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4th Grade Math: What We Learned in Five Weeks or Less. Presented by Nicole Baughn and Kayla Friedley. Special Thanks. Georgia Cobbs , Mentor Professor of Curriculum and Instruction DHC for their support. Who We Are and Why We’re Here.
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4th Grade Math: What We Learned in Five Weeks or Less Presented by Nicole Baughn and Kayla Friedley
Special Thanks • Georgia Cobbs, MentorProfessor of Curriculum and Instruction • DHC for their support
Who We Are and Why We’re Here • Seniors in the Phyllis J. Washington College of Education and Human Sciences • Methods coursework during the fall of 2011 • Manipulatives in a 4th grade classroom helps student understanding in mathematics • Teacher Work Sample (TWS)
Why is this important? • “The current political climate with its attention to teacher and student accountability and the shift in schooling from a norm-referenced, textbook driven system to a learner-centered, standards-based system has highlighted the need for a framework like work sampling that offers fodder for potential theoretical and empirical connections between preparation, teaching practices, and P-12 student learning” (Cohen, Girod, & Schalock, 2006).
Teacher Work Sample • To prepare teachers to make a difference in the learning of children • Help to ensure teachers meet ethical obligations
Why should pre-service teachers produce TWS? • Familiarity with evaluation systems • Record keeping • History of effectiveness • Data driven results • Tool of persuasion for hiring and firing
Policy Changes in Education • Data driven results • No Child Left Behind • Race to the Top • Last In First Out
Five Week Immersion • An elementary school in Missoula, Montana • 4th grade • Each taught one whole group math lesson and collected data
Welcome to 4th Grade • N=27 • M=15 • F=12 • 2 identified with IEPs • 1 child identified as gifted • 48 % free and reduced lunch
What We Observed Prior to the Immersion • Teacher is an avid math teacher, involved in Math Expressions at the school-wide level • Math is taught for an hour and a half each day • Students’ general attitude towards math
Student Understanding • Procedural Understanding • Conceptual Understanding • It is well established in research on mathematics learning that conceptual understanding is an important component of procedural proficiency
Goals of Immersion • Technology, manipulatives, and problem-based activities • Pre-assessment and a post-assessment • Increased engagement and opportunities in math • Utilization of additional teachers
1st Lesson:Area and Perimeter of Triangle • Area of a Triangle using technology • Using traditional methods and methods presented by Math Expressions • Strengths of lesson • Weaknesses of lesson
Findings and Observations • Conceptual vs. procedural understanding • Students’ retention of knowledge the next day was low
Areas for Improvement • Abstract concepts need concrete manipulatives • Cut out paper • Introduction to parallelograms
What is next? • Become GREAT teachers! • Use teacher work samples to monitor student learning and our effectiveness as teachers • Use manipulatives • Differentiate the curriculum
References • Banchero, S. (2011, October 26). Nearly half of states link teacher evaluations to tests. The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved from http://www.online. wsj.com/article/SB1000142405297020391180457 6653542137785186. • Cohen, N., Girod, M., & Schalock, M. (2006, January). The teacher work sample as a context for research. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education, San Diego, CA. • Fuson, K. C. (2009). Math Expressions.Orlando, FL: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.
References • Glazerman, S., Goldhaber, D., Loeb, S., Raudenbush, S., Staiger, D. O., & Whitehurst, G. J. (2011). Passing muster: Evaluating teacher evaluation systems. Retrieved from Brown Center on Education Policy at Brookings Institution website: http://www.brookings.edu/reports/2011/0426_eva luating_teachers.aspx. • The New Teacher Project. (2011). The case against quality-blind teacher layoffs: Why layoff policies that ignore teacher quality need to end now. Retrieved from http://www.tntp.org /assets/documents/TNTP_Case_Against_Qua lity_Blind_Layoffs_Feb2011F.pdf. • U.S. Department of Education. (2009). Race to the top executive summary. Retrieved from http://www2.ed.gov/programs/racetothetop/ executive-summary.pdf.
References • U.S. Department of Education, Elementary & Secondary Education. (2011). No child left behind legislation and policies. Retrieved from http://www2.ed.gov/policy/elsec/guid/states/index.html#aa. • VanDeWalle, J. A., Karp, K. S., Williams, J. M. (2010). Elementary and Middle School Mathematics: Teaching Developmentally. Boston: Allyn & Bacon.