Description:
The study focused on identifying aspects of teachers' background, professional development, and characteristics that contribute to Grade 5 students' successful performance in Math 6 and on gaining insights into challenges facing teachers whose Grade 5 students are less successful in Math 6. The main data source was individual interviews with 25 teachers of Math 6 to Grade 5 students. For analysis, teachers were divided into two groups (more vs. less successful) based on their students' performance on math unit assessments.
Recommendations:
Support all elementary school teachers of Math 6 by creating a professional learning community among teachers of Math 6 in elementary and middle schools.Support less successful teachers by improving their ability to do the following:- Use assessments as a resource for planning a unit.
- Incorporate student-to-student discourse and stages of learning (i.e., concrete, representational, abstract) in their lessons.
- Work with other teachers within the building to make planning time more useful.
Consider the extent of the teacher's college coursework in mathematics as one aspect of selecting staff members to teach Math 6 to Grade 5 students.
File Name:
Report Adv Math G5 7 16 10.pdf (171KB PDF)
