Project Activities
The research team will implement the MFA intervention, which consists of five one-day workshops and classroom-based assignments, providing a total of 50 hours of PD over one school year. Researchers will assess teacher and student performance both at baseline and after completion of the PD to assess the impacts of MFA. Outcome data on teacher knowledge and skills will be collected during fall and spring of the year the PD is implemented. Data on classroom practices and student achievement will be conducted in fall and spring of the year following the implementation of the PD. Researchers will use quantitative methods to assess the impact of the MFA program on teachers and students, and qualitative methods to gain a deeper understanding of the implementation of the intervention.
Structured Abstract
Setting
This study will take place in schools in Chicago, Illinois.
Sample
The participants in this study include 256 fourth- and fifth-grade general and special education teachers and their 6,400 students across 32 elementary schools. The public school system from which this sample will be drawn serves a student population of Latino or Hispanic (44%), African American (42%), white (9%), Asian/Pacific Islander (3%), and Native American (0.4%) descent. Eighty-seven percent of students come from low-income families, and 13% have disabilities.
Intervention
The intervention in this project consists of five one-day workshops and classroom-based assignments, providing a total of 50 hours of PD over one school year. The program uses video cases and a lesson-study approach to engage general and special education teachers in collaborative lesson planning to make standards-based mathematics lessons accessible to various kinds of learners. The intervention was originally intended for teachers of students with disabilities, but all students are thought to benefit from instruction individualized to their specific learning needs.
Research design and methods
The research team will randomly assign 16 schools to participate in the intervention, in which teachers in those schools will receive MFA and 16 schools to the control condition. Researchers will assess teacher and student performance both at baseline and after completion of the PD to assess the impacts of MFA. Outcome data on teacher knowledge and skills will be collected during fall and spring of the year the PD is implemented. Data on classroom practices and student achievement will be conducted in fall and spring of the year following the implementation of the PD. Researchers will use quantitative methods to assess the impact of the MFA program on teachers and students, and qualitative methods to gain a deeper understanding of the implementation of the intervention.
Control condition
In the schools assigned to the control condition, teachers receive business-as-usual PD offered through Chicago Public Schools.
Key measures
Researchers will collect demographic data to assess the comparability of the two groups, and qualitative data to explore how school, teacher, student, and other variables might influence the outcomes of the study. Teacher outcome measures include teacher mathematical knowledge for teaching (Mathematical Knowledge for Teaching, or MKT), knowledge about individual students and instructional strategies, beliefs, attitudes, and classroom practice (Mathematical Quality of Instruction; instructional logs; Quality of Math Instruction, or QMI). Student outcome measures include student math knowledge as determined by Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers (PARCC) and self-efficacy in math.
Data analytic strategy
Researchers will examine the impact of MFA on teacher knowledge, beliefs, attitudes, and practice using a two-level model with teachers nested in school. A three-level model (students, classrooms, schools) will be used to examine the impact of MFA on student math knowledge and self-efficacy in math with the treatment indicator at the school level, as this is the level of both random assignment and treatment delivery.
People and institutions involved
IES program contact(s)
Products and publications
Products: The products of this project will be evidence of the efficacy of the Math for All (MFA) intervention for fourth- and fifth-grade students. The project will also produce peer-reviewed publications.
Supplemental information
Co-Principal Investigators: Barbara Dubitsky (Bank Street College of Education), John Hitchcock (Indiana University), Ellen B. Meier (Teacher's College, Columbia University), and Teresa Duncan (ICF International)
Questions about this project?
To answer additional questions about this project or provide feedback, please contact the program officer.
