A STUDY OF A MATHEMATICS PROFESSIONAL LEARNING COMMUNITY AND COACHING PROGRAM
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Date
2021-07-27
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Johns Hopkins University
Abstract
Elementary school students who receive free or reduced meal prices underperform compared to their more affluent peers on standardized mathematics assessments. Although policies and legislation like the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 was to close the achievement gap between disadvantaged students and their peers by the 2013-2014 school year, these gaps persist. This mixed methods study was conducted to explore two second grade teachers’ experience in participating in an online professional learning community and a one-on-one coaching program. The Measuring Content Knowledge for Teaching Mathematics Instrument, Teacher Efficacy Scale, Math Teaching Efficacy Beliefs Instrument, observational protocol, exit ticket survey, focus group transcripts, field notes on adherence and participant responsiveness were used to understand the teachers’ pedagogical content knowledge and sense of self-efficacy in teaching mathematics. Although major differences were not found from the quantitative pretest to the posttest, qualitative data suggests participation in a professional learning community and coaching program supports teachers’ pedagogical content knowledge and sense of self-efficacy.
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Keywords
mathematics achievement gap, pedagogical content knowledge, self-efficacy