Teacher Practice

Since the release of A Framework for K-12 Science Education and the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS), there has been an urgent need for teacher professional development (PD) programs that support the implementation of NGSS-aligned curriculum materials and address the unique strengths and needs of diverse student groups, including multilingual learners (MLs). The purpose of this study is to describe how teacher feedback guided the design and refinement of our curriculum-based PD program integrating science and language with MLs through a 2-year field trial.

Teacher preparation programs need to consider how to support elementary science teachers in developing their knowledge related to environmental and climate justice. Working with children to determine steps they can take together with their community to address and mitigate local environmental justice issues can seem daunting, especially if teachers have not had opportunities to plan and adapt lessons with these goals in mind. We describe a series of lessons for preservice teachers on environmental justice, including climate justice, and climate change.

Professional noticing is a critical skill for teachers, enabling them to interpret and respond to significant moments in the classroom to support student learning. While recent theoretical papers have broadened the conceptualization of noticing to include social, embodied, and environmental factors, empirical research exploring the interaction of such domains is limited.

Enacting reform-oriented, phenomenon-based instruction provides us an opportunity to more equitably teach science. Particularly, our teaching can be stronger when we elicit, notice and then use all students’ ideas and questions to inform how students collaborate to figure out phenomena. However, this is only possible if we learn to expansively notice the many language resources multilingual students have available for sharing their thinking, which requires teachers to see and hear beyond what has been traditionally privileged in school spaces.

Prior research has examined teachers’ noticing in order to understand what factors affect teacher noticing and how mathematics teacher educators can support that noticing. We contend, however, that analyzing teachers’ noticing has the potential to be used for additional purposes. In this paper, we illustrate how we used teachers’ noticing as one tool for gaining insight into our conceptualization of a complex teaching practice—the practice of building on student mathematical thinking.

Prior research has examined teachers’ noticing in order to understand what factors affect teacher noticing and how mathematics teacher educators can support that noticing. We contend, however, that analyzing teachers’ noticing has the potential to be used for additional purposes. In this paper, we illustrate how we used teachers’ noticing as one tool for gaining insight into our conceptualization of a complex teaching practice—the practice of building on student mathematical thinking.

Noticing is often studied at one time point or with a focus on how one notices a particular practice. Fewer studies have focused on how noticing shifts from before to after professional development (PD), and researchers have yet to commonly study what participants provide as rationale for changes in noticing. We engaged 18 practicing teachers in one year of PD, including a course, video coaching clubs, and coaching. We asked them to annotate video clips before and after the PD to identify what and how they noticed. We interviewed teachers about their noticing and how it related to the PD.

Research on mathematics teacher professional learning indicates that careful analysis of evidence of students’ reasoning and participation can prompt generative inquiry into instruction. Evidence of students’ own perceptions of instruction is noticeably absent in the literature. This absence is consequential, given the well-documented finding that mathematics teachers’ instructional decisions are shaped by assumptions they make about their students. Guided by an interpretive perspective on teaching and the literature on mathematics teachers’ professional learning, this study explores U.S.

Research on mathematics teacher professional learning indicates that careful analysis of evidence of students’ reasoning and participation can prompt generative inquiry into instruction. Evidence of students’ own perceptions of instruction is noticeably absent in the literature. This absence is consequential, given the well-documented finding that mathematics teachers’ instructional decisions are shaped by assumptions they make about their students. Guided by an interpretive perspective on teaching and the literature on mathematics teachers’ professional learning, this study explores U.S.

Research on mathematics teacher professional learning indicates that careful analysis of evidence of students’ reasoning and participation can prompt generative inquiry into instruction. Evidence of students’ own perceptions of instruction is noticeably absent in the literature. This absence is consequential, given the well-documented finding that mathematics teachers’ instructional decisions are shaped by assumptions they make about their students. Guided by an interpretive perspective on teaching and the literature on mathematics teachers’ professional learning, this study explores U.S.