Even though students in the United States have varying access to an equitable education, education is commonly regarded as the greatest equalizer. The achievement gap impacts students such as African Americans, Hispanics, and other minorities. Addressing the achievement gap in mathematics and other content areas has grown more crucial as the…

Results of international comparison studies show substantially better mathematics performance of the investigated Asian than European students from the early years on. A Taiwanese-German Research Program (TaiGer) engages in exploring differences and similarities in the educational system, in teachers' knowledge and beliefs and in teaching or…

Problem: Schools often use instructional coaches to build teacher instructional capacity and raise student achievement (Mangin, 2005, 2009; Neufeld & Roper, 2003). While instructional coaches are meant to support the growth of teachers, little is known about what these instructional coaches bring to their intellectual work (Campbell &…

This article analyses lesson study as a mode of professional learning, focused on the development of mathematical problem solving processes, using the lens of cultural-historical activity theory. In particular, we draw attention to two activity systems, the classroom system and the lesson-study system, and the importance of making artefacts…

This paper addresses an important task teachers face in class: the identification and support of creative and high-achieving students. In particular, we examine whether primary teachers (1) have acquired professional knowledge during teacher education that is necessary to foster creativity and to teach high-achieving students, and whether they (2)…

This study investigates the effectiveness of the Responsive Classroom (RC) approach, a social and emotional learning intervention, on changing the relations between mathematics teacher and classroom inputs (mathematical knowledge for teaching [MKT] and standards-based mathematics teaching practices) and student mathematics achievement. Work was…

The Alabama State Department of Education (ALSDE) was grappling with several issues including: (1) A respectable rate of growth in student achievement for both fourth- and eighth-grade math in the state of Alabama, as measured by the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), but below the national average; and (2) A growing concern about…

This paper analyzed elementary teacher education (hereafter 'TED') programs in the top performing European (TIMSS) countries to help inform future elementary TED policy in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Methodological emphasis revolved around how much emphasis should be placed on general content knowledge (GCK), as opposed to general pedagogical…

That the quality of teachers' knowledge has direct impact on students' engagement and learning outcomes in mathematics is now well established. But questions about the nature of this knowledge and how to characterise that knowledge are important for mathematics educators. In the present study, we examine a strand of "Specialised Content…

It is a known fact that South African learners underachieve in mathematics. One possible factor that might have an influence on their mathematics achievement is the conceptual knowledge of mathematics teachers. In order to facilitate conceptual understanding, mathematics teachers themselves must possess profound mathematical knowledge. One key…

We posit that professional development (PD) models fall on a continuum from highly adaptive to highly specified, and that these constructs provide a productive way to characterize and distinguish among models. The study reported here examines the impact of an adaptive mathematics PD model on teachers' knowledge and instructional practices as well…

Mathematics educators continue to explore ways to improve student learning. Of particular interest are the relationships between teachers' instructional practices, their beliefs towards mathematics teaching, and student learning outcomes. While some studies have found empirical links between teachers' enactment of specific instructional practices…

The purpose of this case study is to reveal prospective science teachers' knowledge and achievement levels in electricity-related subjects. The data for the study were collected from 44 prospective teachers using three measurement tools. The data were then analyzed using software developed for the Probability and Possibility Calculation Statistics…

This exploratory study sought to examine the relationship between teachers' use of formative assessment and their self-efficacy beliefs. Specifically, this study involved a quantitative analysis of the relationship between teachers' beliefs, knowledge base, and the use of formative assessment to make informed instructional changes and their…

Thirty-five teachers teaching advanced topics in high school mathematics were engaged in a year-long intensive professional development project intended to increase their Mathematical Knowledge for Teaching in the area of discrete mathematics. Project activities embodied a models and modeling perspective on pedagogy and learning. Results showed…