Teacher Practice

This report characterizes forms of dialogic support that a sixth-grade teacher generated during whole-class and small-group conversations to help students develop a practice of statistical modeling. During four weeks of instruction, students constructed and revised models to account for variability and uncertainty across a variety of random processes, many of which they experienced first-hand. Data sources for the research included field notes and video recordings of classroom conversations involving the teacher.

Although there has been increasing attention to the importance of teacher agency in professional development, there has been little attention to what it takes to facilitate collaborative work that both centers teachers’ assets and expertise and leads to productive learning. This paper presents a framework for focused and responsive facilitation of productive discourse around instructional practice in teacher learning communities.

The limited availability of research instruments that reflect the vision of the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) restricts the field's understanding of whether and how teachers are making instructional shifts called for by the standards. The need for such instruments is particularly urgent with teachers of multilingual learners (MLs), who are called on to make shifts in how they think about and enact instruction related to both science and language.

Teaching science to elementary school students is complex, and teacher preparation programs must support preservice teachers’ learning to communicate science content and practices with children. Science teachers bring the experiences they have as students to their teacher preparation, and these experiences may support or conflict with what they are learning about effective teaching. In this study, we present stories of two first-year teachers who attended a STEM-focused teacher preparation program in the U.S.

These resources are designed to help put high-quality, equitable math instruction into practice. The VISIONS Project fosters collaboration among state, district, and school-based leaders; mathematics teachers; mathematicians; and researchers who co-design essential tools for all grade levels.

These resources are designed to help put high-quality, equitable math instruction into practice. The VISIONS Project fosters collaboration among state, district, and school-based leaders; mathematics teachers; mathematicians; and researchers who co-design essential tools for all grade levels.

These resources are designed to help put high-quality, equitable math instruction into practice. The VISIONS Project fosters collaboration among state, district, and school-based leaders; mathematics teachers; mathematicians; and researchers who co-design essential tools for all grade levels.

These resources are designed to help put high-quality, equitable math instruction into practice. The VISIONS Project fosters collaboration among state, district, and school-based leaders; mathematics teachers; mathematicians; and researchers who co-design essential tools for all grade levels.

This series includes lessons and professional development video sessions focused on: multilingual learning strategies for STEM, culturally responsive strategies for STEM, knowledge building strategies for STEM, semantic waving in science instruction, and autonomy touring in science instruction.

The Spiral Notebook app is a digital portfolio tool that enables teachers to efficiently capture multiple representations of classroom practice via documents, images, and videos, and organize, share, and discuss evidence of student thinking reflected in these multimedia artifacts.