The author suggests that we apply recent research knowledge to improve our conceptualization, measures, and methodology for studying the effects of teachers’ professional development on teachers and students. She makes the case that there is a research consensus to support the use of a set of core features and a common conceptual framework in professional development impact studies. She urges us to move away from automatic biases either for or against observation, interviews, or surveys in such studies. She argues that the use of a common conceptual framework would elevate the quality of professional development studies and subsequently the general understanding of how best to shape and implement teacher learning opportunities for the maximum benefit of both teachers and students.

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Improving Impact Studies of Teachers’ Professional Development: Toward Better Conceptualizations and Measures

This study explored whether and how teachers’ mathematical knowledge for teaching contributes to gains in students’ mathematics achievement. The authors used a linear mixed-model methodology in which first and third graders’ mathematical achievement gains over a year were nested within teachers, who in turn were nested within schools. They found that teachers’ mathematical knowledge was significantly related to student achievement gains in both first and third grades after controlling for key student- and teacher-level covariates. This result, while consonant with findings from the educational production function literature, was obtained via a measure focusing on the specialized mathematical knowledge and skills used in teaching mathematics. This finding provides support for policy initiatives designed to improve students’ mathematics achievement by improving teachers’ mathematical knowledge.

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Effects of Teachers’ Mathematical Knowledge for Teaching on Student Achievement:

미국의 “전국 수학 교사 협의회”(National Council of Teachers of Mathematics, NCTM)는 1989년부터 〈학교 수학의 교육과정과 평가 규준〉(1989), 〈수학 가르침(교수)의 전문성 규준〉(1991), 〈학교 수학의 평가(시험) 규준〉(NCTM, 1995), 〈학교 수학의 원리와 규준〉(2000)을 출판하여 미국의 수학 교육 의 전망(목표, 나아갈 길)과 규준(실행 지침)을 제시하였다. 수학 교사들로 구성된 미국의 NCTM은 학생, 학부모, 학교 행정가 등 많은 사람들과 힘을 합하여 모든 학생들에게 수준 높은 수학 교육을 받을 수 있는 여건(환경, 기회)을 조성하는 데 구심점의 역할을 하였다. 한편 많은 관련 단체들은 여러 배경과 능력을 가진 학생들이 전문성을 지닌 교사(특수 교사를 일컫는 밀이 아니다. 수학 교과를 이해하고 수학의 전문성과 특수성을 가르칠 수 있는 일반 교사를 일컫는 말이다.)로부터 미래를 대비해 평등하고, 진취적이며, 지원이 잘 이루어지고, 공학 도구(IT)가 잘 갖춰진 환경에서 중요한 수학적 아이디어를 이해하면서 학습할 수 있는 수학 교실(미국에서는 우리나라처럼 수학 교사가 수학 시간에 학생의 방(교실: Homeroom)에 찾아가지 않고 학생들이 선생의 방(수학 교실: Classroom)을 찾아온다. 전형적인 수학 교실의 사진은 2쪽에 나와 있다.)을 만들기 위해 함께 힘썼다. NCTM에서 출간한 여러 규준들은 우리나라의 제6차와 제7차 교육과정에도 큰 영향을 미쳤다. 이 글에서는 NCTM(2000)에서 제시한 학습 원리를 간단히 살펴본 다음 이를 중심으로 현재 미국 수학 교육의 교수ㆍ학습 이론의 동향을 살펴본다.

미국 NCTM의 Principles and Standards for School Mathematics에 나타난 수학과 교수,학습의 이론

It is widely accepted that teachers differ in their effectiveness, yet the empirical evidence regarding teacher effectiveness is weak. The existing evidence is mainly drawn from econometric studies that use covariates to attempt to control for selection effects that might bias results. We use data from a four-year experiment in which teachers and students were randomly assigned to classes to estimate teacher effects on student achievement. Teacher effects are estimated as between-teacher (but within-school) variance components of achievement status and residualized achievement gains. Our estimates of teacher effects on achievement gains are similar in magnitude to those of previous econometric studies, but we find larger effects on mathematics achievement than on reading achievement. The estimated relation of teacher experience with student achievement gains is substantial, but is statistically significant only for 2nd-grade reading and 3rd-grade mathematics achievement. We also find much larger teacher e...

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How Large Are Teacher Effects

A large body of studies exists that examines the relationship between student achievement gains and the characteristics of teachers. To help policymakers and researchers use and build on this body of studies, this article reviews the studies systematically and synthesizes their results with deliberate consideration of each study’s qualities. Determinate relationships are described for four categories of teacher characteristics: college ratings, test scores, degrees and coursework, and certification status. The review details the implications of these relationships in light of study limitations and proposes directions for future research.

Teacher Characteristics and Student Achievement Gains: A Review:

This report is about conceptual and methodological issues that arise when educational researchers use data from large-scale, survey research studies to investigate teacher effects on student achievement. In the report, we illustrate these issues by reporting on a series of analyses we conducted using data from Prospects: The Congressionally Mandated Study of Educational Opportunity. This large-scale, survey research effort gathered a rich store of data on instructional processes and student achievement in a large sample of U.S. elementary schools during the early 1990s as part of the federal government's evaluation of the Title I program. We use data from Prospects to estimate the "overall" size of teacher effects on student achievement and to test some specific hypotheses about why such effects occur. On the basis of these analyses, we draw some substantive conclusions about the magnitude and sources of teacher effects on student achievement and suggest some ways that survey-based research on teaching can be improved. Disciplines Curriculum and Instruction | Educational Administration and Supervision | Educational Assessment, Evaluation, and Research | Education Policy Comments View on the CPRE website. This report is available at ScholarlyCommons: http://repository.upenn.edu/cpre_researchreports/31 What Large-Scale, Survey Research Tells Us About Teacher Effects On Student Achievement: Insights from the Prospects Study of Elementary Schools Brian Rowan, Richard Correnti, and Robert J. Miller CPRE Research Report Series RR-051

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What large-scale survey research tells us about teacher effects on student achievement: insights from the prospects study of elementary schools

In this article we examine methodological and conceptual issues that emerge when researchers measure the enacted curriculum in schools. After outlining key theoretical considerations that guide measurement of this construct and alternative strategies for collecting and analyzing data on it, we illustrate one approach to gathering and analyzing data on the enacted curriculum. Using log data on the reading/language arts instruction of more than 150 third‐grade teachers in 53 high‐poverty elementary schools participating in the Study of Instructional Improvement, we estimated several hierarchical linear models and found that the curricular content of literacy instruction (a) varied widely from day to day, (b) did not vary much among students in the same classroom, but (c) did vary greatly across classrooms, largely as the result of teachers’ participation in 1 of the 3 instructional improvement interventions (Accelerated Schools, America’s Choice, and Success for All) under study. The implications o...

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Using Teacher Logs to Measure the Enacted Curriculum: A Study of Literacy Teaching in Third‐Grade Classrooms

This study examines patterns of literacy instruction in schools adopting three of America’s most widely disseminated comprehensive school reform (CSR) programs (the Accelerated Schools Project, America’s Choice, and Success for All). Contrary to the view that educational innovations seldom affect teaching practices, the study found large differences in literacy instruction between teachers in America’s Choice schools and comparison schools and between teachers in Success for All schools and comparison schools. In contrast, no differences in literacy teaching practices were found between teachers in Accelerated Schools Project schools and comparison schools. On the basis of these findings and our knowledge of the implementation support strategies pursued by the CSR programs under study, we conclude that well-defined and well-specified instructional improvement programs that are strongly supported by on-site facilitators and local leaders who demand fidelity to program designs can produce large changes in t...

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Opening Up the Black Box: Literacy Instruction in Schools Participating in Three Comprehensive School Reform Programs:

This article describes some of the conceptual and methodological issues that arise when researchers use teacher logs to measure classroom instruction. Data and examples come from the Study of Instructional Improvement, which used teacher logs to study patterns of literacy instruction in schools implementing three comprehensive school reforms. Over the course of this study, more than 75,000 logs were collected from nearly 2,000 teachers in Grades 1 through 5. This article discusses why teacher logs were chosen as the data collection strategy, various psychometric issues associated with their use, and some of the substantive findings that emerged as part of the study.

https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.3102/0013189X09332375

Studying Reading Instruction With Teacher Logs: Lessons From the Study of Instructional Improvement:

This CPRE report is a reprint of a chapter that originally appeared as Chapter 49 of the Handbook of Education Policy Research, edited by Gary Sykes, Barbara Schneider, and DavidN.Plank and published for theAmerican Educational Research Association by Routledge Publishers in 2009. The reprinted chapter presents key findings from A Study of Instructional Improvement, a study that was conducted under the auspices of the Consortium for Policy Research in Education and directed by Brian Rowan, David K. Cohen, and Deborah Loewenberg Ball (all at the University of Michigan).This study examined the design, implementation, and instructional effectiveness of three of America’s most widely disseminated comprehensive school reform programs (the Accelerated Schools Project,America’s Choice, and Successful forAll) over a four year period that encompassed the school years 2000–2001 through 2003–2004. During the course of the study, data were collected in 115 elementary schools in every region of the United States,with more than 5,300 teachers, 800 school leaders, and 7,500 students and their families participating.

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Richard Correnti

Papers

What large-scale survey research tells us about teacher effects on student achievement: insights from the prospects study of elementary schools

Using Teacher Logs to Measure the Enacted Curriculum: A Study of Literacy Teaching in Third‐Grade Classrooms

Opening Up the Black Box: Literacy Instruction in Schools Participating in Three Comprehensive School Reform Programs:

Studying Reading Instruction With Teacher Logs: Lessons From the Study of Instructional Improvement:

School Improvement by Design: Lessons from a Study of Comprehensive School Reform Programs