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This mixed methods study examined the mathematical preparation of elementary teachers in a Teach for America (TFA) program, focal participants for whom there is scant extant research. Data collection occurred before and after a university mathematics methods course, with a particular focus on the participants' (n = 22) mathematical beliefs, specialized content knowledge, and classroom teaching practices. Data were collected via two beliefs surveys, a content knowledge instrument, and interviews. The results show the added value of the course and offer considerations for learning experiences during mathematics teacher preparation, some of which are specific to alternative teacher preparation programs such as TFA.

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.

This mixed methods study explored elementary teachers' (n = 73) experiences with and perspectives on the recently implemented Common Core State Standards for Mathematics (CCSS-Mathematics) at a high-needs, urban school. Analysis of the survey, questionnaire, and interview data reveals the findings cluster around: familiarity with and preparation to use the standards; implementation of the standards, including incorporation and teacher change; and tensions associated with enactment of the standards. Notably, the teachers believed in the merit of the standards but were constrained by their inadequate content knowledge, limited aligned curricular resources, lack of student readiness, and a perceived mismatch with ELLs. The results illuminate the professional needs of teachers during this critical time of transition to the standards and also add to the scant research on this national-scale reform in mathematics education. This article features a Research to Practice Companion Article.

A descriptive, holistic, multiple-case methodology was applied to examine the nature of participation in discourse of two low- and two high-achieving grade 6 students while solving mathematical tasks in a standards-based classroom. Data collected via classroom observations and student interviews were analyzed through a multiple-cycle coding process that yielded the within-case themes of use of space, meaning-making, and peer and teacher interactions. This student-focused inquiry addressed a methodological gap in the extant empirical literature by employing video-recording as a means of eliciting student awareness and reflection, which notably revealed differences in participation between the two low-achieving students. When considering implications, the results illuminate needed additional classroom norms, issues related to relative differences in students' abilities in heterogeneous groups, benefits of using video-recording as a means of promoting student reflection, and the important role of the teacher in maintaining equitable participation.

This qualitative study examined perspectives of two key stakeholder groups, instructors and students, on mathematics content courses for prospective elementary teachers (Mathematics for Teachers [MFT] courses). A collective case study approach, which drew from the data of two cases in different but comparable settings, contributed to the robustness of the findings. Cross-case analysis of the interview data revealed several convergent themes: the role of affect in student learning, pedagogy and instructor disposition, connections to the elementary classroom, and mathematics content. The findings included both conflicting and complementary perspectives between the two key stakeholder groups. When juxtaposed, the multiple viewpoints offer insights into some of the central issues related to teaching and learning in MFT courses and suggest potential avenues for improving experiences in these courses.

This multiple case study examined the experiences of two groups of elementary prospective teachers (N ?=?12) completing distinct mathematics content courses. The findings reveal perspectives on knowing, learning, and teaching mathematics as experienced in the context of these courses. One group characterized mathematics as a "record of knowledge," difficult to understand and lacking in relevance; learning occurred through rote memorization and via external expertise, with teaching typified as explaining. The other group portrayed mathematics as process-focused, internally constructed, and relevant; learning took place through a focus on children's thinking, with teaching characterized as guiding and questioning. The prospective teachers' mathematical beliefs and affect also emerged as key findings, coupled with the quantitative data revealing differences in specialized content knowledge for teaching mathematics. Two salient dimensions emerged as promoting learning in the courses: caring classroom practices and curricular relevance. These factors are situated in a two-dimensional model offering considerations for practice.

This longitudinal study examines the effects of changes in an elementary teacher preparation program on mathematics beliefs and content knowledge for teaching of two groups of prospective teachers (N = 276): (1) those who completed a program with three mathematics content courses and two mathematics methods courses and (2) those who completed a program with four mathematics content courses and a single mathematics methods course. The results reveal salient benefits of a second methods course that were not evident in the new program with only one methods course. Further, the addition of a fourth content course did not result in notable differences in mathematical knowledge for teaching. In addition, mathematical knowledge for teaching was positively linked to change in pedagogical beliefs about learners, further illuminating the interwoven nature of knowledge and beliefs. (Contains 1 table.)

This mixed methods study offers a theoretically grounded description of a field-based science methods course within a Professional Development School (PDS) model (i.e., PDS-based course). The preservice teachers' (n = 21) experiences within the PDS-based course prompted significant changes in their personal teaching efficacy, with the opportunities working with children afforded in the course attributed as a source of these beliefs. However, the preservice teachers' teaching outcome expectancy beliefs did not significantly shift. The results of this study support the extant literature in that field experiences with science methods courses can facilitate preservice teacher development in meaningful ways. This study expands upon this literature by considering a PDS context for science teacher preparation, more specifically, a science methods course purposefully integrated in elementary classrooms at a PDS where preservice teachers facilitated scientific inquiry projects with children. The findings should prompt new ways of thinking about teacher preparation, particularly related to science, that provide systematic and intentional connectivity between university programs and K-12 schools so preservice teachers can connect theory and practice. (Contains 2 tables.)

Teaching mathematics to elementary children requires highly developed content knowledge, and questions of how teachers acquire this knowledge are of significant concern to teacher preparation programs. Even with research to the contrary, some policy makers in the USA propose additional advanced mathematics courses. One voice that is missing when considering this problem is the voice of the student (i.e. prospective teacher). To address this student-vacant area of research and acknowledge the important role students should have in shaping research, we conducted a phenomenological inquiry into the experiences of elementary prospective teachers in mathematics content courses. The students described domains of mismatch between the courses and the professional program, affective reactions to the courses, and perceptions of effective classroom practices. These findings should inform decision making in the professional development of elementary teachers.

The universal emphasis in mathematics education on teaching and learning for understanding can require substantial paradigmatic shifts for many elementary school teachers. Consequently, a pressing goal of teacher preparation programs should be the facilitation of these changes during program experiences. This longitudinal, mixed methods study presents a thorough investigation of the effects of a distinctive teacher preparation program on important constructs related to prospective teacher preparedness to teach mathematics for understanding, including mathematics pedagogical and teaching efficacy beliefs, mathematics anxiety, and specialized content knowledge for teaching mathematics. The results indicate that the programmatic features experienced by the prospective teachers in this study, including a developmental two-course mathematics methods sequence and coordinated developmental field placements, provided a context supporting teacher change. These shifts are interpreted through the nature and timing of the experiences in the program and a model of teacher change processes. The findings provide insights for mathematics educators as to the outcomes of these programmatic features.

This mixed methods examination of 710 research articles in mathematics education published in six prominent educational journals during the period 1995-2005 finds that 50% of the studies used qualitative methods only, 21% used quantitative methods only, and 29% mixed qualitative and quantitative methods in various ways. Although the number of mixed methods articles show some variation year to year and journal to journal, there is no discernible trend in the aggregate across this time period for the collection of journals studied. Issues explored include defining research categories and subsequently categorizing studies, balance and dominance between quantitative and qualitative strands, and integration within conclusions. (Contains 3 tables and 1 figure.)

This mixed-methods study is a teacher-initiated, collaborative inquiry involving a professional development school (PDS) and a university. The investigation focused on teachers' perceptions of teacher retention and mobility at their PDS. Participants were 134 teachers at a high-needs elementary school with data sources including surveys, interviews, and open-ended questionnaires. The findings clustered around two primary dimensions: (a) congruency of teachers' beliefs and practices with organizational norms and (b) teachers' relational needs and administrators' willingness and ability to meet such needs. Although this study affirmed many of the findings in the extant literature, it also challenged others--namely, the links between teacher turnover and workplace conditions, student body characteristics, and student achievement. The recursive research design enabled the researchers to make accommodations in methodology in response to teachers' and administrators' concerns. The researchers documented these modifications and make recommendations for conducting inquiry in a PDS. (Contains 1 table.)

Teacher education is under considerable scrutiny, and as often happens with critique, changes are imminent. Levine's "Educating School Teachers" (2006) recently suggested several important changes for teacher education programs, including redesigning the teacher education curricula based on a model of professional development schools (PDSs). As university faculty, we were interested in documenting any changes within higher education that were a result of a PDS reform effort. Consequently, and in response to Levine's challenge, we set out to study the impact of PDSs, as perceived by university personnel involved with a PDS program. To begin our study, we reviewed the extant research on changes resulting from PDS work. We then considered Bronfenbrenner's (1979) theory of ecological influence to provide a framework for understanding the various perspectives provided by participants in differing roles at the university. (Contains 1 table.)

This study investigated the mathematics beliefs and content knowledge of 103 elementary pre-service teachers in a developmental teacher preparation program that included a two course mathematics methods sequence. Pre-service teachers' pedagogical beliefs became more cognitively-oriented during the teacher preparation program with these changes occurring during the two methods courses. Pedagogical beliefs remained stable during student teaching. The pre-service teachers also significantly increased their personal efficacy for teaching mathematics throughout the program with these shifts occurring across both methods courses and into student teaching. Pedagogical beliefs and teaching efficacy beliefs were not related at the beginning of the program, but, in general, were positively related throughout the program. In addition, the pre-service teachers' pedagogical beliefs were positively related to their specialized content knowledge for teaching mathematics at the end of the program.

The study investigated the relationship between mathematics anxiety and mathematics teacher efficacy among elementary preservice teachers. Participants included 28 elementary preservice teachers at a mid-size university in the southeastern United States who had just completed a mathematics methods course. Data sources included the Mathematics Anxiety Rating Scale, Mathematics Teaching Efficacy Beliefs Instrument, and clinical interviews. Findings revealed a significant, moderate negative relationship between mathematics anxiety and mathematics teacher efficacy (r = -0.440, p less than 0.05). In general, the preservice teachers with the lowest degrees of mathematics anxiety had the highest levels of mathematics teacher efficacy. The interviews indicated that efficaciousness toward mathematics teaching practices, descriptions of mathematics, and basis for mathematics teaching efficacy beliefs were associated with mathematics anxiety. (Contains 2 tables.)

This study investigated perceptions of mathematics teaching effectiveness among elementary preservice teachers with high and low levels of mathematics teacher efficacy. Participants in this study included four elementary preservice teachers at a mid-sized university in the southeastern United States who had just completed a mathematics methods course. Data sources were the Mathematics Teaching Efficacy Beliefs Instrument and interviews. The interviews indicated that mathematics instructional strategies as well as past experiences with mathematics and their influences upon perceptions of teaching effectiveness were associated with mathematics teacher efficacy.

This mixed-methods study is a teacher-initiated, collaborative inquiry involving a professional development school (PDS) and a university. The investigation focused on teachers' perceptions of teacher retention and mobility at their PDS. Participants were 134 teachers at a high-needs elementary school with data sources including surveys, interviews, and open-ended questionnaires. The findings clustered around two primary dimensions: (a) congruency of teachers' beliefs and practices with organizational norms and (b) teachers' relational needs and administrators' willingness and ability to meet such needs. Although this study affirmed many of the findings in the extant literature, it also challenged others--namely, the links between teacher turnover and workplace conditions, student body characteristics, and student achievement. The recursive research design enabled the researchers to make accommodations in methodology in response to teachers' and administrators' concerns. The researchers documented these modifications and make recommendations for conducting inquiry in a PDS. Keywords: teacher retention; teacher mobility; collaborative inquiry; professional development schools, In August 2005, Highland Elementary (a pseudonym) entered into a formal professional development school (PDS) relationship with our university. Teachers at Highland faced many challenges, including a high rate of [...]

This study investigated perceptions of mathematics teaching effectiveness among elementary preservice teachers with high and low levels of mathematics teacher efficacy. Participants in this study included four elementary preservice teachers [...]