The investigators propose to study novice teachers' development of mathematical knowledge for teaching and the influence that previous preparation, school context, and opportunities to learn-on-the-job have on that knowledge. The project as supported represents a planning and development study that may lead to a larger cross-national study. The investigators will develop surveys of teachers, a sample framework, unique survey methodologies required, and will enlist country participation. The contributions of the planning and development phase will include sampling methodology and survey instrumentation that can be used in other contexts.
The larger project as envisioned will survey six representative and independent samples of teachers with zero to five years of teaching experience in the U.S. and in three to five other high achieving countries. The work builds upon a successful, existing award to the investigators--the Teacher Education Development Study (TEDS-M)--that is examining the math knowledge of undergraduate students who are preparing to teach math.
As a result, the proposed study is the next logical step in this program of research and will tell us more about how U.S. teachers compare with teachers of other countries in terms of their mathematical knowledge and mathematical knowledge for teaching.
