mathematics:
The Whole Teacher Approach
Jennifer S. McCray
Erikson Institute, Chicago
Webinar – Numeracy for Development Community of Practice
August 6, 2014
Today’s Discussion of the Whole
Teacher Approach
Introduce “Whole Teacher Approach” as a
conceptual framework for PD
Demonstrate its application to an early
math intervention
Address some specific questions around
early math PD and teaching
The Early Math Collaborative
(the Collaborative) at Erikson Institute
Erikson is a graduate school in child
development in Chicago
The Collaborative is one of many community
intervention programs at Erikson, focused on
teacher training, research, and dissemination in
early math education
Development of the Whole Child
Physical
Development
Teacher
Focus
The Whole Teacher Approach to
Professional Development
Classroom
Practice
Teacher
Educator
Focus
Applying the Whole Teacher Approach to
Early Mathematics Teaching
Attitudes Focus
Practices
Knowledge
Early
Mathematics
Teaching
Why is Teacher Attitude Important?
Teacher attitudes closely related to
knowledge acquisition and classroom
practices (Chen & Chang, 2007; Pajares,
1992.1996; Vartuli, 2005)
Attitude predicts effort and positive
mindset of teachers
Attitudes Focus
Practices
Knowledge
Early Mathematics and Teacher
ATTITUDE
“There’s just a stigma in this country about
math being really hard and feared, and
people who do it being strange” --Melanie Wood,
U.S. Team Member, International Mathematics Olympiad
“…the culture in American society
today…doesn’t really seem to encourage
men or women in mathematics” –Michael Sipser,
head of MIT’s Math Department
Attitudes Focus
Practices
Knowledge
Early Childhood teaching as a way to
“escape” mathematics
Idea that mathematics is developmentally
inappropriate for early childhood
General lack of confidence among many
early childhood educators
Early Mathematics and Teacher
ATTITUDE
Attitudes Focus
Practices
Knowledge
We Incorporate Great Children’s
Literature
Attitudes
Sessions are Interactive and
Hands-On
Attitudes
Cohorts Meet Repeatedly Over
an Entire School Year
Attitudes
Why is Attention to Practice
Important?
Presents new challenges requiring adaptation
Provokes both knowledge internationalization
and knowledge construction
Time and support for practice is key to whether
professional development succeeds or fails (Borko,
2004; Elmore & Burney, 1999)
Attitudes Focus
Practices
Knowledge
Early Mathematics and Teaching
PRACTICE
Support for practice extremely rare
Teachers often work in isolation
Monitoring available is primarily focused
on cleanliness, organization of the
classroom environment, behavior
management Attitudes
Focus
Practices
Knowledge
38
11
6
21
90
0 20 40 60 80 100
At Least One Instance
Mathematics activities take place in only 21 percent
of CPS early childhood classrooms on a given day
Language Arts or
Literature
MATHEMATICS
ACTIVITY Social Studies
Science
Art or Music
Activity
(Chicago Program Evaluation Project, 2007)
Early Childhood Mathematics in Chicago Public
Schools
We Spend Workshop Time on
Group study of a research lesson
Planning to tailor the lesson to your
classroom
Discussion of how the last research lesson
went, including the use of documentation,
such as photos, children’s work, or quotes
of children’s speech
Practices
Provide a Mathematics Instruction
Coach
Coaches…
•attend workshops
with teachers
•observe classroom
instruction
•meet to reflect on
instruction
Practices
Why do we need to improve how we
address teacher knowledge?
Basic skills tests and bachelor’s degrees
rarely predict teaching success
Only subject knowledge with specific
implications for teaching is associated with
better learning outcomes for children (Hill,
Rowan, & Ball, 2005)
Attitudes Focus
Practices
Knowledge
Early Mathematics and Teaching
KNOWLEDGE
Many early childhood teachers think early
mathematics is simply
Counting and
Shapes
Attitudes
Focus
Practices
Knowledge
Example Big Ideas: Algebraic thinking
Topic Big Ideas Examples
Sets Attributes can be used
to sort collections into
sets.
The same collection
can be sorted in
different ways.
Sets can be compared
and ordered.
Color, size, number,
shape, type of object,
etc.
A single set of autumn
leaves can be sorted by
type of tree or by color or
by shape.
There are 2 more red
bears than blue bears.
Early Math Collaborative’s Work with
Chicago Public Schools Early
Childhood Program
Served 80 CPS preschool and kindergarten teachers per year
Served the 2,500 children they teach each year
Worked in approximately 151 schools across the city over a 4 year period
Evaluation Results
• Children whose teachers
participated in our project learned
significantly more math over the
school year – almost 3 months
worth – than children whose
teachers did not participate
(Coefficient = 2.74, p <.008)
Effect on Children Behind the Norm
The program effect
was even more
pronounced among
children who
scored behind
national norms at
Time 1. Among
this group,
participating
children pulled
ahead by almost 5
months.
Effect of Program on
Children Behind National Norms in the Fall
(p < .008)
38
43
48
53
58
63
Fall Spring
Ag
e E
sti
ma
te i
n M
on
ths
No Intervention Group
Early Math Group
National Norms
What are other effective intervention
components in early math PD?
Instructional Leadership Academy
Grade Level Meetings/ Group Coaching
Common Assessment Protocols
How should teachers be selected
for PD?
Volunteering/being “volunteered”
Create public accountability for
implementation
Build a critical mass within a school
Important Materials for Early
Childhood Classrooms
Great children’s literature
Opportunities to manipulate materials and
surfaces and containers that make it
possible
Tools that build on visual number sense
Variety of writing materials for teachers
and students
Additional questions or comments?
THANK YOU
Jennifer S. McCray, Ph.D.
Director, Early Math Collaborative