Elementary Mathematics Specialists Research Articles

Engaging elementary mathematics specialists: Strengthening the connections between university coursework and practice

AbstractElementary teachers are underprepared to teach mathematics, and there is a lack of field‐based support for mathematics‐specific pedagogies in the elementary grades. To address this theory to practice gap, we developed an innovative model of fieldwork that draws on the expertise of in‐service teachers (elementary mathematics specialists [EMSs]) who had recently completed a K–5 mathematics endorsement to work in the role of university supervisors supporting beginning teachers (BTs) in initial fieldwork. We argue that this model has three key aspects that will support BTs bridging the theory to practice gap: (1) as in‐service teachers the EMSs are keenly connected to the context of schools; (2) recent experience in university coursework in mathematics while serving as in‐service teachers required the EMSs to navigate the theory to practice gap themselves; (3) one‐on‐one mentorship supports strong and trusting relationships. Drawing on data from a 3‐year study we found that EMSs brought intimate knowledge of the school context and knowledge of the mathematics‐specific pedagogies taught at the university. These connections to the field and the university allowed EMSs to support BTs in implementing research‐based practices in their mathematics lessons that went against the norms of their school settings.

Relationships between elementary mathematics specialist certification, knowledge, beliefs, and classroom learning environments

AbstractWe report on the differences in mathematics learning environments in classes taught by certified Elementary Math Specialists (EMSs) (n = 28) and their peers (n = 33) as determined by observations of instruction. We used path analysis to examine how variables such as mathematical knowledge for teaching, beliefs, and background characteristics were related to the learning environment. We used the Classroom Learning Environment Measure (CLEM) observation protocol, which attends to aspects of mathematics lessons such as opportunities for students to justify their reasoning and attend to mathematical concepts. Our analysis revealed that learning environments incorporating such elements were significantly more prevalent in classes taught by EMSs, and that there were two paths indicating mediation effects on the relationship between EMS status and learning environment. One path was related to teachers’ beliefs about the primacy of computation in learning mathematics; the other path was related to teachers’ mathematical knowledge for teaching and their beliefs about the extent to which mathematical knowledge is constructed by the learner. We share implications for EMS programs and recommendations for future research on the impact of EMSs in elementary schools.

Developing elementary mathematics specialists as teacher leaders during a preparation program

This 5-year mathematics professional development project involves 27 elementary teachers prepared and supported as Elementary Mathematics Specialists (EMSs) in high-need, urban schools. Our inquiry centers on their experiences in the EMS preparation program and the development of important outcomes, specifically productive beliefs and teacher leadership. Data were gathered at the end of Year 1 via surveys of mathematical beliefs, coaching beliefs, and coaching practices, as well as individual and focus group interviews. The findings provide insights into participants’ growth and work as a more knowledgeable other, illuminating specific emphases of their efforts and influences of the project. When it comes to mathematical beliefs, as participants shifted toward embracing cognitively-oriented pedagogical beliefs, they became more efficacious in this learner-centered pedagogy. The findings also show variability in specific mathematics coaching practices, including those most participants were and were not using, and areas for improvement. Several themes are evident in the interview data: growing confidence for the uncomfortable, creating and finding spaces for stepping up, advocating for learned mathematics pedagogy, and building teacher capacity through interactions.

Elementary Mathematics Specialists as Emergent Informal Teacher Leaders in Urban Schools: Engagement and Navigations

ABSTRACT This 5-year mathematics professional development project involves 27 elementary teachers prepared and supported as Elementary Mathematics Specialists (EMSs) in high-need, urban schools. The EMSs are a distinctive population as informal teacher leaders, with a primary responsibility of teaching students. Described here are data collected at the end of Year 1 via a survey of coaching practices, a teacher leader record, and individual and focus group interviews. The findings illuminate the variety of ways they were serving as a more knowledgeable other and practicing agency in this teacher leadership. They were agentic in their teacher leader efforts by navigating constraints through: focusing on incremental changes; developing collegial, trusting relationships with peers; and leaning into the network of teacher support in the project. The findings also provide insights into how their primary and concurrent role as teacher of students provided credibility and understanding with fellow teachers, contributing to affordances in their informal teacher leader capacity.

Developing Cohesion through Collective Doubting: Framing Practice-Based Professional Learning for Mathematics Coaches

ABSTRACT As instructional leaders who work closely with teachers within and across schools, elementary mathematics specialists (EMS) are positioned well to promote cohesive implementation of impactful pedagogy throughout school districts. However, EMS’s work can be impeded if they do not have structured opportunities to collectively grapple with the nuances of terminology included in teaching and learning initiatives in terms of expectations for what practices look like within classrooms. Using narrative data collected from EMS team discussions about the meaning of student engagement in mathematics classrooms, we share a five-phase framework for using a collective doubting process to promote professional learning through the development of shared understanding of common language. By positioning moments of doubt as opportunities for collaborative learning, this framework serves as a flexible structure to guide the development of knowledge-in-practice from the identification of a practice-centered inquiry goal to cohesive understanding and systemic transformation.

Explaining differences in one teacher’s instruction across multiple tracked fifth‐grade classes

AbstractIn this article, we describe the case of “Keri,” a fifth‐grade teacher who had completed an Elementary Mathematics Specialist (EMS) certification program. Drawn from a larger study investigating the knowledge, beliefs, and practices of EMSs, Keri's case was unique in that she was teaching mathematics to four classes in a departmentalized structure, where students were placed into different classes according to perceived mathematics ability. Observations from the larger study revealed that Keri's instructional practices did not align with her reported beliefs and knowledge. To explore this deviation, we conducted a case study where we observed Keri's instruction across multiple classes and used interviews to explore reasons for Keri's instructional decisions in terms of her perceived professional obligations. We found that Keri did employ practices that were aligned with her reported beliefs and knowledge such as pressing students for mathematical justifications, but only in her “higher ability” classes. Interview data suggested that Keri's decisions were driven by a strong obligation to individual students, overriding other obligations. We describe implications of these findings, including the limitations of teacher assessments and surveys as proxies for teaching quality, and discuss recommendations for approaches to teacher development that account for teachers’ perceived obligations.

Learning to design effective professional development: The influence of integrating a coaching tool with an elementary mathematics specialist course assignment

As content-specific educational coaches, elementary mathematics specialists (EMSs) have emerged as school-based professionals who are needs-driven and work closely with school stakeholders in regard to mathematics teaching and learning. While leading mathematics education organizations have identified the specialized knowledge and skills required for EMS positions, how to best prepare these individuals is knowledge that the field is still exploring. This paper first presents a theoretical model for EMS preparation that aligns an emerging coaching tool, the Decision-Making Protocol for Mathematics Coaching (Baker & Knapp, 2019, [DMPMC]) with the Professional Development Design Framework (Loucks-Horsley et al. in Designing professional development for teachers of science and mathematics, Corwin Press, 2010). The paper then presents a descriptive case study that examines the application of this model in an EMS preparation course. The findings indicate that assessing the coaching situation fostered administrative partnerships, revisiting goals increased specificity of anticipated outcomes, and applying research-informed practices increased EMS self-efficacy and advanced coaching agendas. Taken together, these findings suggest that integrating the DMPMC into an EMS preparation course led to positive changes in EMS candidate learning of professional development design. Notably, this is one of the first studies that documents the influence of a coaching education tool on EMS candidates’ professional development design.

Implementation of a Pilot Elementary Mathematics Specialist Endorsement Program

We present the results of a mixed methods study focusing on the implementation of a pilot elementary mathematics specialist (EMS) endorsement program implemented in partnership with the several educational organizations to provide teachers in high needs rural areas an opportunity to earn the EMS endorsement through coursework and instructional leadership experiences. The data presented draw from social cognitive theory and andragogy to describe the experiences of the EMS candidates throughout their endorsement program and to provide recommendations for programmatic improvements. We sought to explore ways in which the EMS candidates’ experiences within the program and school-based internship impacted their levels of self-efficacy and perceived success within the program. We also sought to determine the opportunities and barriers that exist with the EMS candidates’ respective learning environments as they implemented professional learning plans with a core set of teachers they collaborated with to improve mathematics instruction. The results of this study indicate that both EMS candidates and the teachers they worked with increased their levels of mathematics content knowledge. EMS candidates also improved their levels of self-efficacy regarding mathematics teaching and leadership skills. Furthermore, both EMS candidates and their core set of teachers improved in time spent focused on ongoing professional learning activities. Recommendations include a need to support teachers as they expand their role into instruction as well as equip school leaders to ensure they can support teacher leadership candidates in their professional growth.

Examining the practice of elementary mathematics specialists through narratives: implications for professional learning and development

ABSTRACT This study analysed elementary mathematics specialists’ stories of work to examine how these disciplinary-specific teacher leaders engage in their practice. This paper examines the ways in which elementary mathematics specialists conceptualise their leadership roles and the impact of their work on other school stakeholders. Using narrative inquiry, we conducted semi-structured interviews in order to capture participant stories that described specific tasks, actions, context, intent and reflections. Findings suggest that the ways participants articulated their agenda, enacted their agency and positioned themselves and others provide a lens for viewing the range of ways they approached their work as elementary mathematics specialists and ultimately resulting in the categorisation of participants into two profiles based on similarities and differences in these themes. While all participants described challenges and successes, their stories differed in how they engaged in leadership practice and how they engaged others in leadership. We argue that, while having deep knowledge of mathematics content and pedagogy is crucial to elementary mathematics specialist work, to maximise the impact of these disciplinary teacher leaders, the exploration of teacher leadership knowledge, practices, and tools must be a crucial aspect of elementary mathematics specialist preparation and professional development.

Prospective Elementary Mathematics Specialists’ developing instructional practices: support and mentorship during an authentic residency

This case study explored Prospective Elementary Mathematics Specialists’ (PEMSs) pedagogical practices during a K-5 Mathematics Endorsement (K-5 ME) program, specifically focusing on the authentic residency with mentor sessions. Participants included nine PEMSs, with qualitative and quantitative data collected via individual interviews, professional portfolios, and observations of classroom practices. Upon completion of the K-5 ME program, all participants were implementing instructional practices learned about in the program in substantial ways. Participants were honing their skills for orchestrating effective discourse, and the application of those skills became more meaningful as they saw the impact it was having on student learning. This implementation and documentation program coursework was rigorous as PEMSs worked to develop themselves as mathematics teachers and teacher leaders. The collaborative support during the authentic residency and mentor sessions seem to have been significant for PEMSs in supporting implementation of newly learned instructional practices. Ultimately, PEMSs completed the program feeling more prepared as elementary mathematics teachers and teacher leaders.

Developing the Pedagogical Capabilities of Elementary Mathematics Specialists during a K-5 Mathematics Endorsement Program

This mixed-methods study explored the pedagogical practices of Prospective Elementary Mathematics Specialists (PEMSs) as they completed a university K-5 Mathematics Endorsement program. Participants were 13 elementary teachers at an urban, high-needs charter school. Data were collected via individual interviews, written reflections on enacted teaching practices, two observations of classroom teaching practices, and a 36-item Cognitively Guided Instruction Teacher Knowledge Assessment. The findings show the PEMSs were connecting their learning during program courses with instructional practices in their classrooms, as 85% were implementing standards-based learning environments (SBLEs) at a high level, with the classroom event of providing their students opportunities to make conjectures about mathematical ideas as a relative struggle. The PEMSs described pedagogical shifts across the program, providing insights into these changes, along with how particular program components contributed, with the emergent themes of skepticism, trying it on, shifters, and need more support.

Understanding elementary mathematics teacher education through the characteristics and activities of preservice teachers, elementary mathematics specialists, and mathematics teacher educators

Understanding elementary mathematics teacher education through the characteristics and activities of preservice teachers, elementary mathematics specialists, and mathematics teacher educators

Flipping instruction in a fifth grade class: A case of an elementary mathematics specialist

Flipped instruction, in which information typically conveyed through in-class lectures is delivered remotely through video or text, is being used increasingly by teachers at all levels. However, there is little research documenting how elementary teachers think about, plan for, and use flipped instruction. In this article, we use data from interviews, class observations, and an analysis of instructional videos to describe an elementary mathematics specialists' efforts to incorporate flipped instruction for mathematics in her fifth grade class. We use this case to highlight how a knowledgeable teacher might use flipped instruction to enhance her teaching, and also describe potential challenges.

Connecting Teacher Professional Development and Student Mathematics Achievement

The present study investigated the effects of Primarily Math, an inservice elementary mathematics specialist program. Primarily Math sought to augment the mathematical knowledge for teaching of kin...

Answering the call by developing an online elementary mathematics specialist program

The Association of Mathematics Teacher Educators adopted Standards for Elementary Mathematics Specialists calling for structured preparation of math coaches, specialists, and instructional leaders across the country (AMTE, 2013). The purpose of this paper is to illustrate the structure and design of our fully online Elementary Mathematics Instructional Leader (EMIL) graduate program for inservice teachers aiming to answer the call. Our graduates are teacher leaders and coaches who are responsible for supporting effective mathematics instruction and student learning at the classroom, school, district, or state levels. We will review formative data from our first cohort of graduates, the benefits and drawbacks to providing online (and grant-funded) courses, and the impact of participant attrition. Our goal is to offer guidance and information to other organizations as they move to develop programs of their own.

Elementary mathematics specialists in “departmentalized” teaching assignments: Affordances and constraints

In this article, we describe the experiences of three Elementary Mathematics Specialists (EMS) who were part of a larger project investigating the impact of EMS certification and assignment (self-contained or “departmentalized”) on teaching practices and student achievement outcomes. All three of the teachers were “departmentalized,” in the sense that each was responsible for teaching mathematics to at least two groups of students, and accordingly, did not teach all subjects as would a typical self-contained elementary teacher. Each teacher had recently earned an Elementary Mathematics Specialist certificate through completion of a 24-credit, graduate-level program designed to build pedagogical content knowledge and leadership capacity in mathematics. Through a series of observations and interviews over the course of one school year, we examined how the teachers described and navigated specific affordances and constraints they encountered in their particular contexts. Common affordances included opportunities to revise and learn from instruction, and constraints included reduced flexibility introduced by the need to schedule multiple classes of mathematics. Despite these common features, we found important differences between the three models of departmentalization, which we describe as team approach, class swap, and grade-level mathematics teacher. For example, some of the models provided more opportunities for collaboration while others made it difficult for teachers to address potential inequities in learning opportunities across sections. Despite the constraints of their respective models, we found evidence of the EMS-certified teachers drawing on professional expertise in mathematics to meet student needs.

Examining change in K-3 teachers’ mathematical knowledge, attitudes, and beliefs: the case of Primarily Math

This study examines the impact of the Primarily Math Elementary Mathematics Specialist program on K-3 teachers’ mathematical content knowledge for teaching, attitudes toward learning mathematics, and beliefs about mathematics teaching and learning. Three cohorts of teachers participating in the program were compared to a similar group of non-participating teachers. Teacher outcomes were measured longitudinally across 5 years. Participating teachers showed changes in their knowledge, attitudes, and beliefs in line with program goals immediately after completion of coursework. Moreover, these changes were sustained in subsequent years, following program completion. Relative to the comparison group, participants demonstrated greater gains in knowledge as well as greater improvements in attitudes and beliefs. Implications of these results for professional development design, implementation, and evaluation are discussed.

The preparation experiences of elementary mathematics specialists: examining influences on beliefs, content knowledge, and teaching practices

Many in the field of mathematics education call for elementary schools to have elementary mathematics specialists (EMSs) who provide needed mathematical expertise and support for children and teachers. EMSs serve as a reasonable, immediate alternative to the challenges generated by elementary teachers needing improved mathematical knowledge for teaching in the classroom. However, limited inquiry has explored how to best prepare EMSs and how program features and learning activities influence their development. This mixed-method study identifies some of the interrelated benefits from a K-5 Mathematics Endorsement Program designed to prepare EMSs through examining changes in mathematical beliefs, specialized content knowledge (SCK), and classroom teaching practices during the program. Data (n = 32) were collected over the 2-semester program via belief surveys, a content knowledge assessment, observations of teaching practices, and individual interviews from elementary teachers participating in the program. The findings show some changes in beliefs can be made relatively quickly, other shifts in beliefs take more time and continued support, and changes in SCK and adoption of various aspects of standard-based pedagogy require considerably greater opportunities to learn. The described program features and learning experiences provided a context for these changes and offer considerations for EMS preparation programs.

Using the Fennema-Sherman Mathematics Attitude Scales with lower-primary teachers

The Fennema-Sherman Mathematics Attitude Scales (FSMAS) are among the most popular instruments used in studies of attitudes toward mathematics. However, the FSMAS has been mainly used among student populations and rarely used with teachers. In the present study, three scales from the FSMAS—Confidence, Effectance Motivation, and Anxiety—were revised and used with lower-primary (kindergarten to third grade) teachers. This study includes three parts: (1) a pilot study to ensure the modifications made to the FSMAS were appropriate to use with teachers, (2) confirmatory factor analyses to assess the factor structure of the revised FSMAS with 225 lower-primary teachers, and (3) measurement invariance analyses using data from a similar sample of 171 lower-primary teachers to examine whether the revised FSMAS measures each construct in the same way as in the previous sample. The final three-factor model, after removing three problematic items, achieves acceptable model fit, with each construct meeting all conditions for strict measurement invariance. Additionally, repeated measures analyses were performed on data collected from 39 in-service lower-primary teachers who participated in an elementary mathematics specialist program to examine the use of the revised FSMAS in program evaluation. Overall results suggest that researchers and program evaluators may use the revised FSMAS to reliably measure lower-primary teachers’ mathematical attitudes, and it can be a valuable tool for evaluating the effectiveness of professional development programs.

Elementary Mathematics Specialists: Influencing Student Achievement

A three-year study found that those responsible for coaching math teachers positively affected student academic progress in grades 3, 4, and 5. Read why this effect took time to emerge.