The purpose of this project is to evaluate the effectiveness of the Teacher to Teacher Math Problem Solving Supplementary Curriculum in two states -- Florida, and New Jersey. The Teacher to Teacher materials target the complex activity of math problem solving for elementary and middle school children by focusing on classroom ecology, activating children’s prior knowledge, appropriate academic challenges, and group collaboration.

The importance of the T-T curriculum is seen when considering the links between student achievement, educational policy, and high-stakes testing. High-stakes testing occurs when there are significant consequences, positive or negative, for set levels of achievement on tests. While the intent of high-stake testing is to increase student achievement, there is significant research on an unintended consequence of high-stakes testing. High-stakes testing can narrow curricula because districts practice for the specific test instead of teaching the content domain that the test will cover. As a means of affecting this unfortunate side consequence, the Teacher to Teacher materials focus on the content domain of math problem solving as a supplement to school district’s curriculum in hopes of positively affecting student performance on statewide assessments.

This ten-week curriculum will be implemented by at least 100 volunteer classrooms in two states and will reach approximately 4000 first through eighth grade students. Interested teachers were randomly assigned to either the experimental (Teacher to Teacher materials plus regular district materials) or the control group (use only district materials), unless the teacher has indicated a willingness to only participate in an experimental trial.

Students will complete grade appropriate pre- and post-curriculum math problem solving questions and complete a survey about math problem solving, math anxiety, and math usefulness. Teachers will complete pre- and post-curriculum surveys as well as assist in the collection of student work.

Who is Participating?

Teachers were recruited through articles or announcements in statewide mathematics teacher or school administrator newsletters. The newsletters asked interested teachers to contact Teacher to Teacher Publications to sign up for the study. In order for teachers to participate, they were required to have a school official’s signed approval. Teachers will not be paid for their participation, but will receive complimentary copies of the curriculum and participate in a local in-service training series on the curriculum.

Timeline

The Teacher to Teacher Mathematics Problem Solving Study began in early November 2003. Participating teachers began distributing consent forms and attending the local in-service training component of the study. In late November, all students will have completed the pre-curriculum quiz and attitude scales (if applicable based on grade level). Those quiz items will be sent back to Oregon for scoring based on rubric. The scoring rubric for the respective states assigns three scores to each answer. One score for understanding, the second for executing procedures and accuracy, and the third for explanation. , etc. Concurrently, participating teachers are continuing with the program implementation and after nine lessons, a post-curriculum quiz is administered. The post-curriculum quiz will also be sent back to Oregon for scoring. In addition to the quizzes, all participating youth are asked to complete grade-appropriate questionnaire item to assist in understanding the effects of the Teacher to Teacher supplementary curriculum.

Benefits of this Study

This study will contribute to the academic research in mathematics education, specifically in relation to problem solving research. The benefits will primarily be in the determination of the problem solving project’s success including the following:

If successful, this treatment will provide an effective approach to teaching problem solving that may promote critical thinking and may improve statewide assessment test scores;
It will benefit the participating instructors by providing them with content knowledge and activities that promote critical thinking and problem solving;
Since the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics is calling for an increase in problem solving activities, this project will promote their call to action;
This information will prove to be a valuable addition to the academic world in mathematics education and will contribute to the general knowledge of teaching problem solving; · Students will have increased math problem solving skills and may perform better on statewide assessments.

Measures Used in the Study

Teachers will complete a demographic and attitudinal questionnaire prior to engaging in the program and again at the conclusion of the study. One scale in this pre-curriculum survey is the Mathematics Teaching Efficacy and Beliefs Instrument (Enochs, Smith & Huniker, 2000).

Students will compete attitudinal surveys about mathematics as well as respond to questions about the curriculum itself. Fifth-Eighth graders will also complete selected subscales of the Fennema-Sherman Mathematics Attitude Scale Short Form (Mulhern & Rae, 1998)

References

Enochs, L. G., Smith, P. L., Huinker, D. (2000). Establishing factorial validity of the mathematics teaching efficacy beliefs instrument. School Science and Mathematics, 100 (4), 194-202.

Mulhern, F., & Rae, G. (1998). Development of a shortened form of the Fennema-Sherman mathematics attitudes scale. Educational and Psychological Measurement, 58 (2), 295-306.

Concluded Project - end date Summer 2004 Teacher to Teacher Mathematics Problem Solving

Concluded Project - end date Summer 2004

Teacher to Teacher Mathematics Problem Solving